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Lights Creek

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Porphyry copper deposit in California, United States

Names and other identifiers

GMRAP ID 39
Alternate names Moonlight Valley
Tract name Sierran Arc (003pCu9007)
Site status deposit

Geographic location

Country United States
State or province California
Geographic location -120.853888889, 40.195
Geologic map unit -120.853888889, 40.195
Nearby data
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Geologic information

Deposit type Porphyry copper
Age (Ma) 100Ma
Age determination method unknown
Age range 100 Ma
Age reference Singer and others (2008)
Minerals actinolite, azurite/malachite, bornite, carbonate, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, copper, covellite, epidote, galena, hematite, jamesonite, limonite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, sericite, sphalerite, stibnite, tetrahedrite/tennantite, tourmaline
Associated rocks aplite, granite porphyry, quartz porphyry, serpentinite, andesite, agglomerate, alaskite, basalt, gabbro, granite, granodiorite, metasedimentary rocks, metavolcanic rocks, quartz diorite, quartz monzonite, schist
Tectonic setting mixed
Stratigraphic age Cretaceous

Commodity and development information

Development status Occurrence
Major commodities Cu
Tonnage (Mt) 318Mt
Cu grade (%) 0.34%
Au grade (g/t) 0.05g/t
Ag grade (g/t) 3.2g/t
Contained copper 1,100,000t
Gold-Moly ratio -9999

Reference information

Study area name United States
References Anderson (1931); Sheffield Resources Ltd. (2006); Smith (1970); Storey (1978); Singer and others (2008)
Site reference U.S. Geological Survey National Mineral Resource Assessment Team (2002)
Anderson, C.A., 1931, The geology of the Engels and Superior mines, Plumas County, California: University of California, Department of Geological Sciences Bulletin, v. 20, no. 8, p. 293–330.
Sheffield Resources Ltd., 2006, Moonlight project: Sheffield Resources Ltd. presentation, 33 p., accessed [date unknown], at http://www.sheffieldresources.com/presentations/Sheffield%20Presentation%20-%20October%20%202006.pdf. (Web page no longer available. See http://www.canyoncc.com/s/Moonlight.asp for newer information.)
Singer, D.A., Berger, V.I., and Moring, B.C., 2008, Porphyry copper deposits of the world—Database and grade and tonnage models, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1155, [45] p. and digital data, accessed December 31, 2013, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1155/.
Smith, A.R., 1970, Trace elements in the Plumas copper belt, Plumas County, California: California Division of Mines and Geology Special Report 103, 26 p.
Storey, L.O., 1978, Geology and mineralization of the Lights Creek stock, Plumas County, California, in Jenney, J.P., and Hauck, H.R., eds, Porphyry Copper Symposium, Tucson, Ariz., March 18–20, 1976, Proceedings: Tucson, Arizona Geological Society Digest 11, p. 49–58. (Also available at http://www.arizonageologicalsoc.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1665440 and at http://archives.arizonageologicalsoc.org/digests/AGS_DIG11_S.PDF.)