Unnamed (head of Sheep Creek) (ARDF #MC105) Cu

Unnamed (head of Sheep Creek)

Prospect, Inactive

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Cu
Ore minerals	chalcocite; cuprite; malachite; native copper
Gangue minerals	calcite; zeolite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	MC
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	C-2
Latitude	61.6742
Longitude	-141.6651
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	This prospect is at the head of Sheep Creek, a south tributary to the White River. It is at an elevation of about 5,900 feet, 4,000 feet northeast of elevation 6696, in the SE1/4 of section 19, T. 2 A., R. 21 E. of the Copper River Meridian. This is locality 148 of MacKevett (1976); the location is is accurate to within about 1,000 feet.

Geologic setting

Geologic description This deposit consists of native copper, chalcocite, cuprite, malachite, calcite, and zeolite(?) that fill amygdules in Triassic Nikolai Greenstone (Capps, 1916; MacKevett, 1976). The deposits were explored by an adit that was caved by 1916. Copper mineralization is common in Nikolai Greenstone and is thought to have accompanied regional deformation and low-grade metamorphism in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (MacKevett and others, 1997).
Geologic map unit	(-141.66719143189, 61.6738280119023)
Mineral deposit model	Basaltic Cu (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 23)
Mineral deposit model number	23
Age of mineralization	Cretaceous? Copper mineralization is common in Nikolai Greenstone and is thought to have accompanied regional deformation and low-grade metamorphism in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (MacKevett and others, 1997).
Alteration of deposit	Oxidation.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	The deposits were explored by an adit that was caved by 1916.
Indication of production	None
Additional comments The locality is in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve.

References

MRDS Number	A011743
References Capps, S.R., 1916, The Chisana-White River district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 630, 130 p. MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1976, Mineral deposits and occurrences in the McCarthy quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-773-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000. MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Cox, D.P., Potter, R.W., III, and Silberman, M.L., 1997, Kennecott-type deposits in the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska--High-grade copper ores near a basalt-limestone contact, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 66-89.
Reporters	Travis L. Hudson (Applied Geology, Inc.)
Last report date	1/12/2003