Bornite, Ruby Creek

The Bornite, Ruby Creek is a 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: Bornite, Ruby Creek

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Cobalt
Secondary: Uranium
Secondary: Lead

Location

State: Alaska
District: Shungnak

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: Kipushi Cu-Pb-Zn (BC name is Carbonate-hosted Cu)

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Dolomite

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Bornite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Carrollite
Ore: Germanite
Ore: Renierite
Ore: Tennantite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Marcasite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Pyrrhotite
Gangue: Cymrite

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Exploration shaft, drifts on two levels, and extensive core drilling have been completed (Kennecott Exploration Co., written comm., 1997).??

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Kipushi

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Sulfide minerals form matrix of breccia replacement deposits in brecciated and intensely folded and faulted dolomite and limestone of the Devonian Bornite marble, a 3000-ft.-thick (1000 m) unit of carbonate rocks. Deposit is structurally and stratigraphically confined to a sequence of Devonian dolomite, limestone, and calcareous phyllite (Kennecott Exploration Co., written comm., 1997).?The deposit is interpreted (Hitzman, 1986, p. 1644-1674) to have formed along a rifted continental margin in Late Devonian time. It occurs along a fault (?)-contolled margin of a carbonate bank adjacent to a shale-filled graben.??

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Hitzman, 1986

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Estimate by Kennecott Exploration Co. of 50 million tonnes averaging 1.2% Cu with 454,000 tonnes grading up to 4% Cu. Some samples reach 0.02% eU but the U content of the ore is apparently negligible (Matzko and Freeman, 1963). Undisclosed amounts of Zn and Co (Bundzten and others, 1995, p. 56).

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Devonian

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in northern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-628, 106 p.

Reference (Deposit): Matzko, J.J., and Freeman, V.L., 1963 Summary of reconnaissance for Uranium in Alaska, 1955: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1155, p. 33-49.

Reference (Deposit): Hitzman, M.W., Smith, T.E., and Proffett, J.M., Jr., 1982, Bedrock geology of the Ambler district, southwestern Brooks Range, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 75, 2 sheets.

Reference (Deposit): Mayfield, C.F. and Grybeck, D., 1978, Mineral occurrences and resource map of the Ambler river quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-120I, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Fritts, C.E., 1970, Geology and geochemistry of the Cosmos Hills, Ambler River and Shungnak River Quadrangles, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 39, 63 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Mayfield, C.F., 1981, Summaries of data on lists of references to metallic and selected nonemetallic mineral occurrencs in the Ambler River quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-570-A, 13p.

Reference (Deposit): Hitzman, M.W., Profett, J.M., Jr., Schmidt, J.M., and Smith, T.E., 1986, Geology and mineralization of the Ambler district, northwestern Alaska: Economic Geology, v. 81, p. 1592-1618.

Reference (Deposit): Runnels, D.D., 1969, The mineralogy and sulfur isotopes of the Ruby Creek copper prospect, Bornite, Alaska: Economic Geology, v. 64, p. 75-90.

Reference (Deposit): Bernstein, L.R., and Cox, D.P., 1986, Geology and sulfide mineralogy of the Number One ore body, Ruby Creek copper deposit, Alaska: Economic Geology, v. 81, p. 1675-1689.

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