Ronan (ARDF #BC086) Ag, Au, Pb, Zn

Ronan

Mine, Undetermined

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Ag; Au; Pb; Zn
Other commodities	W
Ore minerals	galena; pyrite; sphalerite; tetrahedrite; scheelite
Gangue minerals	quartz

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	BC
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	A-1
Latitude	56.003
Longitude	-130.048
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	The Ronan mine is in Section 2 at an elevation of about 2800 feet on the rounded ridge about 0.1 mile west of Skookum Creek, and 0.8 mile east of the Riverside mine (adit) (Maas, 1995, p. 255 and fig. 66). The location is accurate within about 0.1 mile.

Geologic setting

Geologic description The country rocks in the area of the Ronan mine are pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic metavolcanic strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group; the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which underlies and locally intrudes the Hazelton; and the Eocene Hyder Quartz Monzonite, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks (Smith, 1977; Koch, 1996). Maas and others (1995, p. 254-257) describe the deposit as a well-defined shear or fracture zone in Texas Creek Granodiorite. The zone strikes northwest and dips steeply northeast, and contains sulfide shoots in quartz or quartz(-granodiorite?)-breccia veins. The principal sulfides are pyrite, galena, sphalerite and tetrahedrite; some of the veins contain scheelite. Samples collected by the U. S. Bureau of Mines in 1992 or 1993 from about 450 feet of the approximately 2-foot-thick main Ronan vein averaged 5.8 ppm Au, 296 ppm Ag, 0.3 percent Cu, 1.6 percent Pb, and 0.35 percent Zn (Maas and others, 1995, p. 257). Lead-isotope studies of galena from the Ronan mine (Maas and others, 1995, p. 254) indicate that the deposit is Eocene in age, contemporaneous with the emplacement of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite.
Geologic map unit	(-130.049704264065, 56.0027051442134)
Mineral deposit model	Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c).
Mineral deposit model number	22c
Age of mineralization	Lead-isotope studies of galena from the Ronan mine (Maas and others, 1995, p. 254) indicate that the deposit is Eocene in age, contemporaneous with the emplacement of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	The Ronan mine was explored by pits and trenches, and developed by about 700 feet of underground workings (Maas and others, 1995, p. 255). Samples collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1992 or 1993 from about 450 feet of the approximately 2-foot-thick main Ronan vein averaged 5.8 ppm Au, 296 ppm Ag, 0.3 percent Cu, 1.6 percent Pb, and 0.35 percent Zn (Maas and others, 1995, p. 257).
Indication of production	Yes; small
Production notes	An unknown, but probably small, amount of gold reportedly was produced from the Ronan deposit (Maas and others, 1995, p. 260).
Additional comments The Ronan vein may continue to the northwest and join the Monarch vein (BC079).

References

References Smith, J.G., 1977, Geology of the Ketchikan D-1 and Bradfield Canal A-1 quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1425, 49 p., 1 plate.
Reporters	H. C. Berg (Fullerton, California)
Last report date	5/17/1998