Moonshine

The Moonshine is a 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: Moonshine

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Ketchikan

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: Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Greenstone
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Not available

Comments

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Basemetal sulfides

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Jurassic

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Basemetal sulfides

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Besshi massive sulfide? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 24b)

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Workings in the early 1900s included a 30-foot-long opencut and a 12-foot shaft.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks on southeastern Gravina Island are Upper Jurassic or Cretaceous marine andesitic or basaltic volcanic rocks that are gradationally interbedded with subordinate flyschlike sedimentary rocks (Berg, 1973; Berg and others, 1988). The strata were regionally metamorphosed to greenschist-grade phyllite and semischist in Late Cretaceous time. The country rocks are cut by intermediate or mafic dikes that apparently postdate the regional metamorphism.? Wright and Wright (1908, p. 179) describe the deposit as two parallel 'veins' that strike northwest, parallel to the foliation of altered greenschist hostrock. They do not describe the ore minerals, but the deposits probably contain basemetal sulfides and were prospected in the early 1900s chiefly for gold. The deposits are 6 and 18 feet thick and are separated by 50 feet of relatively barren rock. Although Wright and Wright do not mention quartz at the Moonshine, Elliott and others (1978) infer that the deposits are quartz veins. However, Wright and Wright's description, the geologic setting of the Moonshine prospect, and its proximity to other lode deposits on southeastern Gravina Island (KC073, 074), suggest instead that the Moonshine is mainly a stratiform deposit, comprising sulfide bands or disseminations parallel to the foliation of the schist hostrock. If so, the Moonshine may be a metamorphosed Besshi massive sulfide deposit of Late Jurassic age.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Wright and Wright, 1908; Berg, 1973

References

Reference (Deposit): Elliott, R.L., Berg, H.C., and Karl, Susan, 1978, map and table describing metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report, 78-73-B,17 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1988, Geologic map of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Series Map MF-1807,27 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., 1973, Geology of Gravina Island Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1373, 41 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wright, F.E., and Wright, C.W., 1908, The Ketchikan and Wrangell mining districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 347, 210 p.

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