Big Bar

The Big Bar is a zinc, lead, copper, 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Big Bar

Commodity

Primary: Zinc
Primary: Lead
Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver

Location

State: Alaska
District: Koyuk

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: Massive sulfide, kuroko

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: This prospect is highly oxidized. Quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration may be present in unoxidized parts of the prospect.

Rocks

Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Devonian

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Malachite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Muscovite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Feldspar

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Kuroko massive sulfide (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 28a)

Comment (Geology): Age = Devonian ; this is a strataform deposit and the host felsic schist is interpreted to be similar in age to the Devonian gneiss at Kiwalik Mountain (Till and others, 1986).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = North Pacific Mining Corporation, 1991

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Big Bar is a volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in an interlayered metavolcanic and metasedimentary sequence that strikes northwest and dips moderately south. It was discovered and initially explored by Anaconda Minerals Company from 1982 to 1984 (North Pacific Mining Corporation, 1991). The interbedded sequence includes metapelitic schist, white to tan siliceous muscovite schist, and muscovite-quartz-feldspar schist. The felsic schist contains apple green muscovite and up to 50 % feldspar porphyroblasts. The mineralized schists are highly oxidized and limonitic blebs and and streaks are common along the foliation. Only a few remnants of pyrite and chalcopyrite are observed at the surface. Exposure is primarily frost-riven rubble although one non-mineralized felsic schist outcrop is present upslope of the defined mineralization. The prospect is primarily defined by the geochemical results from a 3,900 by 3,000 foot soil sample grid. Sample spacing along strike was 330 feet (100 meters) and 165 feet (50 meters) along dip. This sampling defined a copper anomaly greater than 200 ppm that was over 3,900 feet long and 165 to 330 feet wide. Copper values within this anomaly were locally greater than 1,000 ppm. A zinc anomaly greater than 200 ppm in soils overlaps the copper anomaly to the west but is roughly parallel and displaced downslope from it to the east. The lead soil anomaly greater than 100 ppm)is irregular and more discontinuous than the copper anomaly. Both the east and west limits of the anomaly are on slopes where downslope migration of surficial materials is to be expected but copper values greater than 200 ppm do extend to both the northwest and southeast limits of the sample grid. A soil sample with gossan fragments contained 920 ppm Cu, 605 ppm Pb, 3,900 ppm Zn, and 1.6 ounces/ton Ag. Silver values in soil samples were only locally greater than 1 ppm however. Initial soil samples in the area (Hudson and Wyman, 1983) contained some low level gold values up to 25 ppb. Some reconnaissance geophysical surveys (IP, MAXMIN, EM, gravity, and magnetics) were completed on the prospect. One distinct IP anomaly, coincident with a magnetic high, was identified upslope of the copper anomaly. The metamorphic assemblage that hosts this prospect is peripheral to the Devonian Kiwalik Mountain gneiss (Till and others, 1986). The assemblage appears to contain metatuff and metarhyolite components that resemble lithologies in the Ambler district of the southern Brooks Range. The metavolcanic-bearing assemblage of the Kiwalik Mounatin area has only locally been separately mapped along Independence Creek (Till and others, 1986). This assemblage flanks Kiwalik Mountain to the east, south, west and northwest. The HOM prospect (BN119) is another volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit associated with this assemblage.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Some blasting has been done in an unsuccessful attempt to expose bedrock mineralization. The prospect is primarily defined by the geochemical results from a 3,900 by 3,000 foot soil sample grid. Sample spacing along strike was 330 feet (100 meters) and 165 feet (50 meters) along dip. Some reconnaissance geophysical surveys (IP, MAXMIN, EM, gravity, and magnetics) were completed on the prospect. One distinct IP anomaly, coincident with a magnetic high, was identified upslope of the soil copper anomaly.

References

Reference (Deposit): North Pacific Mining Corporation, 1991, Big Bar Prospectus: Anchorage, unpublished internal report, 8 p. (Report held by Cook Inlet Region Inc.)

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., and Wyman, W. F., 1983, Interim report on areas of Seward Peninsula warranting further prospecting and evaluation: Anchorage, Anaconda Minerals Company internal report, 84 p., 7 plates. (Report held by Cook Inlet Region Inc., Anchorage, Alaska.)

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.