Snoopy

The Snoopy is a copper, gold, and silver 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: Snoopy
Secondary: Costello Creek

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver

Location

State: Alaska
District: Valdez Creek

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

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

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Porphyry Cu-Au
Model Name: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Alteration consists of widespread propylitic alteration and silicification. Local zones of potassic alteration (secondary biotite) have been reported.

Rocks

Name: Siltstone
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous (70-65 Ma) or younger.

Comment (Deposit): Model Number = 22c, 20c

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic vein and Au-Ag breccia pipe or Cu-Au porphyry (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 22c, 20c)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Thick Quaternary glacial deposits cover much of the bedrock at the Snoopy prospect. The country rocks in the area are Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic crystal tuff, argillite, chert, graywacke, and limestone. These strata are intruded by garnetiferous diorite porphyry, which in turn is cut by monzonite porphyry and quartz porphyry. The intrusive rocks are correlated with similar hypabyssal plutons at the Golden Zone mine (HE043), which have been dated as Late Cretaceous (Swainbank and others, 1977). The deposit is poorly exposed. It mat be a breccia pipe or a porphyry deposit that contains as much as 3% disseminated sulfides (Hawley and Clark, 1974). ?The sulfide minerals are arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite. Selected samples contain 0.5 to 0.7 ppm gold, 200 to more than 10,000 ppm silver, and 150 to 1,000 ppm copper (Hawley and Clark, 1974). The Snoopy deposit probably is an extension of the deposit at the adjacent Nim prospect (HE074), where geophysical methods indicate 5 breccia-pipes in addition to disseminated porphyry-style mineralization. The same geophysical surveys suggest that the Snoopy area may contain 2 more pipes (Bundtzen, 1983, fig. 5).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Bundtzen, 1983

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Surface workings including trenching and drilling. Intensive exploration in the late 1970s included 18 shallow reverse-circulation drill holes in the Snoopy and Nim prospect areas. Geophysical surveys including IP and magnetics were conducted on the property (Bundtzen, 1983).? Selected samples contain 0.5 to 0.7 ppm gold, 200 to more than 10,000 ppm silver, and 150 to 1,000 ppm copper (Hawley and Clark, 1974).

References

Reference (Deposit): Hawley, C.C., Clark, A.L., Herdrick, M.A., and Clark, S.H.B., 1969, Results of geological and geochemical investigations in an area northwest of the Chulitna River, central Alaska Range: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 617, 19 p.

Reference (Deposit): Kurtak, J.M., Southworth, D.D., Balen, M.D., and Clautice, K.H., 1992, Mineral investigations in the Valdez Creek mining district, south-central Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-92, 659 p., 2 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Balen, M.D., 1990, Geochemical sampling results from the Bureau of Mines Investigations in the Valdez Creek mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 34-90, 218 p., 2 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., 1983, Mineral resource modeling, Kantishna and Dunkle mine study areas: Alaska Division of Geological "&" Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 83-12, 51 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., Clough, J.G., Lueck, L.L., Green, C.B., Robinson, M.S., and Coleman, D.A., 1984, Alaska's Mineral Industry, 1983: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 33, 56 p.

Reference (Deposit): Salisbury and Dietz, Inc., 1984, 1983 mineral resource studies: Kantishna Hills and Dunkle Mine areas, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines, Contract No. S0134031, 1080 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hawley, C.C., and Clark, A.L., 1974, Geology and mineral deposits of the upper Chulitna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 758-B, p. 1-47, 2 sheets, scale 1:12,000 and 1:48,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hawley, C.C., and others, 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska. Contract No. JO166107: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 274 p., 12 sheets.

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