Virginia

The Virginia is a gold, zinc, lead, and copper mine located in Alaska.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Virginia

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Zinc
Primary: Lead
Primary: Copper

Location

State: Alaska
District: Hyder

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic veins
Model Name: Skarn Zn-Pb

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Local contact metamorphism of greenstone; greenstone is impregnated with sulfide minerals

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Prospect was explored in 1920's by 600-700 feet of crosscuts and tunnels. ? Selected sampes of the ore reportedly assayed as high as 4.5 oz Au per ton; average Au content was about 0.25 oz per ton.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Deposit originally staked in 1919.?

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of the Virginia prospect are pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic metavolcanic (greenstone) strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group; the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which underlies and locally intrudes the Hazelton; the Eocene Boundary Granodiorite, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks; and still-younger Tertiary lamprophyre dikes that cut all the other rocks (Smith, 1973, 1977; Koch, 1996).? the deposit (Buddington, 1925, p. 74, 84; 1929, p. 43, 88-89) is in a mineralized shear zone in porphyritic greenstone cut by granodiorite and lamprophyre(?) dikes. An interval 12-16 feet wide in the 50-foot wide shear zone contains an oreshoot of nearly solid sulfides, accompanied by quartz gangue. The sulfides are pyrrhotite, sphalerite, pyrite, and a little galena and tetrahedrite. The greenstone also contains disseminated sulfide minerals, stringers of quartz, calcite, and sulfide minerals. Near contacts of granodiorite porphyry dikes, the greenstone also contains the contact-metamorphic minerals garnet and epidote. A little chalcopyrite occurs along with the other sulfides in some of the epidote-rich greenstone.?Selected samples of the ore reportedly assayed as high as 4.5 oz Au per ton.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Buddington, 1929

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic veins; Skarn Zn-Pb

Comment (Deposit): Model Number = 22c; 18c

References

Reference (Deposit): Buddington, A.F., 1925, Mineral investigations in southeastern Alasaka: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 71-139.

Reference (Deposit): Buddington, A.F., 1929, Geology of Hyder and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, with a reconnaissance of Chickamin River: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 807, 124 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, J.G., 1973, A Tertiary lamprophyre dike province in southeastern Alaska: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 10, p. 408-420.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, J.G., 1977, Geology of the Ketchikan D-1 and Bradfield Canal A-1 quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1425, 49 p.

Reference (Deposit): Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1981, Mines, prospects, and selected metalliferous mineral occurrences in the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-B, 23 p., 1 sheet, scales 1:250,000 and 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Koch, R.D., 1996, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-A, 35 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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