Ronan Copper

The Ronan Copper 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: Ronan Copper

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Primary: Copper

Location

State: Alaska
District: Hyder

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: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Text: Volcanic hostrock is impregnated with sulfide minerals.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Prospect has been explored by surface pits and trenches. Channel samples collected in 1992 by the U. S. Bureau of Mines (Maas and others, 1995, p. 260) contain up to 169 ppb Au, 66.51 ppm Ag, and 2.5% Cu.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maas and others, 1995

Comment (Geology): Age = Maas and others (1995, p. 252) suggest that the Ronan Copper deposit is Jurassic in age, based on similarities in mineralogy, structural setting, and hostrock, to isotopically-dated Jurassic deposits nearby in the Hyder district (see, for example, BC065, BC067). If so, the deposit is contemporaneous, at least in part, with island-arc volcanism in Hazelton time (Alldrick, 1993).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic veins

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of the Ronan Copper prospect are pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic metavolcanic strata of the Jurassic or older Mesozoic Hazelton Group; the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which underlies and locally intrudes the Hazelton; the Eocene Hyder Quartz Monzonite, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks; and still-younger Tertiary lamprophyre dikes, which cut all the other rocks (Smith, 1973, 1977; Koch, 1996). Maas and others (1995, p. 252, 260) describe the deposit as one of group of gold-bearing pyrrhotite deposits comprising disseminations and masses of sulfide minerals, accompanied by quartz, in shear zones in Hazelton volcanic rocks. The sulfide minerals in this group of deposits include auriferous pyrrhotite, with associated chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite, and local sphalerite and galena. Maas and others (1995, p. 252) suggest that the Ronan Copper deposit is Jurassic in age, based on similarities in mineralogy, structural setting, and hostrock, to isotopically-dated Jurassic deposits nearby in the Hyder district (see, for example, BC065, 067). If so, the deposit is contemporaneous, at least in part, with island-arc volcanism in Hazelton time (Alldrick, 1993).

References

Reference (Deposit): Alldrick, D.J., 1993, Geology and metallogeny of the Stewart mining camp, northwestern British Columbia: British Columbia Department of Mines and Petroleum Resources Bulletin 85, 105 p., 2 plates.

Reference (Deposit): Maas, K.M., Bittenbender, P E., and Still, J.C., 1995, Mineral investigations in the Ketchikan mining district, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 11-95, 606 p.

Reference (Deposit): Koch, R.D., 1996, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Bradfield Canal quadrangle, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-728-A, 35 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, J.G., 1973, A Tertiary lamprophyre dike province in southeastern Alaska: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 10, p. 408-420.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, J.G., 1977, Geology of the Ketchikan D-1 and Bradfield Canal A-1 quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1425, 49 p.

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