Unnamed (between Fairweather and Sea Otter Glaciers)

The Unnamed (between Fairweather and Sea Otter Glaciers) is a nickel 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: Unnamed (between Fairweather and Sea Otter Glaciers)

Commodity

Primary: Nickel
Primary: Copper
Secondary: PGE
Secondary: Vanadium
Secondary: Cobalt
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Chromium

Location

State: Alaska
District: Yakutat

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

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

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Pentlandite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Pyrrhotite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Metalliferous glacial moraine. The metalliferous boulders are derived from primary cumulate-sulfide segregations in an layered mafic-ultramafic(?) intrusion.

Comment (Geology): Age = Tertiary.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Kimball and others, 1978

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Sampling by Plafker and MacKevett (1970) was followed up by the Bureau of Mines (Kimball and others, 1978). Samples collected by the Bureau (7S008 and 009) contain 0.002-0.005 ounce/ton platinum, 0.008-0.01 ounce/ton palladium, as much as 1.5 ppm Ag, about 0. 5 percent copper and 0.2 percent nickel, and 150 ppm cobalt. A sample of gabbro within the intrusive and below the copper-stained area contained 0.2 percent vanadium.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = the site is in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Further search for the source of the metalliferous moraine would need mountaineering support.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = This occurrence consists of boulders on a moraine about 1 mile southwest of the contact of the Mt. Fairweather layered mafic intrusion. The boulders consist of mafic intrusive rocks which contain disseminated sulfides, including chalcopyrite and nickel-bearing minerals. The boulders were derived from the intrusion. An area of bedrock about 1.5 miles northeast of the boulder field is conspicuously copper-stained and may be at or near the source of the boulders. . Samples collected from the moraine field by Plafker and MacKevett (1970) and by Kimball and others (1978)contained as much as 0. 5 percent copper, 0.2 percent nickel, a trace of silver, also as much as 0.005 ounce/ton platinum and 0.008 ounce/ton palladium. A sample collected below the copper-stained bedrock area contained 0.2 percent vanadium.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

References

Reference (Deposit): Plafker, George, and MacKevett, E. M., Jr., 1970, Mafic and ultramafic rocks from a layered pluton at Mount Fairweather, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 700-B, p. B21-B26.

Reference (Deposit): Kimball, A.L., Still, J.C., and Rataj, J.L., 1978, Mineral resources, in Brew, D. A., and others, Mineral resources of the Glacier Bay National Monument wilderness study area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-494, p. C1-C375.

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