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Warner Bay

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Molybdenum, Lead, Zinc, Tin, Tungsten
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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. 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 10308803
MRDS ID A012452
Record type Site
Current site name Warner Bay
Alternate or previous names Prospect Bay
Related records 10094053

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -158.41244, 56.14928 (WGS84)
Relative position This site is at or near sea level on the west side of Warner Bay just to the south of the spit (Berg and Cobb, 1967, locality 3; Cobb, 1972: MF-374; Cobb, 1980: OFR 80-909, locality 3; MacKevett and Holloway, 1977, locality 3; Cox and others, 1981, locality 11; Nokleberg and others, 1987, locality AP 9). Site location as plotted is accurate to within 1 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lake and Peninsula(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chignik A-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Chignik SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chignik(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Shelikof Strait(hydrologic unit)

Kodiak-Shelikof(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Far West, Incorporated(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Molybdenum Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Tin Critical Secondary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Wolframite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Zeolite Gangue

Alteration

  • Alteration of granodiorite host rock is limited to partial alteration (?) of amphibole to biotite and slight chloritization of biotite. Clasts of granodiorite in the breccia pipe exhibit propylitic alteration. Biotitic and sericitic alteration occur as thin selvages along veinlets.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 79
USGS model code 21a
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu-Mo
Mark3 model number 2

Nearby scientific data

(1) -158.41244, 56.14928
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This prospect is within the northeast part of the Devils Bay batholith (Detterman and others, 1981). This pluton is a multiphase granodiorite to tonalite which intrudes sediments of the Cretaceous Hoodo Formation. Potassium-argon dates of the pluton indicate a range of between 5 and 10 million years (Wilson, 1980). Atwood (1911) first described this prospect as a 50-foot wide crushed zone containing chalcopyrite, galena, pyrite, quartz and sphalerite. Later, more extensive investigation has shown that mineralization is exposed mostly in vertical cliffs extending down to sea level. Chalcopyrite and molybdenite occur as veinlets on joint surfaces spaced 5 to 10 centimeters apart (Cox and others, 1981). The extent of this mineralization has not been reported. Four samples collected by Resource Associates of Alaska in 1979 assayed as follows: 520 to 16,000 ppm copper, 280 to 9,110 ppm molybdenum, 0.4 to 2.5 ppm silver, 20 ppm tin, and 9-128 ppm tungsten. Cox and others (1981) list the grade of this mineralization at 0 to 0.07 percent molybdenum with a trace of copper. Nokleberg and others (1987) list an average grade of 0.03 percent copper with values up to 0.7 percent. Massive sulfide veins, ranging in width from 2 inches to 4 feet occur filling a northwest-trending nearly vertical fracture system. These are spaced approximately 100 feet apart over a distance of 3500 feet along the beach. Assays of this material by Resource Associates of Alaska returned values of up to 5.7 percent copper, 0.312 ounce gold per ton, 0.91 percent molybdenum, 1.25 percent lead, 395 ppm tungsten, and 10.8 percent zinc (Anderson and others, 1979). One sample reported 3000 ppm lanthanum. A breccia pipe, approximately 3 meters in diameter, occurs at the extreme north end of the showing. It contains clasts of propylitically altered granodiorite cemented by galena, pyrite, sphalerite, calcite, chlorite, and zeolites. The small tonnage in sight is estimated at >10,000 tonnes. Anderson and others (1979) give values for a high-grade sample as follows: 1600 ppm copper, 0.1 ppm gold, 4000 ppm lead, 2.3 ppm silver, 8 ppm tungsten, 400 ppm zinc. Four holes were drilled on the prospect in 1965 and 1966 by Pan American Exploration (now Amoco) for a total of 2432 feet Cobb (1980: OFR 80-909) reports drilling as recent as 1977.
  • Age = The age of mineralization is estimated at less than 6.5 million years (Wilson, 1980).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Alaska Peninsula

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Two short adits were driven in the early 1900's (Atwood, 1911). In the 1960's four holes were drilled for a total of 2432 feet. Some drilling has been reported as late as 1977. Bear Creek Mining Company visited the property in 1975 and Resource Associates mapped and sampled there in 1979.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Wilson and Cox, 1983

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Porphyry copper-molybdenum; polymetallic vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 21a, 22c)
Deposit Model Number = 21a, 22c
Deposit Other Comments = This site is located on land patented by or interim conveyed to the Bristol Bay Native Corporation.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 08-FEB-2000 S.H. Pilcher 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.