Iron Cap

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308516
Record type Site
Current site name Iron Cap

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -130.21376, 56.07477 (WGS84)
Relative position The Iron Cap prospect (Maas and others, 1995, p. 233, 235, 245) is in Section 11 at an elevation of about 4700 feet. It is on a south-facing mountainside overlooking the West Fork of Texas Creek, and about 2.3 miles northeast of Texas Lake. The location is accurate within about 0.1 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Prince of Wales-Hyder(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bradfield Canal A-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Bradfield Canal SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bradfield Canal(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Southern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Tongass National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • Sulfides disseminations in argillite hostrock

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Nearby scientific data

(1) -130.21376, 56.07477

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of the Iron Cap prospect are pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic volcanic strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group; the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which underlies and locally intrudes the Texas Creek; and the Eocene Hyder Quartz Monzonite, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks (Smith, 1977; Koch, 1996). Maas and others (1995, p. 235,245) describe the deposit as lenses and disseminations of pyrite, galena, and sphalerite in quartz-carbonate lenses in Hazelton argillite. Lead-isotope studies of galena from the prospect (Maas and others, p. 235) indicate that the deposit is Jurassic in age, contemporaneous at least in part with island-arc volcanism in Hazelton time (Alldrick, 1993). Samples of the deposit collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1992 or 1993 (Maas and others, 1995, p. 245) contain up to 42.9 ppm Ag, 7270 ppm Pb, and 4.76% Zn.
  • Age = Maas and others (1995, p. 235,245) describe the deposit as lenses and disseminations of pyrite, galena, and sphalerite in quartz-carbonate lenses in Hazelton argillite. Lead-isotope studies of galena from the prospect (Maas and others, p. 235) indicate that the deposit is Jurassic in age, contemporaneous at least in part with island-arc volcanism in Hazelton time (Alldrick, 1993).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Hyder

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Deposit has been explored by a trench. Samples of the deposit collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1992 or 1993 (Maas and others, p. 245) contain up to 42.9 ppm Ag, 7270 ppm Pb, and 4.76% Zn.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Smith, J.G., 1977, Geology of the Ketchikan D-1 and Bradfield Canal A-1 quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1425, 49 p.

  • Deposit

    Alldrick, D.J., 1993, Geology and metallogeny of the Stewart mining camp, northwestern British Columbia: British Columbia Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources Bulletin 85, 105 p., 2 plates.

  • Deposit

    Maas, K.M., Bittenbender, P E., and Still, J.C., 1995, Mineral investigations in the Ketchikan mining district, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 11-95, 606 p.

  • Deposit

    Koch, R.D., 1996, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-A, 35 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Maas and others, 1995

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic veins

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 17-MAY-1998 H. C. Berg U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.