Silver Bell

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Copper, 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. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  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 10000207
MRDS ID A010244
Record type Site
Current site name Silver Bell

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -130.20482, 56.07477 (WGS84)
Relative position The Silver Bell prospect is in Section 11 at an elevation of about 4600 feet on a south-facing mountainside overlooking the West Fork of Texas Creek, about 2.5 miles northeast of the outlet of Texas Lake (Elliott and Koch, 1981, p. 14, loc. 46). The location is accurate to within about a quarter of a 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
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock unit name Hazelton Group;Hazelton Group;Texas Creek Granodiorite
    Rock description Hazelton Group;Hazelton Group;Texas Creek Granodiorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -130.20482, 56.07477

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of the Silver Bell prospect are pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic metavolcanic strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group, which is underlain and locally intruded by the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite; and the Eocene Hyder Quartz Monzonite, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks (Smith, 1977; Koch, 1996).? the deposit (Buddington, 1929, p. 44, 97) is a quartz fissure vein about 2 feet thick in brecciated argillite and graywacke; the mineralized breccia zone is nearly parallel to the bedding. The quartz carries inclusions of the country rock and generally sparsely disseminated pyrite, chalcopyrite, and a little galena and sphalerite. Part of the vein is a solid mass as much as 13 inches thick of galena and minor tetrahedrite.? Lead-isotope studies of galena from the Silver Bell occurrence (Maas and others, 1995, p. 229-248) indicate that the deposit is Eocene in age, contemporaneous with emplacement of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite.
  • Age = Lead-isotope studies of galena from the Silver Bell occurrence (Maas and others, 1995, p. 229-248) indicate that the deposit is Eocene in age, contemporaneous with emplacement of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Hyder

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Buddington, A.F., 1929, Geology of Hyder and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, with a reconnaissance of Chickamin River: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 807, 124 p.

  • 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

    Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1981, Mines, prospects, and selected metalliferous mineral occurrences in the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-B, 23 p., 1 sheet, scales 1:250,000 and 1:63,360.

  • 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 = Buddington, 1929

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic veins
Deposit Other Comments = Prospect originally staked in 1925. Vein was exposed for a length of 50 feet at the time of Buddington's visit in 1929 (p. 97).

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.