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El Nido Gold-Silver Mine

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Tungsten, Zinc, Lead, 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. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Controls for ore emplacement
  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 10002330
MRDS ID A013242
Record type Site
Current site name El Nido Gold-Silver Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -136.28788, 57.94888 (WGS84)
Elevation 322
Relative position 1.2 MI SW OF MOUTH OF CANN CREEK ON W. SHORE OF LISIANSKI INLET

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hoonah-Angoon(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Sitka D-7(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Sitka NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Sitka W OE(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Central 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

  • USGS B 1058-E, PLATE 13; USGS MF-467, LOC. 6; USGS MF 1476-B, LOC. 4. LOCATION IS PORTAL OF EL NIDO MINE. 0.45 MI SE OF APEX MINE. 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
Silver Primary
Tungsten Critical Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Copper Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Pyrite Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Analytical data

Result SAMPLES ACROSS 13 FT. OF STOCKWORK AVERAGED 0.33 OZ/TON AU AND 0.44 OZ/TON AG
Result SAMPLE ACROSS 16 FT. OF STOCKWORK AVERAGED 0.96 OZ/TON AU. SURFACE OUTCROP SAMPLES REPORTED MORE THAN 24 OZ/TON AU. AVERAGE ASSAY VALUE FOR MINE ESTIMATED AT 1.6 OZ/TON AU. DATA FROM USGS B 773, P. 121. VEIN ESTIMATED TO CONTAIN AVERAGE OF UP TO 0.2% WO3, WITH HIGH-GRADE PORTION UP TO 3% WO3 IN VEIN NEAR FACE, ACCORDING TO USGS B 963-A, P. 23.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -136.28788, 57.94888
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 68 DEGREES E
    Dip 30 DEGREES-80 DEGREES SE

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Veins Along Aplite Dike And Fault Zone.

Comments on the geologic information

  • APLITE DIKES AND QUARTZ VEINS ALONG FAULT ZONE IN CRET-JUR DIORITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1920
Discoverer J.H. Cann
Year of first production 1921
Year of last production 1939

Mining district

District name Chichagof

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ACCORDING TO USGS MF-1476-B, ESTIMATED RESERVES ARE 25,000 OZ. AU FOR BOTH APEX AND EL NIDO MINES.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 548.64M
    Overall length 243.84M
    Overall width 91.44M

Comments on the workings information

  • TWO LEVELS CONSISTING OF 1,500 FT. OF TUNNELS AND 300 FT. OF RAISES. AERIAL TRAMWAY TO MILL, AND POWER STATION. UNDERGROUND WORKINGS IN GOOD CONDITION AS OF 1951, BUT BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT MOSTLY VANDALIZED OR DESTROYED BY WEATHER.

Comments on development

  • 18 CLAIMS STAKED 1920 BY J.H. CANN (APEX-EL NIDO MINING CO.). TUNNEL STARTED 1921, MINING CONTINUED INTERMITTENTLY TO 1939. 55 LODE CLAIMS ACTIVE IN AREA AS OF 1977, ACCORDING TO USBM OFR 20-73

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    USGS B 1058-E, P. 143, 200-204, PL. 13 (1978)

  • Deposit

    USGS B 963-A, P. 20-23 (1949)

  • Deposit

    USGS B 773, P. 114-121 (1925)

  • Deposit

    USGS B 929, P. 143-145 (1941)

  • Deposit

    USGS OF 78-450, P. 8-11 (1978)

  • Deposit

    USGS MF-1476-B, P. 1, LOC. 4 (1982)

  • Deposit

    USBM OFR 20-73, LOC. 5 (1978)

  • Deposit

    USGS MF-467, LOC. 6 (1972)

  • Other Database

    BAG-B-1058-E-PL-13

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit EL NIDO VEIN IS FISSURE TYPE QUARTZ VEINS IN FAULT ZONE IN DIORITE COUNTRY ROCK. VEINS ARE ON EITHER OR BOTH SIDES OF APLITE DIKE, AND STRIKE N 68 DEGREES E AND DIP 30 DEGREES-80 DEGREES SE. FAULT HAS BEEN TRACED FOR 2,000 FT. AND FREE GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ FOR 1,700 FT. ALONG FAULT. APLITE DIKE HAS AVERAGE THICKNESS OF 10 FT. WITH VEIN FROM 6 IN.-7 FT. WIDE. VEIN CONSISTS OF MILKY-WHITE QUARTZ, WITH SMALL AMOUNT OF CALCITE AND SERICITE, AND ARSENOPYRITE, SPHALERITE, GALENA, PYRITE, FREE GOLD, SCHEELITE, AND TRACE OF CHALCOPYRITE. SULFIDE MINERALIZATION IS SPARSE. SCHEELITE VEINLETS UP TO 6 IN. WIDE AND 3 FT. LONG ARE PRESENT ALONG FACE OF ADITS, AND DISSEMINATED IN VEIN. NUMEROUS GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ OFFSHOOT VEINS BRANCH OFF MAIN VEIN, FORMING STOCKWORK.
Deposit NO MINING SINCE 1939. CONSIDERABLE UNMINED QUARTZ VEINS OF UNKNOWN GRADE REMAIN. EXCEPT NEAR FACE OF LOWER ADIT, SCHEELITE DOES NOT APPEAR TO CONSTITUTE MINEABLE ORE. VERTICAL FAULT STRIKING N 65 DEGREES E SEPARATES APEX AND EL NIDO VEINS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1987 Leonard, Kenneth R. (Huber, Donald F.) U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 02-SEP-1994 Mosier, Dan U.S. Geological Survey PARSED OUT HOST ROCK AND ASSOCIATED ROCK TYPES, AGES, UNIT NAMES, AND UNIT AGES.

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.