Christmas and Enterprise (Whitney claims, Lemesurier Island)

Site Name

Primary: Christmas and Enterprise (Whitney claims, Lemesurier Island)

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Commodity

Primary: Molybdenum
Secondary: Copper

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Chichagof

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Development of hornfels and tactite.

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Rocks

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite

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Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Surface exposures of molybdenite and chalcopyrite were explored in a 78-foot-long tunnel and 25-foot-crosscut, that were driven in about 1916. The occurrence was first reported by Knopf (1912), and subsequently described in resource summaries by Brooks (1918, 1919, 1921), Kaufman (1958), Berg and Cobb (1967) and Cobb (1972). The site was also noted by Buddington (1926, p. 55-56) and Buddington and Chapin (1929, p. 329-330). It was visited by Reed (1938). Smith (1942, p. 176-177) summarized developments and also reported that Reed believed the prospect deserved more work.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Contact metasomatic deposit, molybdenum skarn.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Two patented claims, inactive for many years. Favorable area for skarn and porphyry-type molybdenum-copper deposits. The area is in Tongass National Forest, outside of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. It appears to be open for mineral location.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Small test shipments made.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Buddington, 1926; Reed, 1938

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Molybdenum and copper occur in contact-type deposits in marble of Paleozoic age that has been intruded by a granitic pluton of probable Cretaceous age (Knopf, 1912, p. 17; Buddington, 1926, p. 55-56; Reed, 1938). At the Whitney claims, a thirty-foot-wide zone along a contact between marble and granitic rock is mainly garnet-pyroxene tactite. A 78-foot adit driven in about 1916, started in tactite, cut through banded hornfels and quartzite, and ended in 'diorite' (Smith, 1942, p. 176) Molybdenite occurs as fracture coatings and as disseminations in the tactite. Hornfels is developed locally and contains chalcopyrite. Local molybdenite-lined vugs or pockets in the tactite contain as much as several percent molybdenum.

Comment (Geology): Age = Cretaceous or younger.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Mount Fairweather quadrangle, AK: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Study Map MF-436, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, J.C., 1938, Some mineral deposits of Glacier Bay and vicinity, Alaska: Economic Geology, v. 33, p. 52-80.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Occurrences of molybdenum in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-C, p. 161-210.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1919, Alaska's mineral supplies: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 666, p 89-102.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1921, The future of Alaska mining, in Martin G.C. and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 5-57.

Reference (Deposit): Knopf, Adolph, 1912, The Sitka mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 504, 32 p.

Reference (Deposit): Buddington, A.F., and Chapin, Theodore, 1929, Geology and mineral deposits of southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 800, 398 p.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous Lode Deposits of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 p.

Reference (Deposit): Kaufman, A., 1958, Southeastern Alaska's Mineral industry: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7844, 37 p.

Reference (Deposit): Buddington, A.F., 1926, Mineral investigations in southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783, p. 41-62.

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