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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Sheep Mountain

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, Manganese, 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. Mineral occurrence model information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  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 10308752
Record type Site
Current site name Sheep Mountain

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -152.46285, 62.80952 (WGS84)
Relative position Reed and others (1978, locality 3) show this occurrence about 1.2 miles northwest of VABM Sheep west of the Tonzona River, in the east-central part of Section 4, T. 31 N., R. 17 W., of the Seward Meridian. Location is good to within 1/4 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Denali(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Talkeetna D-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Talkeetna NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

North Fork Kuskokwim River(hydrologic unit)

Upper Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Manganese Critical Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Tonzona
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
    Chronological age 54.25
    Dating method K-Ar

Nearby scientific data

(1) -152.46285, 62.80952
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Age = Chronological age is for McKinley Sequence.
  • Geologic Description = Reed and others (1978) described this locality as sporadic areas of manganese-rich metasedimentary rocks within the lower Paleozoic Pzsv unit which is considered to be correlative with similar units in the Kantishna Hills (Reed and Nelson, 1980). Gossans are spatially associated with felsic porphyry dikes and a Tertiary granite stock (Tmt) that may represent a cupola of underlying granitic rocks similar to the Tonzona pluton eight miles to the east-northeast (Reed and others, 1978; Reed and Nelson, 1980). Curtin, Karlson, O'Leary, Day, and McDougal (1978) describe clusters of high copper (+7,000 ppm) and zinc (+2500 ppm) values and scattered high lead (+10,000 ppm) values in heavy-metal concentrates from stream sediment samples collected around the VABM Sheep area. They suggest that these anomalous samples are asociated with the granite stock. Mineralization at this locality could be similar to the Mespelt (TL005), Hogback (TL006) or Boulder Creek (TL073) areas, which are associated with the Tonzona pluton.
  • Age = Tertiary; mineralization is interpreted to be linked to the intrusive rocks mapped by Reed and Nelson (1980) as related to the Tonzona pluton which is determined to be 52.3 to 56.2 m.y. by the K/Ar method (Reed and Lanphere, 1972).
  • Age = Chron age is for McKinley Sequence.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name McGrath

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Reconnaissance mapping, stream sediment and rock sampling by the U.S. Geological Survey (Curtin, Karlson, O'Leary, Day, and McDougal, 1978; Reed and others, 1978; Reed and Nelson, 1980) are all that have been described here. Curtin, Karlson, O'Leary, Day, and McDougal (1978) describe clusters of high copper (more than 7,000 ppm) and zinc (more than 2500 ppm) values and scattered high lead (more than 10,000 ppm) values in heavy-metal concentrates from stream sediment samples collected around the VABM Sheep area.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., and Lanphere, M.A., 1972, Generalized geologic map of the Alaska-Aleutian range batholith showing potassium-argon ages of the plutonic rocks: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-372, 2 sheets, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Curtin, G.C., Karlson, R.C., O'Leary, R.M., Day, G.W., and McDanal, S.K., 1978, Geochemical and generalized geologic maps showing the distribution and abundance of gold and silver in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-E, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., and Nelson, S.W., 1980, Geologic map of the Talkeetna quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-1174, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Reed and others, 1978

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

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