1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Kennecott Mines

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Copper, Silver, Zinc, Lead, Mercury
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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 10107517
MRDS ID A011719
Record type Site
Current site name Kennecott Mines
Alternate or previous names Kennecott Copper Corporation, Mines: Bonanza, Jumbo, Eric, Mother Lode, Prospects: Independence

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -142.85221, 61.52328 (WGS84)
Relative position APPROXIMATELY 3 MI NE OF KENNICOTT, ALASKA

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-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

McCarthy NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

McCarthy C(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)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION GIVEN IS THAT OF THE JUMBO MINE ADIT, WHICH IS PRINTED ON THE MCCARTHY C5 QUAD.; MAJOR MINES AND PROSPECTS OF KENNECOTT COPPER CORP. LIE WITHIN 2 MI RADIUS OF JUMBO 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
Copper Primary
Silver Primary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SOME OF THE HIGHEST GRADE CU ORE EVER MINED CAME FROM THIS DEPOSIT;NO DISCRETE AG MINERALS FOUND

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Cinnabar Ore
Covellite Ore
Enargite Ore
Galena Ore
Malachite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tennantite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation Not Related To Depth; Practically Entire Deposit Has Been Partially Oxidized, Even In Deepest Levels Of Mine; Oxidized Ore Is Composed Of: Malachite, Limonite, Covellite, Antlerite, Azurite, Chalcanthite, Cuprite, Cu Arsenates And Brochantite?

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
    Rock unit name Nikolai Greenstone; Altered Tholeiitic Basalt Sequence
    Rock description Nikolai Greenstone; Altered Tholeiitic Basalt Sequence
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Chitistone Limestone; Partially Dolomitized And Containing Products Of Cyclical Sabkha Deposition Locally
    Rock description Chitistone Limestone; Partially Dolomitized And Containing Products Of Cyclical Sabkha Deposition Locally

Nearby scientific data

(1) -142.85221, 61.52328
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • ALL MAJOR DEPOSITS ARE IN LOWER PART OF CHITISTONE LIMESTONE, GENERALLY LESS THAN 100 M ABOVE THE CONTACT WITH THE UNDERLYING NIKOLAI GREENSTONE; INDEPENDENCE PROSPECT IS ON CHALCOCITE AND BORNITE BEARING VEINS IN SHEAR ZONES MAINLY IN NIKOLAI GREENSTONE NEAR THE LIMESTONE CONTACT; ORE GENESIS COMPLEX AND OBSCURE; ARMSTRONG AND MACKEVETT, (1975), SUGGEST THAT INITIAL ORE LOCALIZATION WAS CONTROLLED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF CU-RICH OXYGENATED GROUNDWATER DERIVED FROM NIKOLAI GREENSTONE TERRANE INTO DOLOMITIC SABHKA DEPOSITS IN THE CHITISTONE LIMESTONE DURING THE LATE TRIGSSIC TO LATE JURASSIC; DEPOSITS WERE LATER REMOBILIZED DURING LATE JURASSIC AND EARLY CRETACEOUS REGIONAL OROGENY, GSA ABS W/PROG, 1975 ANN. MTGS., V. 7, NO. 7, P. 980

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1900
Discoverer C.L. Warner, Jack Smith
Year of first production 1911
Year of last production 1938

Mining district

District name Nizina

Comments on the workings information

  • 4 INTERCONNECTED MINES WITH COMBINED LENGTH OF OVER 70 MI IN UNDER GROUND WORKINGS; DEEPEST WORKINGS REACH 2800 FT ELEVATION; ADITS LOCATED BETWEEN 4000 AND 6000 FT; SMALL AMOUNT OF SURFACE ARE ALSO MINED

Comments on development

  • BONANZA, JUMBO, AND ERIC MINES OF KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION AND MOTHER LODE MINE OF SUBSIDIARY MOTHER LODE COALITION MINES CORP. WERE EVENTUALLY INTERCONNECTED AND OPERATED AS A UNIT; BONANZA ORE BODY DISCOVERED, 1900; ABOUT 1907, MOST CLAIMS IN AREA WERE CONSOLIDATED UNDER KENNECOTT COPPER CORP.; FIRST PRODUCTION FROM BONANZA IN 1911, FROM JUMBO IN 1913, AND FROM ERIE IN 1916; IN 1918 KENNECOTT AQUIRED CONTROL OF MOTHER LODE MINE, WHICH HAD BEEN PRODUCING SINCE 1913; ALL MINES CLOSED IN 1938; SOME INTERMITTENT SMALL-SCALE SURFICIAL MINING SINCE THEN

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MAJOR DEPOSITS: MASSIVE CHALCOCITE, AND CU SULFIDES IN IRREGULAR VEIN-LIKE BODIES WITH CROSS SECTIONS RESEMBLING UPRIGHT ISOCELES TRIANGLES; LARGEST ORE BODY, IN JUMBO MINE, AVERAGED 110 M IN HEIGHT, WAS BETWEEN 0.6-18.5 M IN WIDTH AND EXTENDED ALONG A NE PLUNGE FOR 460 M; ALSO: VEINS, PODS AND IRREGULAR MASSES ALONG DISCRETE STRATIGRAPHIC HORIZONS; APPROXIMATELY 25% OF ORE COMPOSED OF OXIDIZED MINERALS, MAINLY MALACHITE, COVELLITE, ANTLERITE, AZURITE AND CHALCANTHITE; ALSO MINOR PRODUCTION FROM CHALCOCITE ORE IN TALUS AND GLACIAL PLACER DEPOSITS DERIVED FROM BONANZA LODE
Deposit KENNECOTT MINES WERE SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTORS TO WORLD CU PRODUCTION FOR MANY YEARS ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-85 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.

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.