1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Eli River

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodity Copper
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308755
MRDS ID A015605
Record type Site
Current site name Eli River
Alternate or previous names Agashashok River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.43363, 67.63946 (WGS84)
Relative position This occurrence is at an elevation of about 2,200 feet, approximately 1.7 miles north of the headwaters of the Agashashok River. It is in section 20, T. 26 N., R. 12 W., of the Kateel River Meridian. Cobb (1972, MF-386), location 1, and Schmidt and Allegro (1988), location 72.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Northwest Arctic(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Baird Mountains C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Baird Mountains N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Baird Mountains(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Noatak River(hydrologic unit)

Noatak River-Lisburne Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Noatak National Preserve(National Preserve)

National Preserve NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Malachite Ore
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.43363, 67.63946
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The bedrock in this area is Devonian Skajit limestone, dolomite, marble, and minor gray phyllite (Schmidt and Allegro, 1988). The carbonates are cut by small quartz stringers containing small amounts of sulfides. A large quartz boulder contained small blebs of chalcopyrite, along with minor malachite. The quartz assayed 0.48% Cu. Other rock samples collected in the area returned no significant metal values (Degenhart and others, 1978). A quartz sample containing pyrite collected by the U.S. Geological Survey contained 100 ppm As, 4 ppm Sb, 3 ppm Ag, 3000 ppm Cu, 200 ppm La, 300 ppm Ni, and 30 ppm Pb (Schmidt and Allegro, 1988).
  • Age = Devonian

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Noatak

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Six stream silt samples and one rock sample were collected during a U.S. Bureau of Mines investigation of the area in 1978 (Degenhart and others, 1978). The U.S. Geological Survey also visited and sampled the occurrence (Schmidt and Allegro, 1988).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Brosge, W.P., Reiser, H.N., and Tailleur, I.L., 1967, Copper analyses of selected samples, southwestern Brooks Range, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 274, 1 sheet.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Baird Mountains quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-386, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in northern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-628, 106 p.

  • Deposit

    Degenhart, C.E., Griffis, R.J., McQuat, J.F., and Bigelow, C.G., 1978, Mineral studies of the western Brooks Range performed under contract to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Contract #JO155089: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 103-78, 529 p., 11 sheets.

  • Deposit

    Schmidt, J.M., and Allegro, G.L., 1988, Map showing mineral occurrences and indicators in the Baird Mountains quadrangle, northwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1992, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., Mayfield, C.F., and Brosge, W.P., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in eleven quadrangles in northern Alaska (Arctic, Baird Mountains, Chandler Lake, DeLong Mountains, Demarcation Point, Howard Pass, Misheguk Mountain, Mount Michelson, Noatak, Point Lay, and Table Mountain); Supplement to Open-File Report 75-628; Part A, Summaries of data to January 1, 1981: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-767-A, 25 p.

  • Deposit

    Karl, S.M., Schmidt, J.M., and Folger, P.F., 1985, Selected anomalous rock and sediment samples from central and northwestern Baird Mountains quadrangle, in Bartsch-Winkler, S., ed., The United States Geological Survey in Alaska--Accomplishments during 1984: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 967, p. 8-13.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Degenhart and others, 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Sulfide-bearing quartz veins cutting Paleozoic limestone.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 29-DEC-99 Williams, Anita U.S. Geological Survey

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.