Silver Creek

The Silver Creek is a 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Silver Creek

Commodity

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

Location

State: Alaska
District: Chistochina

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

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Country rocks near veins are altered to carbonates and are iron-stained; hornfels in the fault zone has been argillized and pyritized.

Rocks

Name: Hornfels
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Permian

Name: Hornfels
Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Permian

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Limonite
Ore: Malachite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Emplaced subseqent to or is related to the border phase of the Pennsylvanian to Permian, Ahtell pluton.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The prospect has been known since about 1908 (Kirk Stanley, written communication, 2000). When visited by Moffit (1938) and Thorne (1946), most workings were caved. Renewed interest in the prospect began about 1962 and continued until about 1970, the property was trenched beginning in 1962, and drilled by the Ptarmigan Company in 1969 or 1970. It has been inactive since.

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = Carbonate

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c)

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = the most recent exploration data on the property was summarized in: 'Slana Mineral Belt Prospects Review' by Kirk Stanley, a report for Ahtna Minerals Corporation (Wes Nason, Ahtna Minerals, written communication, 2000). Additional information can be obtained from Ahtna Minerals in Anchorage, Alaska.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Richter, 1966

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Silver Creek prospect consists of highly altered, pyritic rock and veins that occur along cross-fractures to a major fault zone. The fault zone is 100 or more feet wide, strikes N 10-20 E and dips 65 to 80 degrees to the west. The fault appears to cut and displace a dike-like Jurassic(?) diorite that intrudes sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Pennsylvanian to Permian, Slana Spur Formation (Richter 1964; 1966; Richter, Lanphere, and Matson, 1975; and Kirk Stanley, written communication, 2000).? Rocks within the fault zone are yellowish, carbonate- and gouge-rich hornfels that contain fine-grained disseminated pyrite. Quartz-carbonate veins as much as five-feet thick cross the fault zone; veins locally contain concentrations of galena, tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and sphalerite. Limonite and malachite are abundant in near surface exposures (Thorne, 1946; Richter, 1966; Kirk Stanley, written communication, 2000).? Individual cross-veins described by Richter (1964; 1966, p. 32-33) strike NW and dip NE. Locally, they are enriched in silver, probably mainly in tetrahedrite. Thorne (1946, p. 8, fig. 4) reported that a one-foot-thick vein from the uppermost workings assayed a trace of gold, 17.5 ounces of silver per ton, some lead, and 1.59 percent copper. Another sample from caved workings contained 0.04 ounce of gold per ton with only a trace of copper. The prospect was reopened and drilled in about 1969-70. Samples collected from small diameter (AX) drill holes locally contained more than 50 ounce of silver per ton. Low-angle BX holes drilled across the veins encountered occasional high silver values, but indicated that the average grade across the fault zone was less than 5 ounces of silver per ton. No substantial work has been done since 1970 (Kirk Stanley, written communication, 2000).

References

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Richter, D.H., 1966, Geology of the Slana district on south-central Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 2l, 36b p., 3 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Thorne, R.L., 1946, Exploration of argentiferous lead-copper deposits of the Slana district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 3940, 9 p.

Reference (Deposit): Richter, D.H., 1964, Geology and mineral deposits of the Ahtell Creek area, Slana District, south-central Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 6, 17 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:31,680.

Reference (Deposit): Richter, D.H., and Matson, N.A., Jr., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Gulkana quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-419, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Gulkana quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1247, 36 p.

Reference (Deposit): Richter, D.H., and Matson, N.A., 1968, Distribution of gold and some base metals in the Slana area, eastern Alaska Range, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 593, 20 p.

Reference (Deposit): Richter, D.H., Lanphere, M.A., and Matson, N. A., Jr., 1975, Granite plutonism and metamorphism, Eastern Alaska Range, Alaska: Geological Society of American Bulletin, v. 86, p. 819-820.

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1938, Geology of the Slana-Tok district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 904, 54 p.

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.