Terra Cotta Mountains

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Antimony
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  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 10307755
Record type Site
Current site name Terra Cotta Mountains

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -153.509, 61.94088 (WGS84)
Relative position This occurrence is on a ridge in the Terra Cotta Mountains, east of upper Post River. It is on the north flank of peak 5830, at an elevation of about 5,400 feet. The map site is in the NW1/4 section 4, T 21 N, R 23 W, of the Seward Meridian. This occurrence is sample locations 809 and 810 of Allen (1990); Allen and others (1990), and Allen and Slaughter (1990).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Bethel(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Lime Hills D-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Lime Hills NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lime Hills(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Antimony Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = Carbonate

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Stibnite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Nearby scientific data

(1) -153.509, 61.94088

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Quartz-carbonate breccia veins are developed in altered granitic rocks and nearby graywacke country rock. The veins commonly contain pyrite, arsenopyrite, lesser stibnite and chalcopyrite, and some pyrrhotite. Allen and others (1990, samples 805 to 814) collected several samples in the general area of this locality. These samples contain as much as 1 ppm gold, 100 ppm silver, 1,000 ppm barium, 300 ppm bismuth, 1,000 ppm cobalt, 7,000 ppm copper, 20,000 ppm lead, 1,500 ppm antimony, and 500 ppm tin and greater than 10,000 ppm arsenic, 2,000 ppm boron, and 5,000 ppm manganese. The sedimentary rocks are Jurassic or Lower Cretaceous, and the Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary granitic rocks are part of the Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith (Reed and Lanphere, 1973; Nokleberg and others, 1994).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous or Tertiary. The veins crosscut Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary granitic rocks of the Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name McGrath

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Surface observation and sampling has occurred at this locality.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Allen, 199o

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986, model 22c)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUN-01 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology
Reporter 10-JUN-01 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.