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Christmas and Enterprise (Whitney claims, Lemesurier Island)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Molybdenum, Copper
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002288
MRDS ID A013192
Record type Site
Current site name Christmas and Enterprise (Whitney claims, Lemesurier Island)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -136.099, 58.25778 (WGS84)
Relative position The prospect is about 50 feet above sea level near the southernmost point on Lemesurier Island, about 0. 2 mile west of triangulation station Gail. It is located accurately within about 0.1 mile. It is location 61 of Cobb (1972).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Molybdenum Primary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Development of hornfels and tactite.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble

Nearby scientific data

(1) -136.099, 58.25778
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Molybdenum and copper occur in contact-type deposits in marble of Paleozoic age that has been intruded by a granitic pluton of probable Cretaceous age (Knopf, 1912, p. 17; Buddington, 1926, p. 55-56; Reed, 1938). At the Whitney claims, a thirty-foot-wide zone along a contact between marble and granitic rock is mainly garnet-pyroxene tactite. A 78-foot adit driven in about 1916, started in tactite, cut through banded hornfels and quartzite, and ended in 'diorite' (Smith, 1942, p. 176) Molybdenite occurs as fracture coatings and as disseminations in the tactite. Hornfels is developed locally and contains chalcopyrite. Local molybdenite-lined vugs or pockets in the tactite contain as much as several percent molybdenum.
  • Age = Cretaceous or younger.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Chichagof

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Small test shipments made.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Surface exposures of molybdenite and chalcopyrite were explored in a 78-foot-long tunnel and 25-foot-crosscut, that were driven in about 1916. The occurrence was first reported by Knopf (1912), and subsequently described in resource summaries by Brooks (1918, 1919, 1921), Kaufman (1958), Berg and Cobb (1967) and Cobb (1972). The site was also noted by Buddington (1926, p. 55-56) and Buddington and Chapin (1929, p. 329-330). It was visited by Reed (1938). Smith (1942, p. 176-177) summarized developments and also reported that Reed believed the prospect deserved more work.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A013192
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF MF079

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Knopf, Adolph, 1912, The Sitka mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 504, 32 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1919, Alaska's mineral supplies: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 666, p 89-102.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1921, The future of Alaska mining, in Martin G.C. and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 5-57.

  • Deposit

    Buddington, A.F., 1926, Mineral investigations in southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783, p. 41-62.

  • Deposit

    Buddington, A.F., and Chapin, Theodore, 1929, Geology and mineral deposits of southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 800, 398 p.

  • Deposit

    Kaufman, A., 1958, Southeastern Alaska's Mineral industry: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7844, 37 p.

  • Deposit

    Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous Lode Deposits of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Mount Fairweather quadrangle, AK: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Study Map MF-436, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Reed, J.C., 1938, Some mineral deposits of Glacier Bay and vicinity, Alaska: Economic Geology, v. 33, p. 52-80.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1942, Occurrences of molybdenum in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-C, p. 161-210.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Buddington, 1926; Reed, 1938

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Contact metasomatic deposit, molybdenum skarn.
Deposit Other Comments = Two patented claims, inactive for many years. Favorable area for skarn and porphyry-type molybdenum-copper deposits. The area is in Tongass National Forest, outside of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. It appears to be open for mineral location.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 25-JAN-99 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group