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Valdez

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, 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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10100964
MRDS ID A011740
Record type Site
Current site name Valdez
Alternate or previous names Nugget Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -143.71946, 61.64966 (WGS84)
Relative position On slopes north-northwest of the toe of Kuskulana Glacier. Best location: MacKevett and others, 1978, loc. 18. Accurate within radius of 100 feet.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valdez-Cordova(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

McCarthy C-8(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

McCarthy NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

McCarthy(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Chitina River(hydrologic unit)

Copper River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park(National Park)

National Park NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Copper Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
    Rock unit name Nikolai Greenstone
    Rock description Nikolai Greenstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -143.71946, 61.64966
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Quartz vein more than 1 m thick containing bornite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. Vein occurs along fault in Upper Triassic Nikolai Greenstone. Slablike copper nugget weighing several tonnes found as float in Nugget Creek near workings.
  • Age = Cretaceous

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Chistochina

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Development and production from 1916 to 1919. Produced 145 tonnes ore and concentrate

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = More than 1,200 m underground workings to depths of over 125 meters. Grade decreased with depth. Grab sample assayed >200 g/t Au, >2 percent Cu (MacKevett, 1976).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., and Maddren, A.G., 1908, The mineral resources of the Kotsina and Chitina valleys, Copper River region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 345, p. 127-175.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., and Maddren, A.G., 1909, Mineral resources of the Kotsina-Chitina region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 374, 103 p.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., and Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1923, The Kotsina-Kuskulana district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 745, 149 p.

  • Deposit

    Van Alstine, R.E., and Black, R.F., 1946, Copper deposits of the Kotsina-Kuskulana district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 947-G, p. 121-141.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1976, Mineral deposits and occurrences in the McCarthy quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-773-B, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Smith, J.G., Jones, D.L., and Winkler, G.R., 1978, Geologic map of the McCarthy C-8 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1418, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Smith, J.G., Jones, D.L., and Winkler, G.R., 1978, Geologic map of the McCarthy C-8 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1418, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Moffit and Mertie, 1923

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Vein

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 11-JUL-97 Nokleberg, W.J. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 11-JUL-97 Richter, D.H. 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.