Whalen Shaft

The Whalen Shaft is a silver, gold, and copper 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: Whalen Shaft

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Primary: Copper
Secondary: Bismuth
Secondary: Tungsten

Location

State: Alaska
District: McGrath

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: Skarn Cu

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Allanite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Malachite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Silver
Gangue: Kyanite
Gangue: Pyroxene
Gangue: Tremolite
Gangue: Zircon

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Copper-Gold skarn (Cox and Singer, 1986; model no. 18b)

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Whalen Shaft was driven to an unknown depth, but not below the water table, which was at about 400 feet.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See Nixon Fork Mine (MD062).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Whalen Shaft is mainly a tactite with gold-polymetallic mineral values. Ore from tactite contained the following: 25 percent biotite; 10 percent pyroxene; 10 percent tremolite; 10 percent carbonate; and 10 percent malachite (Herreid, 1966). The tactitie zone averaged: 1.24 ounces/ton gold, 2.9 ounces/ton silver, 1.11 percent copper, and 0.05 percent bismuth (Herreid, 1966). Age of mineralization is unknown, but probably related to the 68.0 Ma Nixon Fork monzonite pluton (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Herreid, 1966

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Specific production figures are not known; the gold-copper production was lumped with the Nixon Fork Mine (MD062).

References

Reference (Deposit): Herreid, G.H., 1966, Geology and geochemistry of the Nixon Fork area, Medfra quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geologic Report 22, 34 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:40,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Miller, M.L., 1997, Precious metals associated with Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary igneous rocks of southwestern Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Economic Geology Monograph #9, Mineral Deposits of Alaska, p. 242-286.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1936, Mineral deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-C, 115-245.

Reference (Deposit): White, M.G., and Stevens, J.M., 1953, Reconnaissance for radioactive minerals in the Ruby-Poorman and Nixon Fork districts, west-central Alaska, in 1949: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 279, 19 pages.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1974, Synopsis of mineral resources and geology of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1307, 53 pages.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1922, Gold lodes in the Upper Kuskokwim region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864D, p. 149-161.

Reference (Deposit): Brown, J.S., 1926, The Nixon Fork country: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783. p. 97-144.

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