Chisana (ARDF #TC057) Ag, Au, Cu

Chisana

Prospect, Active

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Ag; Au; Cu
Other commodities	As; Bi; Co; Cd; Mo; Ni; Sb; Sn; Te; W; Zn
Ore minerals	arsenopyrite; chalcopyrite; bismuth; galena; gold; pyrargyrite; pyrite; pyrrhotite
Gangue minerals	amphiboles; calcite; chlorite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	TC
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	A-4
Latitude	63.194
Longitude	-142.5245
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	Chisana is a prospect about 11.0 miles east of VABM 3345 'Tetlin' and about 10.4 miles northeast of the center of Tetlin Lake. The prospect is centered about 0.4 mile southwest of the center of section 2, T. 16 N., R. 15 E., of the Copper River Meridian. The location is accurate to within 500 feet.

Geologic setting

Geologic description The Chisana prospect is part of the Tetlin Project (Freeman, 2014a), which is located in Precambrian to Paleozoic greenschist to amphibolite-grade metamorphic rocks of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane intruded by Cretaceous to Tertiary felsic and intermediate plutonic bodies (Foster, 1970). District and regional scale northeast and northwest trending faults are present in the project area and are often associated with gold and copper mineralization in this terrane (Freeman, 2014b). Chisana is within a biotite gneiss and schist unit. The project area is interpreted to be located in overlapping mineral belts of the Tintina gold belt with the Carmacks Porphyry Belt (Freeman, 2014a). Chisana is characterized by a strong correlation between arsenic and gold in stream sediments and soil samples, multiple magnetic-conductivity highs, and visible gold in pans (Freeman, 2014a); this understanding was the result of surface work completed between 2010 and 2013. Results from this surface geochemistry have not been released (Van Treeck, C.J., Senior Geologist, Avalon Development Corp., written communication, 2014).
Geologic map unit	(, )
Mineral deposit model	Skarn? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 18b).
Mineral deposit model number	18b?
Age of mineralization	70 million years old, Cretaceous, according to U/Pb radioisotope dating techniques, if similar age to Peak Zone prospect (Illig, 2014).
Alteration of deposit	Chlorite and amphibole alteration is associated with gold and silver mineralization (Illig, 2014).

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	There has been no recorded past placer or lode mining or exploration drilling conducted on any prospect of the Tetlin Project until Contango Ore, Inc. completed its first reconnaissance exploration program in 2009 (Contango Ore, Inc., 2012). In 2010, the field program entailed prospecting, stream sediment sampling, and pan concentrate sampling, and focused basal soil sampling. In 2011, the basal soil sampling was continued (Van Treeck, 2013). Chisana is characterized by a strong correlation between arsenic and gold in stream sediments and soil samples, multiple magnetic-conductivity highs, and visible gold in pans (Freeman, 2014a); this understanding was the result of surface work completed between 2010 and 2013. Results from this surface geochemistry have not been released (Van Treeck, C.J., Senior Geologist, Avalon Development Corp., written communication, 2014).
Indication of production	None
Additional comments In 2008, Contango ORE, Inc. signed a lease with Tetlin Village to control mineral rights on about 675,000 acres of fee simple land leased from the Tetlin Village(Freeman, 2014b).

References

References Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds., 1986, Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, 379 p.
Reporters	V.C. Zinno (Alaska Earth Sciences, Inc.)
Last report date	3/15/2016