McKinley Creek Falls

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Zinc
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 10308250
Record type Site
Current site name McKinley Creek Falls

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -136.23213, 59.36974 (WGS84)
Relative position This prospect is at an elevation of approximately 1,600 feet near the base of a falls in the steep-walled canyon of McKinley Creek . It is on the eastern edge of the NE1/4, section 12, T. 29 S., R. 54 E. of the Copper River Meridian. It is shown as location 20 by Still and others (1991).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Haines(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Skagway B-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Skagway SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Skagway C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Chilkat-Skagway Rivers(hydrologic unit)

Northern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silica-carbonate units which are cut by or parallel the quartz-sulfide veins are probably altered mafic dikes (Still and others, 1991). Questionable mariposite may be due to alteration of mafic minerals (Bundtzen and Clautice, 1986).

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46
Model code 72
USGS model code 19a
Deposit model name Polymetallic replacement
Mark3 model number 47

Nearby scientific data

(1) -136.23213, 59.36974

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The rocks in the area consist of slate with interbedded limestone that is cut by altered, tan dikes. Narrow, discontinuous quartz-sphalerite veins or silicified bands are in the dikes and, to a lesser extent, in the slate and limestone. Selected high-grade samples of quartz-sphalerite veins in dikes, contained up to 13.4% zinc and 8.9 ppm gold. A 2.5-foot-long chip sample across a limy silicified band in limy slate contained 24.8 ppm gold and 280 ppm zinc (Gilbert and others, 1991; Still and others, 1991). This prospect is similar to the Golden Eagle prospect (SK047). It occurs within a northwest-trending zone of quartz-sulfide veining in sediments and slates in the Skagway B-4 quadrangle that is described by Wright (1904 [B 225 and B 236]), Eakin (1918 and 1919), and MacKevett and others (1974) and is considered to be the source of placer gold in this area.
  • Age = Unknown, but probably Cretaceous or younger based on age of intrusives in area (MacKevett and others, 1974).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Juneau (Skagway subdistrict)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Still and others, 1991

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = There is little information but the brief description by Still and others (1991) who refer to polymetallic veins in dikes and replacement mineralization in adjacent limy sediments (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 22c and 19a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-FEB-01 T.C. Crafford T. Crafford & 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.