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Comet Mine

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Lead
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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. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Land status
  14. Workings at the site
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001362
MRDS ID A012103
Record type Site
Current site name Comet Mine
Related records 10233596

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -135.07456, 58.85531 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Juneau(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Juneau D-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Juneau NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Juneau(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lynn Canal(hydrologic unit)

Northern 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

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS PRINTED ON JUNEAU D-4 QUAD., 1: 63360 TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES LAND STATUS VALUE CALCULATED 6-94 USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS WITH BLM 1:2,500,000 SCALE OWNERSHIP STATUS MAP (1991).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Tertiary
Lead Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SPECTACULAR POCKETS OF NATIVE GOLD HAVE BEEN FOUND IN COMET VEIN; ABOUT 87% FREE-MILLING

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Calcite Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result ORE AVERAGED LESS THAN 0.5 OZ/TON AU, USGS BULL 1246, P. 160

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Jualin Diorite
    Rock description Jualin Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Berners Formation
    Rock description Berners Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -135.07456, 58.85531
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Comet Vein Cut Off By Fault To The N; Extension Not Found

Ore body information

  • Strike N 5 E
    Dip 70 E
    Length 152.4M
    Width 2.74M
    Depth to bottom 182.88M

Comments on the geologic information

  • DEPOSIT IS IN DIORITE NEAR, BUT NORMAL TO, CONTACT WITH SLATE AND SLATE AND GRAYWALKE OF THE BERNERS FORMATION

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1891
Year of first production 1894
Year of last production 1901

Mining district

District name Juneau/Berner'S Bay

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Comments on the production information

  • 86% OF TOTAL PRODUCTION FROM BERNER'S BAY AREA WAS FROM COMET AND JUALIN MINES; COMET PRODUCED ABOUT 22,250 FINE OZ AU FROM 50,000 TONS OF ORE MINED, 1894-1901; MILL RECOVERY WAS 87% BY AMALGAMATION AND 5% IN CONCENTRATES; METZ AND WIEBMER, 1977 UNPUB. REPORT AND USGS OFR 84-572, P. 158, NO. 18

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • METZ AND WIEBMER, 1977 UNPUB. REPORT

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 1609.3M
    Overall depth 198.12M

Comments on the workings information

  • MORE THAN 1 MI OF UNDERGROUND WORKINGS ON 10 LEVELS, EACH FROM 300 TO 500 FT LONG; COMET VEIN STOPED FROM 600 FT LEVEL TO SURFACE, MINED OUT; WORKINGS INACCESSIBLE

Comments on development

  • MINING 1894-1901; CLOSED DOWN DUE TO LITIGATION, 1901; CONSOLIDATED WITH KENSINGTON, 1915; SEE WORKINGS COMMENTS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    USGS 18TH ANNUAL REPORT, PART 3, P. 76-77

  • Deposit

    USGS BULL 287, P. 136-137

  • Deposit

    USGS BULL 284, P. 32

  • Deposit

    USGS BULL 446, P. 42-43

  • Deposit

    USGS BULL 1246, P. 160

  • Deposit

    METZ, PAUL A. AND WIEBMER, JOHN D., 1977, M.I.R.L. SUMMARY FILE REPORT; EUREKA, KENSINGTON, COMET, JOHNSON AND JUALIN MINE, BERNER'S BAY, JUNEAU DISTRICT, ALASKA: UNPUBLISHED REPORT TO USBM, FIELD OPERATIONS CENTER, JUNEAU, AK.

  • Deposit

    USGS OFR 85-717, NO. J098

  • Other Database

    BAG-OFR-85-717-098

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SEE ALSO: KENSINGTON, JUALIN ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit 2 QUARTZ VEINS ABOUT 50 FT APART; MOST PRODUCTION WAS FROM COMET VEIN, 300-500 FT LONG; AVERAGED 2 TO 3 FT IN WIDTH AT THE SURFACE, BUT WAS UP TO 9 FT THICK IN WORKINGS; VEINS CARRY PYRITE, CHALCOPYRITE, GALENA AND FREE GOLD

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1985 Leonard, Kenneth R. (Elliott, R. L.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

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.