War Eagle

The War Eagle 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: War Eagle
Secondary: Patterson and Co.

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Copper

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: Past Producer
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: Probably local silicification, carbonatization, pyritization, and introduction of hydrothermal hematite.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Gold
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = An unknown, but probably small, amount of gold probably was recovered from the War Eagle mine in the early 1900s (Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 109).

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

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = In the early 1900s, the War Eagle mine was on the property of Patterson and Co. (Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 146).

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Triassic or younger.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = An 1800-foot-long crosscut tunnel driven in the early 1900s intersected 6 or more veins (Brooks, 1902). Other workings at that time included a 40-foot shaft, 2 adits 100 vertical feet apart, and 700 feet of additional tunnel.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Southern Gravina Island is underlain by an assemblage of undivided Silurian or Ordovician metamorphosed bedded and intrusive rocks; a stock and associated dikes of Silurian trondhjemite that cuts the metamorphic assemblage; and a sequence of Upper Triassic carbonate, clastic, rhyolitic, and basaltic strata that unconformably overlies the older rocks (Berg, 1973, 1982; Berg and others, 1988). The rocks are complexly folded and are cut by high-angle faults and by low-angle thrust faults. In many places, the Triassic rhyolite and the rocks beneath it are permeated by microscopic particles of hydrothermal hematite, giving them a pink, purple, or red hue (Berg, 1973, p. 14).? According to Brooks (1902, p. 70), the War Eagle deposit consists of quartz veins in shear or breccia zones in greenschist. One such mineralized fault zone, exposed in a tunnel, is about 3 feet thick, strikes N30E, and dips 30S. The veins contain pyrite, chalcopyrite, and minor free gold. Wright and Wright (1908, p. 140) describe the deposit only as a 10-foot vein that contains pyrite and chalcopyrite, has well-defined walls, and evidently is a southeast continuation of the Hobo deposit (KC115). An 1800-foot-long crosscut tunnel driven in the early 1900s intersected 6 or more veins (Brooks, 1902). Other workings at that time included a 40-foot shaft, 2 adits 100 vertical feet apart, and 700 feet of additional tunnel. ? Maas and others' (1995, p. 227) description of the mineral deposits in the Seal Cove area probably applies in general to the War Eagle deposit. They report that chalcopyrite occurs as vein fillings, disseminations, and in fault breccias west and northwest of Seal Cove. The mineralized breccias have a siliceous matrix. Small quartz-barite veins with galena and sphalerite have been found west of Seal Cove, and on the northeast slopes of Punch Hill. The rocks at the War Eagle mine are cut by a high-angle fault that strikes west and northwest (Maas and others, (1995, fig 58). ? Maas and others (1995, p. 227) report that copper mineralization on southern Gravina Island generally is associated with faulting. The deposits are mainly in meta-andesite (greenschist) and trondhjemite, but also in the overlying Triassic strata. The deposits are chiefly chalcopyrite- and pyrite-bearing quartz fissure veins, but the sulfide minerals also occur as disseminations in the metavolcanic rocks, in silicified zones in the trondhjemite, and as clasts or pods in silicified or carbonatized breccia. The character and setting of the deposits suggest that they mainly are polymetallic veins of Late Triassic or younger age.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Brooks, 1902; Maas and others, 1995

References

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): Cobb, E.H., and Elliott, R.L., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1053, 154 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): 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.

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