Brown Bear

The Brown Bear is a gold and silver 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: Brown Bear
Secondary: Old Harbor
Secondary: Silver Queen
Secondary: Barling Bay

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver

Location

State: Alaska
District: Kodiak

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, Chugach-type

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Siltstone
Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Sericite

Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Capps, 1937

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = sparse tetrahedrite

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Brown Bear vein in 1936 had been developed by a 42-foot adit, a 23-foot adit and several open cuts. Open cuts and pits exposed some of the other veins. Nine samples taken by Roehm (1936, PE 131-5) on the Brown Bear vein assayed from trace gold and silver over 32 inches to 0.58 ounce per ton gold and 0.30 ounce per ton silver over 12 inches.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Three separate sulfide-bearing quartz veins, the Brown Bear, Old Harbor, and Silver Queen, cut Cretaceous metasedimentary rock. The Brown Bear vein, said to have been traced for several miles, strikes northeast, generally parallel to bedding. The dip is irregular and varies from 90 to 15 southeast. At one point the vein has a thickness of 15 feet. At another the vein splits into 3 bands 18 inches, 30 inches, and 6 feet in thickness. Assays of nine samples taken by Roehm ( 1936, PE 131-5) on the Brown Bear vein ranged from trace gold, trace silver over 32 inches to 0.58 ounce per ton gold and 0.30 ounce per ton silver over 12 inches. A basic dike, an aplite dike, and a porphyry dike crop out in the vicinity of the vein.? the Old Harbor vein crops out approximately 400 feet above the Brown Bear. It averages 5 feet in thickness and is said to have been traced for 3000 feet. No descriptions of the Silver Queen vein are available.

Comment (Geology): Age = Cretaceous or younger

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Chugach-type low-sulfide gold-quartz vein (Bliss, 1992; model 36a.1), turbidite-hosted gold vein.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Most of the area is on land conveyed to the Koniag Corporation.

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Afognak, Karluk, Kodiak, and Trinity Islands quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-860, 49 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Kodiak quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-460, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Roehm, J.C., 1936, Preliminary report of Ouzinkie Group, Kodiak Mining District, Kodiak Island, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Prospect Evaluation 131-2, 4 p. (1 sheet, scale 1 inch=100 feet).

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1937, Kodiak and adjacent islands, Alaska, in Smith, P.S. and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880, p. 111-184, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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): McGee, D.L., 1972, Kodiak Island and vicinity, Alaska, geology and mineral resources: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 31, 7 p., 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Roehm, J.C., 1936, Preliminary report of Brown Bear Group, Kodiak Mining District, Kodiak Island, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Prospect Evaluation 131-5, 4 p., 1 map sheet, scale 1 inch=300 feet, 2 map sheets, scale 1 inch=20 feet.

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