Foster

The Foster is a tin, lead, copper, gold, silver, and zinc 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: Foster

Commodity

Primary: Tin
Primary: Lead
Primary: Copper
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Primary: Zinc

Location

State: Alaska
District: Council

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
Model Name: Polymetallic replacement

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation, fracturing, and leaching of wall-rock is known to a depth of 430 feet.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Anglesite
Ore: Cerussite
Ore: Galena
Gangue: Clay
Gangue: Goethite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Cretaceous ; Epigenetic mineralization in metamorphic rocks of Seward Peninsula is primarily of Cretaceous age.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Several trenches and pits were dug in about 1890 when the nearby Omilak mine (BN097) was in operation. Initial dozer trenching took place in 1949 and the U. S. Bureau of Mines later added seven more dozer trenches. The U. S. Bureau of mines also completed 11 diamond drill holes between 201 and 430 feet in length, totalling 3,015 linear feet of drilling (Mulligan, 1962).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic vein or replacement in marble (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 19a or 22c ?)

Comment (Deposit): Model Number = 19a (?), 22c (?)

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Mulligan, 1962

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Foster prospect is a zone of massive galena-bearing gossan, 700 feet long that is localized along the vertically fractured axis of an anticline. The host rocks are bleached and partly silicified marble that is part of a high grade metasedimentary assemblage of lower Paleozoic or Precambrian age (Till and other, 1986). The deposit is extensively and deeply oxidized and the gossan material is primarily limonite, goethite, cerussite, and anglesite (Herreid, 1965). Nodules of massive galena (to 2 feet across) encased in secondary oxides and carbonates are scattered through the mineralized zone and are residually concentrated at and near the surface (Mulligan, 1962). Dozer trenching has exposed a 12 by 90 foot gossan zone to a depth of 20 feet (Mulligan, 1962). Eight, three-foot long channel samples collected in the surface trench contained a trace to 25.6 % Pb (average 9.8 % P), a trace to 7.6 % Zn (average 1.5 % Zn), 5.7 to 42.5 % Fe (average 22.2 % Fe), a trace Au, 0.14 to 14.90 ounces/ton Ag (average 4.9 ounces/ton Ag), 0.1 to 0.3 % Sn (average 0.16 % Sn) adn 0.1 to 0.3 % Cu (Mulligan, 1962). Diamond drilling showed that extensive oxidation is present to depths greater than 400 feet. This drilling did not encounter massive sulfides, but sixteen assays of mixed core and sludge samples through the oxidized and mineralized zone averaged 4.6 % Pb and 0.95 ounces/ton Ag (Mulligan, 1962).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Several tons of hand sorted, high grade ore have been collected and piled near the prospect.

References

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Herried, G.H., 1965, Geology of the Omilak-Otter Creek area, Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geological Report 11, 12 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-417, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Gamble, B.M., 1988, Non-placer mineral occurrences in the Solomon, Bendeleben, and southern part of the Kotzebue quadrangles, western Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Map MF-1838-B, 13 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-429, 123 p.

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., 1962, Lead-silver deposits in the Omilak area, Seard Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 6018, 44 p.

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