The High Horse 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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High Horse MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: High Horse
Secondary: Monster
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Zinc
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: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Most of the principal veins in the Sea Level mine area are bordered by a hydrothermally altered zone up to three feet thick, characterized by generally fine-grain, light-gray to bluish-gray, massive, carbonate- and sericite-bearing rock that commonly contains cubic pyrite crystals up to an inch across (Maas and others, 1995, p. 215). Maas and others (1995) interpret this zone as hydrothermally altered mafic metavolcanic rock. Early miners called this altered rock 'blue porphyry,' which they interpreted as crosscutting altered dikes that predate the quartz veins, but are closely associated with some of the orebodies (Brooks, 1902, p. 65; Wright and Wright, 1908, p. 143). Gold content of these pyritic altered zones is high adjacent to the quartz veins and diminishes away from them. Weathered altered rocks have a reddish-brown, oxidized rind up to three inches thick.
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The deposit was explored in the early 1900s by opencuts and a short prospect tunnel.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Brooks, 1902; Wright and Wright, 1908;
Comment (Geology): Age = Maas and others (1995, p. 215) note that the quartz in the veins in the Sea Level mine area is not recrystallized; the veins thus are probably younger than most or all of the Late Cretaceous regional metamorphism.
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in this part of Revillagigedo Island are marine, interbedded, andesitic and basaltic metavolcanic rocks and subordinate pelitic metasedimentary rocks that are intruded by stocks, sills, and dikes of Cretaceous feldspar-porphyritic granodiorite (Berg and others, 1988). The strata and some of the granodiorite were regionally metamorphosed to greenschist grade in Late Cretaceous time. These regionally metamorphosed rocks subsequently were locally remetamorphosed to hornblende hornfels near the contacts of Cretaceous granodiorite plutons that were emplaced after the regional metamorphism. The premetamorphic age of the strata is uncertain. Berg and others (1988) assign them a Mesozoic or (late) Paleozoic age. Berg (1982) and Crawford and others (in press) assign them to the Gravina belt, of Late Jurassic or Cretaceous age, or to the Taku terrane, of late Paleozoic to Late Triassic age. The metamorphic and intrusive rocks locally are overlain by basalt and andesite lava flows of Quaternary or Tertiary age.? Brooks (1902, p. 68) describes the Monster (subsequently relocated as High Horse) deposit as a 12- to 20-foot-wide pegmatite dike that contains abundantly disseminated pyrite, but very low gold values. The dike cuts diabase schist, which also carries considerable pyrite near its contact with the pegmatite.? According to Wright and Wright (1908, p. 147-148), the High Horse prospect is an [auriferous] quartz fissure vein 6 inches to 3 feet thick that strikes N55E and dips 75SE. The vein is hosted by schists that strike N50W and dip 80NE. The ore consists chiefly of pyrite and sphalerite, and, reportedly, carries low values in gold. ? the foregoing descriptions, although scanty, suggest that the High Horse vein is similar in character and geologic setting to other auriferous quartz fissure veins in the Sea Level mine area (see KC095-098).? Maas and others (1995, p. 215) note that the quartz in the veins in the Sea Level mine area is not recrystallized; the veins thus are probably younger than most or all of the Late Cretaceous regional metamorphism.
Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = the High Horse claim is a relocation of the original Monster claim (Wright and Wright, 1908, p. 147).
References
Reference (Deposit): Crawford, M.L., Crawford, W.A., and Gehrels, G.E., 2000, Terrane assembly and structural relationships in the eastern Prince Rupert quadrangle, British Columbia, in H.H. Stowell and W.C.McClelland, eds., Tectonics of the Coast Mountains, southeastern Alaska and British Columbia: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 343, p. 1-21.?
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.
Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1902, Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of the geology of southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1, 120 p.
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., 1982, The Alaska Mineral Resource Assessment Program; guide to information about the geology and mineral resources of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 855, 24 p.
Reference (Deposit): Maas, K.M., Bittenbender, P E., and Still, J.C., 1995, Mineral investigations in the Ketchikan mining district, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 11-95, 606 p.
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.
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