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Drone Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Lead, Zinc, Silver, Arsenic, Copper, Antimony
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  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 10307239
Record type Site
Current site name Drone Creek
Alternate or previous names Dc

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -145.95289, 64.8597 (WGS84)
Relative position The Drone Creek, or DC, Prospect is situated on a north-facing slope to Munson Creek, about 2 miles south of the junction of Munson Creek and Wheeler Creek (BD047). The exact location and extent of the Drone Creek prospect is not well defined. The approximate location of the center of the prospect is in section 4., T. 1 S., R. 6 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. It was not identified as a separate location by Cobb (1972; MF-388) or by Cobb and Eberlein (1980).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta D-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Big Delta NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Big Delta C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Silver Secondary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Boulangerite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 208
USGS model code 31a
Deposit model name Sedimentary exhalative Zn-Pb
Mark3 model number 13
Model code 184
USGS model code 28a
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, kuroko
Mark3 model number 93

Nearby scientific data

(1) -145.95289, 64.8597
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The prospect is part of the Chena Slate Belt, originally delineated by Menzie and Foster (1979), and later defined by Dusel-Bacon and others (1998). They describe the region as thrust sheets of ductilely deformed, metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks of uncertain age and origin that are overlain by klippen of weakly metamorphosed oceanic rocks, and intruded by post-kinematic, Lower Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary granite. Based on stratigraphic similarities and limited fossil ages and a U-Pb zircon age of 356 Ma, Mortenson (1992) interpreted that the rocks are similar to metamorphosed rocks in the eastern Alaska Range, western and southeastern Yukon (Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998), and unmetamorphosed rocks of the Selwyn Basin (Murphy and Abbott, 1995). The Chena Slate Belt is composed of siliceous and carbonaceous black quartzite, slate, and phyllite. At the Drone Creek Prospect, drilling encountered 45 meters of sulfide-bearing zones. Mineralization of the prospect consists of layered zones parallel to foliation that contain a variable combination of sulfides, including boulangerite, galena, pyrite, and sphalerite, with minor arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. The best intervals include: 1) 17 meters of black, carbonaceous slate with laminae containing 5% to 7% sphalerite, galena, pyrite, and pyrrhotite; and 2) a sphalerite-rich zone, 1.2 meters thick containing 1.88% Zn, 820 ppm Pb, and 4.4 ppm Ag. Pyrite occurs as subhedral cubes and porphyroblasts. Sphalerite, with an 84% ZnS composition, occurs as anhedral lenses. Galena is interstitial to pyrite and sphalerite (Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998). The original sedimentary features in the carbonaceous rocks have been eliminated by ductile shearing, folding, and low- to medium-grade metamorphism. Early, near-vertical, quartz veining is cut by low angle shears, which commonly contain pyrite. Deformation of the sulfides indicated that mineralization of the DC Prospect predates regional metamorphism. Pyrite deposition occurred both before and after quartz veining and shearing (Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998). Isotopic Pb data from galena collected from the Chena Slate Belt indicates a mineralization age of Devono-Mississippian. In addition, a 346.4 +/-1 Ma U-Pb zircon age was obtained from interlayered felsic tuffs from the eastern section of the Chena Slate Belt. These dates and the presence of sulfide deposition textures parallel to metamorphic foliation and compositional layering indicate a syngenetic origin for the sulfides (Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998). . Exploration of the Chena Slate Belt was conducted intermittently from 1981 through 1994. A preliminary stream-sediment sampling program defined a 30-kilometer belt of anomalous Zn. In 1991, further soil and rock geochemistry, gravity surveys, and airborne and horizontal-loop EM surveys delineated a Zn-Pb zone at the DC Prospect. Subsequently, the prospect was drilled (Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998). There is no production reported for the DC Prospect.
  • Age = Probably Devonian to Mississippian . Younger than U-Pb age of 356 Ma.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = There is no production reported for the DC Prospect.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Exploration of the Chena Slate Belt was conducted intermittently from 1981 through 1994. A preliminary stream-sediment sampling program defined a 30-kilometer belt of anomalous Zn. In 1991, further soil and rock geochemistry, gravity surveys, and airborne and horizontal-loop EM surveys delineated a Zn-Pb zone at the DC Prospect. Subsequently, the prospect was drilled (Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-388, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Eberlein, G.D., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Big Delta and Tanacross quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1086, 77 p.

  • Deposit

    Menzie, W.D., and Foster, H.L., 1979, Metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral resource potential in the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529D, 61 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Mortenson, J.K., 1992, Pre-mid-Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the Yukon-Tanana terrane, Yukon and Alaska: Tectonics, v. 11, p. 836-853.

  • Deposit

    Murphy, D.C., and Abbott, G., 1995, Northern Yukon-Tanana terrane: The equivalent of Yukon's western Selwyn Basin offset along the Tintina fault? [abs.]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 27, no. 5, , 26 p.

  • Deposit

    Dusel-Bacon, C., Bressler, J.R., Takoaka, H., Mortenson, J.K., Oliver, D.H., Leventhal, J.S., Newberry, R.J., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1998, Stratiform zinc-lead mineralization in Nasina assemblage rocks of the Yukon-Tanana Upland in east-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-340, 26 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Dusel-Bacon and others, 1998

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Sedimentary exhalative Zn-Pb? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 31a). Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 28a), similar to Selwyn Basin deposits in Yukon, Canada (Murphy and Abbott, 1995)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 26-APR-99 Cameron S. Rombach Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

Beyond USGS

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

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Authoritative Alaska resources

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