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Unnamed (head of Dan Creek)

Prospect, Inactive

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Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities Ag; Cu
Ore minerals chalcocite; covellite; malachite; pyrrhotite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale MC
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale B-4
Latitude 61.3747
Longitude -142.4321
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy This prospect is at the head of Dan Creek (MacKevett and Smith, 1972). It is at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, 5,100 feet west-northwest of Joshua Green Peak, and 4,000 feet east-southeast of Nikolai Butte. The site is in the SW1/4 of section 6, T. 6 S., R. 17 E. of the Copper River Meridian. This is locality 54 of MacKevett (1976); the location is accurate to within a few hundred feet.

Geologic setting

Geologic description

The deposit at this prospect consists of scattered veins up to 5 centimeters wide that contain chalcocite, pyrrhotite, covellite and malachite along joints in Triassic Nikolai Greenstone (MacKevett, 1976). A sample of the veins contained 30 parts per million (ppm) silver and more than 20,000 ppm copper (MacKevett and Smith, 1968, sample 53). The deposit was explored by a 15-foot-long adit (MacKevett, 1976). 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 (-142.434151179473, 61.3742736835665)
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 deposit was explored with a 15-foot-long adit (MacKevett, 1976).
Indication of production None

Additional comments

The locality is in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve.

References

MRDS Number A011696

References

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., and Smith, J.G., 1968, Distribution of gold, copper, and some other metals in the McCarthy B-4 and B-5 quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 604, 25 p.
MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Smith, J.G., 1972, Geologic map of the McCarthy B-4 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-943, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.
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