Middle Fork Property

Past Producer in King county in Washington, United States with commodities Copper, Molybdenum, Gold, Silver
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Mineral rights holdings
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10131061
MAS/MILS ID 0530330087
Record type Deposit
Current site name Middle Fork Property
Alternate or previous names Porter Zone - 0530331239, Clipper Zone, Clipper Adit, Snoqualmie River, Condor Zone - 0530331241, Hemlock Zone - 0530331240

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -121.3498, 47.51152 (WGS84)
Elevation 926
Location accuracy 100(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

King(county)

Washington(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Snow Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Skykomish River(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Wenatchee(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Snoqualmie(hydrologic unit)

Puget Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Puget Sound(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Washington King

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Willamette 023 N 011 E 01 Washington

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Molybdenum Secondary
Gold Secondary
Silver Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Silver Trace

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 53
USGS model code 17
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu
Mark3 model number 4

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -121.3498, 47.51152

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Strike N20E
    Dip 60N
    Thickness 35M
    Length 9656M
    Width 441M
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 SHEAR ZONE
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 BRECCIA FILL
    Shape of Orebody #2 MASSIVE
    Shape of Orebody #3 IRREGULAR
    Primary mode of Origin HYDROTHERMAL
    Primary Ore Control FAULTING
    Secondary Ore Control FRACTURING
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. UNKNOWN
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 SERICITIC
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #2 POTASSIC
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #3 PROPYLITIC
    Strike And Dip N20E:60N
    Minimum Depth to Top 2
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 2
    Date of Last Modification 830316

Comments on the geologic information

  • From Derkey and others (1990, p. 111, Condor-Hemlock) Of the numerous mineralized zones in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie system (Livingston, 1971, p. 152-153), the Condor-Hemlock contains the best demonstrated reserves. The deposit is open at depth (below 1,495 ft). The Condor-Hemlock zone is in the Snoqualmie batholith, northern phase granodiorite and tonalite that contains biotite and hornblende; locally it contains clinopyroxene. The rocks are light colored, medium crystalline, mostly equigranular with hypidiomorphic texture, and coarsely jointed. The northern phase is about 25 m.y. old, on the basis of interpretation of numerous discordant K-Ar ages of both hornblende and biotite (Frizzell and others, 1984, p. 18).The Condor-Hemlock is in a northwest-trending mineralized zone. The Condor is located at the center of the zone, and the Hemlock is located at the southeast end of the zone. The mineralization is in shear zones, along fractures, and in veins in granodiorite and tonalite. Hydrothermal alteration grades from propylitic at the surface to quartz-sericite-chlorite to K-feldspar predominating at depth. Pyrrhotite increases and pyrite decreases with depth.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1894

Mining district

District name Snoqualmie

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Located Claim
Type of mineral rights Patented
Type of mineral rights Private Lease

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner National Resources Development Corp.
    Interest 100
    Home office Washington
    Year 1977

