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Water Level

Prospect, Inactive

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Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities Ag
Other commodities Au; Cu; Pb
Ore minerals cerussite; galena; limonite; pyrite; tetrahedrite
Gangue minerals quartz; siderite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale DN
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale C-2
Latitude 63.537
Longitude -150.9393
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy The Water Level prospect, on a patented claim, is at an elevation of almost 2000 feet in the canyon of Eureka Creek, about one mile above its mouth. It is in the SE1/4 SE1/4 section 12, T. 16 S., R. 18 W, Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate within 500 feet. The prospect is number 21 of Hawley and Associates (1978), 32 of Bundtzen (1981), and 37 of Thornsberry, McKee, and Salisbury (1984).

Geologic setting

Geologic description

The country rock at the Water Level prospect is south-dipping quartzitic schist of the Birch Creek Schist (Thornsberry, McKee, and Salisbury, 1984, fig. K-2). The deposit consists of mineralized quartz-siderite veins. Davis (1923, p. 130) described a 3-foot-thick, galena-bearing vein that assayed 30 to 40 ounces of silver per ton. Bundtzen (1981, location 32) described a vein that strikes ENE and dips steeply to the NW. It is 3 to 6 feet thick, strongly sheared and oxidized, and contains galena, pyrite(?), cerussite, and limonite. Float near or at the prospect assayed up to about 77 ounces of silver per ton (Seraphim, 1962), and Hawley and Associates (1978) collected a soil sample that assayed about 0.1 ounce of gold per ton.
Geologic map unit (, )
Mineral deposit model Polymetallic vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c).
Mineral deposit model number 22c
Age of mineralization The deposit is assumed to be Eocene (see record DN091).
Alteration of deposit Surface oxidation of iron and lead minerals.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration Most of the work at the prospect appears to have been done before 1922 (Davis, 1923). Moneta-Porcupine prospected at and near the prospect in 1960, and the prospect was examined by Bundtzen (1981). Little work has been done since 1922.
Indication of production None

Additional comments

The prospect is in Denali National Park and Preserve.

References

MRDS Number A011260

References

Bundtzen, T.K., 1981, Geology and mineral deposits of the Kantishna Hills, Mt. McKinley quadrangle, Alaska: M. S. Thesis, University of Alaska, College, Alaska, 238 p.
Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds., 1986, Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, 379 p.
Davis, J. A., 1923, The Kantishna region, Alaska, in Stewart, B. D., Annual Report of the Mine Inspector to the Governor of Alaska, 1922: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys AR-1922.
Hawley, C. C. and Associates, Inc, 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U. S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p. (paged by sections).
Seraphim, R.H., 1962, Kantishna District: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Miscellaneous Report 193-3, 11 p., 10 sheets.
Thornsberry, V. V., McKee, C. J., and Salisbury, W. G., eds, 1984, 1983 Mineral Resource Studies: Kantishna Hills and Dunkle Mine Areas, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska: U. S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 129-84. 3 Volumes: v. 1, Text; v. 2, Appendices; v. 3, Maps. Prepared by Salisbury & Dietz, Inc., Spokane, WA.
Reporters C.C. Hawley
Last report date 4/23/2001