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Wheeler

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper
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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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308716
Record type Site
Current site name Wheeler

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.64431, 64.91631 (WGS84)
Relative position This is a copper mine located on an east-facing marble slope in the headwaters of West Branch Sherrette Creek, at an elevation of about 1,350 feet. The location used by Cobb (1972, MF 445, locality 6) is closer to the upper Benson Creek occurrence (SO125). Cobb (1978, OF 78-181) referred to this site as Wheeler (Sherrette Cr.). This is Asher's (1969, DGGS R18) locality 1.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Solomon D-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Solomon(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Azurite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Malachite Ore
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • Silicification (?) and oxidation; the development of silica-rich rocks at or near the the base of Paleozoic marble overlying characterizes this type of copper occurrence.

Nearby scientific data

(1) -164.64431, 64.91631
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Wheeler mine has received more work than any other similar copper-bearing deposit in the area. The mine was explored by several prospecting pits, a 200-foot-long adit in barren marble, and a 90-foot-deep shaft that did not intersect the adit (Cathcart, 1922). The shaft was sunk on a 8-foot-wide exposure of malachite and encountered 30 feet of copper-bearing silica-rich rock, 5 feet of schist, and barren marble below. The copper-bearing zone conforms with layering in the host rock. Material on the shaft dump consists of seams of limonite and malachite to 3 inches wide and remnants of chalcopyrite. High grade malachite-azurite ore was handpicked and shipped to the Tacoma, Washington smelter in 1917 or 1918 (Wimmler, 1926, in Asher, 1969, DGGS R18). This ore was from the upper 20 feet of the shaft and assayed 0.33 ounces Ag per ton, 35.68 percent Cu, 7.60 percent Fe, and 15.40 percent silica. Another shipment, primarily from the schist zone in the shaft, assayed 1.82 ounces Au per ton, 5.16 ounces Ag per ton, and 17.18 percent Cu (Wimmler, 1926, in Asher, 1969, DGGS R18). A total of 24.5 tons of ore were shipped before 1920 (Cathcart, 1922). This deposit is one of many occurrences of copper mineralization in silica-rich rocks near the regional contact between marble in a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage and pelitic schist of possible Cambrian or Precambrian age (Till and others, 1986). This type of copper occurrence is present at several localities in the western Solomon quadrangle (Gamble, 1988) and has similarities to several in the Kougarok area of the northeastern Teller quadrangle. In the Teller quadrangle, the Ward mine (TE071) is an example of this type of copper mineral occurrence. The Ward mine has been described as a zone of silicification in marble above a thrust contact with underlying metapelitic schist (Sainsbury and others, 1969; Sainsbury, 1975, p. 90-94). The silica-rich rocks have been metamorphosed and commonly have a laminar fabric. Copper-bearing minerals, mostly malachite but also including azurite and in places chalcopyrite and possibly bornite, are disseminated in the silica-rich rocks. The minor sulfides tend to be along faint laminae and joints (Sainsbury and others, 1969, p. 22). Malachite and azurite also occur in small veins and veinlets in the silica-rich rocks. The summary characterization of this type of Seward Peninsula mineral deposit by Sainsbury (1975, p. 90-94) contains inconsistencies with some descriptions of these deposits. Their origin is uncertain and other possibilities should be considered. One possiblity is that the silica-rich rocks are quartzites and that there is a stratigraphic control to the Ward deposit and similar occurrences elsewhere on Seward Peininsula. Quarzite at the base of the regional carbonate assemblage is recognized elsewhere in the Kougarok Mountain area (Puchner, 1986, p. 1777).
  • Age = Unknown; if stratigraphic controls are important then it is probably Paleozoic in age.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Kougarok

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = High grade malachite-azurite ore was handpicked and shipped to the Tacoma, Washington smelter in 1917 or 1918 (Wimmler, 1926, in Asher, 1969, DGGS R18). This ore was from the upper 20 feet of the shaft and assayed 0.33 ounces Ag per ton, 35.68 percent Cu, 7.60 percent Fe, and 15.40 percent silica. Another shipment, primarily from the schist zone in the shaft, assayed 1.82 ounces Au per ton, 5.16 ounces Ag per ton, and 17.18 percent Cu (Wimmler, 1926, in Asher, 1969, DGGS R18). A total of 24.5 tons of ore were shipped before 1920 (Cathcart, 1922).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Wheeler mine has received more work than any other similar copper-bearing deposit in the area. The deposit was explored by several propecting pits, a 200-foot long adit in barren marble, and a 90-foot-deep shaft that did not intersect the adit (Cathcart, 1922).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Wimmler, 1926 (in Asher, 1969, DGGS R18)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Copper-bearing mineralization in silica-rich zones at or near base of marble.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 19-AUG-1999 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

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