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • From Derkey and others (1990, p. 111, Condor-Hemlock) Secondary enrichment of covellite and chalcocite was found in a drill hole when the West Condor fault was intercepted between 151 ft and 203 ft. This 52-ft intercept averaged 1.66 % Cu, more than 1.0 oz/ton Ag, and $0.75 gold per ton (November 15, 1965 prices). The mineralized zone has a strike length of 1,000 feet, a thickness of 400 feet, and a depth of more than 400 feet. The Condor portion of the zone has potential reserves of 25-30 million tons averaging 0.616 % Cu and 0.032 % MoS2. Gold and silver values range from $0.40 to $1.25 per ton (October 1967 prices). The Hemlock zone (including part of another zone called the Porter and some adjacent zones) has been tested by 23 drill holes (total footage unknown) and three adits totalling 3,200 feet. By 1975, potential reserves of 91 million tons averaging 0.6-0.8% Cu and 0.02-0.05% MoS2 in the combined Porter and Hemlock zones was indicated (Gualtieri and others, 1975).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit From Thurber and others (1989, p. 94-97) The southwest part of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River area, which includes the Porter, Hemlock, and Condor zones, is considered to have the greatest resource potential (fig. 9). The three zones are along or near the Copper Queen fault and the less well developed faults that intersect it. The Hemlock and Porter zones are believed to be contiguous and are discussed together. The 2380 adit is the main working level for the Hemlock zone. Surface sampling and shallow core holes in the Porter and Hemlock zones indicated areas of copper-rich rock as much as 85 ft (25.9 m) wide, mainly in northeast-trending structures. Drilling results in these zones show that the disseminated copper is mainly below the 3,200-ft (975-m) elevation. Two core drill holes, one from the surface outside the boundary of the Hemlock zone and one from underground in the 2795 adit (fig. 9), penetrated to 2,277-ft and 2,155-ft (694.0- and 656.8-m) elevations, respectively, in the downward projection of the Hemlock zone. Silicified rock and the disseminated sulfide minerals indicate that a deeper zone of copper-rich rock may exist at depth below the bottoms of the holes. Sampling and petrographic studies of rock from the 1,990-ft-long (606.7 m) 2380 arlit confirm the existence of copper there. The Hemlock breccia zone was penetrated from the portal of the adit to the 1,365-ft (416.1-m) point. From that point to the working face, another 625 ft (109.5 m), the rock becomes increasingly brecciated, altered, and mineralized, and the ratio of chalcopyrite to other sulfides becomes greater. Copper content of the wallrock averages approximately 0.44 percent from the 1,400-ft (426.7-m) point to the face and increases to 0.61 percent in the innermost 90 ft (27.4 m). Also, in the innermost 100 ft (30.5 m) of the adit, some 5-ft-long (1.5 m) samples contain as much as 1.14 percent copper. Samples from a 393-ft-Iong (119.8 m) crosscut driven (fig. 9) from the 2380 level toward the center of the Hemlock zone show an overall increase in copper values near the face. Samples taken from a 30-ft-long (9.1 m) interval between 338 and 368 ft (103.0 and 112.2 m) have a weighted average of 0.78 percent copper. The copper minerals and the rock alteration in the crosscut are similar to those in the 2380 adit. A comparison of the rocks observed on the surface of the Hemlock breccia zone with those found approximately 1,650 ft (503 m) vertically below in the workings shows a pronounced increase in intensity of alteration and in the amount of copper with depth. On the surface, intensely altered rock and copper sulfide minerals commonly occur only within or adjacent to fractures; whereas, at the 2380 level, alteration and copper mineralization have been pervasive through large volumes of the brecciated rock (fig. 10). A. R. Grant (written commun., 1971) observed that some large blocks of massive unaltered rock at the surface have graded vertically into mineralized and altered rock at the 2380 level. Further, because the eastern wall of the breccia zone dips steeply eastward, the area of the mineralized zone on the 2380 level is larger than on the surface. The core drilling program by a lessee in 1975 confirmed that the altered and copper-mineralized rock continues to lower elevations in the Hemlock breccia zone. The program explored the Hemlock zone to the 1,000-ft (305-m) elevation.
General This deposit includes information from MRDS records describing the Condor-Hemlock, Clipper, and Three Brothers sites.
Deposit The Middle Fork Snoqualmie contains a series of mineralized highly fractured/brecciated zone along a NNE trend that are intersected by northwesterly trending fault zones. They may be part of one porphyry Cu (Mo) mineralizing event. Each highly fractured zone has a MRDS record. The records can found by searching for "Middle Fork Property" as a Grouping name in the Browser interface Advanced search. The location used is about in the middle of this fractured zone.
General From Derkey and others (1990, p. 111, Condor-Hemlock) Both patented and unpatented claims are owned (1990) by United Cascade Mining Company, Inc. The deposit was explored by Anaconda Copper Co., Howe Sound Co., Climax Molybdenum Corp., Anaconda Co., Bear Creek Mining Co., Cities Services Minerals Corp., Westland Mines Ltd., Natural Resources Development Corp., Houston Oil and Minerals, and Electras Resources.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 22-FEB-94 Thurber, H.K. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 18-MAY-09 Causey, J. Douglas U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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