Scarp

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Arsenic, Mercury
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. 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 10308167
Record type Site
Current site name Scarp

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -160.34451, 55.25794 (WGS84)
Relative position This site is on a coastal bluff at an elevation of about 300 feet, approximately 1 mile north-northwest of Popof Head on the southern tip of Popof Island (Wilson and others, 1988, locality 44). The location is accurate to within 500 feet.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Port Moller B-2 SE(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Shumagin Islands N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Port Moller(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Federal lands

Shumagin Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Mercury Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Marcasite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Amethyst Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The rocks at this occurrence exhibit strong argillization and local silicification.

Nearby scientific data

(1) -160.34451, 55.25794

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This occurrence is a 2,000- by 2,500- foot alteration zone in an area of slumped blocks of tuffs and flows. The rocks are part of the late Eocene to early Oligocene Popof volcanic rocks (Wilson and others, 1995). Mineralization consists of weakly auriferous quartz-marcasite-amethyst veins localized mostly along the margins of a slump block. The veins average 1.5 feet in width and can be traced for as much as 1,200 feet on strike. The veins generally are discontinuous, however, and do not seem to form a well -defined system (Peterson and others, 1982). The wall rock marginal to the veins has been replaced by silica and pyrite. Argillic alteration is widespread throughout the area. Some of the country rocks have been completely replaced by clay and some by pervasive chlorite and pyrite. The mineralization may be controlled by a north-northwest-trending fracture zone that can be traced for approximately 2 miles. Fifteen grab samples contained as much as 0.975 ppm gold, 13 ppm silver, 66 ppm copper, 45 ppm lead, 175 ppm zinc, 1,000 ppm or more arsenic, and 4.75 ppm mercury (Peterson and others, 1982). Two samples collected by Battle Mountain Exploration Company in 1986 contained 0.032 and 0.038 ounce of gold per ton and as much as 4.7 ppm mercury.
  • Age = Eocene or younger.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Alaska Peninsula

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = In 1982 UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company mapped and sampled this occurrence. The samples contained as much as 0.975 ppm gold and 13 ppm silver.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Peterson, R.J., Lemmers, J., Handverger, P., Gallagher, J., Pilcher, R., East, J., Macleod, T., Bartels. E., 1982, Geology and precious metals potential Unga, Popof, and Korovin Islands, Shumagin Group, Aleutian Chain, Alaska: UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company report, 127 p., 5 map sheets, various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Wilson, F.H., White, W.H., and DuBois, G.D., 1988, Brief descriptions of mines, prospects, and mineral occurrences in the Port Moller and Stepovak Bay quadrangles, Alaska Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-666, 128 p., scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Wilson, F.H., Detterman, R.L., Miller, J. W., and Case, J.E., 1995, Geologic map of the Port Moller, Stepovak Bay, and Simeonof Island quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigation Series Map I-2272, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Peterson and others, 1982

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Epithermal gold veins
Deposit Other Comments = This site is on land selected by the Aleut Corporation.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 16-JAN-01 S.H. Pilcher U.S. Geological Survey

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.