Mayflower

The Mayflower is a copper, silver, and gold 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: Mayflower

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Antimony
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Arsenic
Secondary: Lead

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: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

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

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Alteration consists of a combination of skarn (epidote, garnet and actinolite), silica flooding, ankerite, pyrite and sericite. Limonite and uncommon chalcocite are oxidation and supergene mineral assemblages.

Rocks

Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 67.500000+-2.500000
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Galena
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Ankerite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of the Mayflower prospect include Devonian to Triassic clastic, carbonate, volcanic, and volcaniclastic strata, which are intruded by a plug and dikes of Upper Cretaceous (70-65 Ma) quartz diorite porphyry (Swainbank and others, 1977). The Mayflower prospect is associated with a dikelike extension of the intrusive plug at the Golden Zone mine (HE043). Major faults trend northeast-southwest and have imparted a strong northeast-trending fabric to the host rocks. These faults have controlled the emplacement of intrusive rocks. At the Mayflower there is evidence that northwest-trending faults predated intrusion, as the dike trends northwest before swinging back to the northeast. The northwest-trending shear zone was also important during mineralization (unpublished report by Addwest Minerals International Ltd., 1997). ? There are three types of deposits: sulfide disseminations, veins, and skarns. The dike contains disseminated sulfides and stockwork quartz-sulfide veinlets. Limonite and ankerite alteration is widespread. Adjacent to the dike, calc-silcate skarn bodies up to 15 feet thick contain 0.1 ounce of gold per ton and 10% combined lead and zinc. The skarn comprises pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and arsenopyrite (up to 10% by volume) in a epidote, garnet, and actinolite (unpublished report by Addwest Minerals International Ltd., 1997).

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See Golden Zone mine (HE043).

Comment (Geology): Age = The Mayflower prospect is a satellite of the nearby Golden Zone mine (HE043) which has been dated at 70-65 Ma (Late Cretaceous) (Swainbank and others, 1977).

Comment (Geology): Age = Chron age is for the nearby Golden Zone mine.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Combination of polymetallic vein and Au-Ag breccia pipe or Cu-Au porphyry (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 22c, 20c), with Cu skarn (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 18b)

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = unpublished report by Addwest Minerals International Ltd., 1997

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The prospect was explored by a reconnaissance IP and CS-AMT survey and by 1,500 feet of trenching. One shallow shaft was dug (during the 1930s?) and since has collapsed (Hawley and Clark, 1974).

Comment (Deposit): Model Number = 22c, 20c, 18b

References

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): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Healy quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-1062, 113 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., Warfield, R.S., and Wells, R.R., 1967, Sampling a gold-copper deposit, Golden Zone Mine, south-central Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 9-67, 59 p.

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