Main commodities | Ag; Cu |
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Ore minerals | bornite; chalcocite; covellite; cuprite; enargite; malachite; native copper |
Gangue minerals | calcite; chalcedony; dolomite; epidote; quartz |
Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale | MC |
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Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale | B-4 |
Latitude | 61.4245 |
Longitude | -142.3543 |
Nearby scientific data | Find additional scientific data near this location |
Location and accuracy | This prospect is on the nose of the ridge between Radovan Gulch and Glacier Creek. It is at an elevation of about 3,550 feet, 1,800 feet east of Radovan Gulch in the NW1/4 of section 22, T. 5 S., R. 17 E. of the Copper River Meridian. This is locality 67 of MacKevett (1976) and it is accurately located. Cobb and MacKevett (1980) included this prospect under the name 'Radovan'. |
Geologic descriptionThe deposit at this prospect consists of a chalcocite-rich vein that contains lesser amounts of bornite, covellite, cuprite, enargite, malachite, and native copper; the vein is localized in a major normal-fault zone in Triassic Nikolai Greenstone (Sainsbury, 1951; MacKevett, 1976). The fault zone strikes N 15-26 E and dips 73 SE; locally it contains colloform calcite, dolomite and chalcedony (Sainsbury, 1951). The vein is 1 to 8 inches wide over 150 feet of slope distance, widens to 4 feet over a distance of 10 to 15 feet, and pinches out abruptly (Sainsbury, 1951). Samples of the mineralization contained up to 50 parts per million (ppm) silver, 0.07 ppm gold, more than 20,000 ppm copper, and 2,000 ppm manganese (MacKevett and Smith, 1968, samples 43-49). The wallrocks of the vein are silicified and epidotized (Sainsbury, 1951). This vein is located on same fault zone as the Radovan, Low Contact prospect (MC160). 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 | (-142.356356460844, 61.4240790817882) |
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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 | Silicification, epidotization. |
Workings or exploration | The prospect was explored with surface cuts and by a 65-foot-long adit that trends S 3 W from a portal that is about 250 feet below and 200 feet north of the massive chalcocite in the fault (Sainsbury, 1951). |
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Indication of production | Undetermined |
Additional commentsThe locality is in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. |
MRDS Number | A011705 |
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ReferencesMacKevett, 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.
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Reporters | Travis L. Hudson (Applied Geology, Inc.) |
Last report date | 1/12/2003 |