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Wheeler

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Lead, Zinc
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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. 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 10001852
MRDS ID A012667
Record type Site
Current site name Wheeler
Related records 10111809

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.6472, 64.97625 (WGS84)
Relative position This prospect has two parts, one on each side of the Pilgrim River just below the mouth of Iron Creek (SO127). The location used here is on the northwest side of the river; it is locality 3 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).

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)

Imuruk Basin(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
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Boulangerite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Ankerite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation with abundant limonite, and possible silicification.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -164.6472, 64.97625
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This locality has two parts, one on each side of the Pilgrim (Kruzgamepa) River, just downstream from the mouth of Iron Creek (SO127). They are separated by 1,000 feet of the Pilgrim River floodplain. The deposits on the northwest side of the river contain lenses of massive galena in marble near a contact with schist (Smith, 1908). One lense exposed over a distance of 3 feet in a prospect trench contained pyrite, finely crystalline galena, and minor sphalerite. A 2-foot sample across the highest grade part contained 0.30 ounces Au per ton, 2.3 ounces Ag per ton, and 2.95 percent Pb (Wimmler, 1926, in Asher, 1969, DGGS R18). Two assays reported by the owner ran 22.87 percent Pb and 20.0 ounces Ag per ton and 14.2 percent Pb and 14.5 ounces Ag per ton. The deposits on the southeast side of the river also include discontinuous lenses of massive galena. A 8- to 10-foot long, 6-foot wide,and 1.5-foot thick lense of pyrite, fine galena, and heavy limonite with siliceous marble, calcite,and quartz gangue was removed from a short, 25-foot-long adit. Some boulangerite may also be present (Sainsbury and others, 1972). Pb-isotope analysis of one galena sample from this locality gave results identical to samples from the Red Dog and Drench Water Creek deposits of the western Brooks Range (Church and others, 1985). The mineralization is preferentially developed in the marble but nearby quartz mica schist contains pyrite. The schist/marble contacts appear sheared (Cathcart, 1922) but the massive galena is described as a replacement of the host marble (Smith, 1908). The host rocks are part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and others, 1986).
  • Age = Not known; deposits seem to be deformed or at least partly localized along shears; host rocks are lower Paleozoic in age.
  • Age = Host rock is Silurian - Cambrian.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Kougarok

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = A few tons of ore were apparently mined and shipped.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = On the northwest side of the Pilgrim River, an adit, prospect trenches, and a short 2- foot-deep shaft were dug. On the southeast side of the river, a 25-foot-long adit and numerous prospect pits explored the deposits. Some diamond drilling appears to have occurred in 1971 or 1972 (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 512).

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 = Lenses of galena, pyrite, some sphalerite, and possibly boulangerite in marble near contacts with schist.

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.