Smith Lake

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Bismuth, Cobalt
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 10307860
Record type Site
Current site name Smith Lake

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -153.74084, 62.32748 (WGS84)
Relative position The Smith Lake prospect is located about 150 meters west of the outlet of Smith Lake and 120 meters upstream of the confluence of a small unnamed tributary and the Smith Lake fork of Sheep Creek. It is at an elevation of 3,000 feet (915 m) in the SW1/4 sec. 21, T. 26 N., R. 24 W., of the Seward Meridian. The reporter investigated the prospect in 1981.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

McGrath B-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

McGrath SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

McGrath(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated(ANCSA Region)

ANCSA Region NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Bismuth Critical Secondary
Cobalt Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Clinopyroxene Gangue
Siderite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Siderite alteration.

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -153.74084, 62.32748

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Smith Lake prospect consists of a high angle, sulfide-rich shear zone in mid-Silurian clastics of the Terra Cotta Sandstone, a unit of the Dillinger subterrane (Bundtzen, Harris, and Gilbert, 1997). The shear (fault) zone trends N45E, dips steeply to vertically, and ranges from 0.5 to one meter wide. An adit has been driven into the mineralized zone and explored about 8 meters of the sulfide-vein along strike. . Principle sulfides include abundant pyrrhotite, which comprises up to 75 percent of the total sulfides, and minor amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite. The gangue material contains significant secondary siderite and highly deformed clinopyroxene. Selected chip-channel samples reported by Bundtzen, Kline, and Clough (1982) and Smith and Albanese (1985) contained up to 1.05 percent copper, 1.74 percent lead, 5.22 percent zinc, 42.0 grams/tonne silver, 100 ppm cobalt, and 100 ppm bismuth. A 0.3 meter channel sample collected by Brewer and others (1992) contained 14.8 percent lead, 10.6 percent zinc, 0.6 percent copper, and 90.2 grams/tonne silver.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name McGrath

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Some time prior to 1980, an 8 meter long adit was driven into the sulfide-rich shear zone. Selected chip-channel samples reported by Bundtzen, Kline, and Clough (1982) and Smith and Albanese (1985) contained up to 1.05 percent copper, 1.74 percent lead, 5.22 percent zinc, 42.0 grams/tonne silver, 100 ppm cobalt, and 100 ppm bismuth. A 0.3 meter channel sample collected by Brewer and others (1992) contained 14.8 percent lead, 10.6 percent zinc, 0.6 percent copper, and 90.2 grams/tonne silver.

Reference information

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Bundtzen, Kline, and Clough, 1982

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c).
Deposit Other Comments = the Smith Lake mineralization is not typical of other silver-polymetallic prospects in Farewell Mineral Belt.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 08-DEC-98 T.K. Bundtzen Pacific Rim Geological Consulting

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.