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Unnamed (on south fork of Quartz Creek)

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, 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 10308799
MRDS ID A013478
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (on south fork of Quartz Creek)
Related records 10002535

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.39333, 65.5194 (WGS84)
Relative position This site represents several occurrences in a 1.5-mile-long area along the south fork of Quartz Creek. The map site is in the center of the area, in section 5, T. 1 N., R. 13 W., of the Kateel River Meridian. Cobb, 1972 (MF-389), locations 5, 6, and 7, and Miller and Elliott (1969), figure 2, locations 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, and 21.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Northwest Arctic(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Candle C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Candle N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Candle(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Goodhope-Spafarief Bay(hydrologic unit)

Northern Seward Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Gold Secondary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Tourmaline Gangue

Alteration

  • Quartz, tourmaline, and sericite alteration along closely-spaced fracture zones.

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.39333, 65.5194
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The hook-shaped, Late Cretaceous Quartz Creek quartz monzonite pluton is surrounded by a quartz-sericite-tourmaline altered zone in Jurassic-Cretaceous andesitic volcanic rocks. Sulfide-bearing tourmaline-quartz rock in altered quartz monzonite contains disseminated grains and masses of galena, sphalerite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite. Several gossans up to 4 feet wide in the quartz monzonite contain visible galena. Calcite veins cutting a fine-grained felsic intrusion contain pyrite, galena, and sphalerite. The following analytical results are from Miller and Elliott (1969). Location 11: 7 ppm Ag, greater than 1% As, 500 ppm Co, 300 ppm Cu, 1% Pb, and 200 ppm Zn. Location 12: 7 ppm Ag, greater than 1% As, 300 ppm Cr, 150 ppm Cu, 0.7% Pb, and 700 ppm Zn. Location 18C: 50 ppm Ag, greater than 500 ppm Cd, 2,000 ppm Cu, greater than 2% Pb, and greater than 1% Zn. Locations 19 A and B: up to 200 ppm Ag (5.8 ounces Ag per ton), up to 300 ppm Cd, up to 1,000 ppm Cu, greater than 2% Pb, and greater than 1% Zn. Location 21: 150 ppm Ag, 700 ppm Cu, 15 ppm Mo, greater than 2% Pb, and greater than 1% Zn.
  • Age = Late Cretaceous.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairhaven

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The area has been mapped and examined by the U.S. Geological Survey and various exploration companies.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Miller and Elliott, 1969

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Sulfides in altered quartz monzonite and andesite.
Deposit Other Comments = This site is one of numerous occurrences of argentiferous galena, sphalerite, pyrite and arsenopyrite in an 18-mile-long, 2- to 5-mile-wide zone of altered andesite surrounding the Quartz Creek quartz monzonite pluton. The altered zone trends N 15 W, across the drainage basins of Quartz Creek and the Kiwalik River, parallel to prominent lineaments in the area.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 12-JAN-00 Williams, Anita U.S. Geological Survey

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.