Mountain View: Fish Creek nos. 1, 2, and 3

Site Name

Primary: Mountain View: Fish Creek nos. 1, 2, and 3
Secondary: Skookum
Secondary: Gray Copper
Secondary: Ruby Silver

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Commodity

Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Zinc
Primary: Lead
Primary: Molybdenum
Primary: Copper
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Barium-Barite
Secondary: Uranium

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Hyder

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

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

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic veins

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Text: Oxidation and supergene enrichment of some copper, silver, lead, and uranium minerals.

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Anglesite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Silver
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Marcasite
Ore: Malachite
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Azurite
Ore: Barite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Freibergite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Gangue: Ankerite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Sericite

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Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Buddington, 1929 (B807); Byers and Sainsbury, 1956

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = unidentified radioactive mineral

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = From 1925 to 1929, a total of 3600 feet of tunnels were driven at the Mountain View mine. Of these workings, 3500 feet are in the Skookum tunnel at an altitude of 540 feet. In 1944, the northwest drift of the Skookum tunnel, on the Gray Copper vein, was extended for 180 feet. The weighted average tungstic oxide (WO3) content of 43 channel samples in these workings was 1.23% across an average vein width of 1.4 feet for a strike length of 130 feet (Byers and Sainsbury, 1956, p. 137). This ore also averaged 0.1 oz. Au/ton and 6.4 oz. Ag/ton. Weighted averages of channel samples of other parts of this vein varied from 0.15-3.93% WO3. Samples of molybdenite-bearing granodiorite contained 28-1446 ppm Mo (Maas and others, 1995, p. 262, no. 426). The most highly radioactive unconcentrated vein sample contained 0.049 percent equivalent uranium, and the most intensely radioactive concentrate of vein material contained 0.398 percent equivalent uranium (West and Benson, 1955, p. 25).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of this site include: pelitic metasedimentary and subordinate andesitic metavolcanic strata of the Jurassic or Triassic Hazelton Group; recrystallized granodiorite of the Triassic Texas Creek Granodiorite, which intrudes the Hazelton rocks; quartz monzonite and granodiorite of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite batholith, which intrudes the Hazelton and Texas Creek rocks; and Tertiary lamprophyre dikes, which intrude all of the foregoing rock units (Buddington, 1929; Smith, 1973, l977; Berg and others, 1988). The deposits consist of quartz fissure veins in (Texas Creek) granodiorite and Hazelton metasedimentary rocks (Buddington, 1929, p. 63-67; West and Benson, 1955, p. 31-45; Byers and Sainsbury, 1956, p. 137-138; Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 78). The Texas Creek-Hazelton contact is a north-trending, high-angle fault that runs through the middle of the property; the Hazelton lays east of the fault. The veins locally are cut by dikes of aplite and granodiorite porphyry or pegmatite that probably are apophyses of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite batholith, and by lamprophyre dikes. The veins range in thickness from an inch or so to as much as 8 feet, and have been traced in surface or underground exposures for as much as 475 feet. The veins contain sulfide minerals, occasionally in massive shoots up to several inches thick, that mainly include pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and minor tetrahedrite and freibergite. Free gold and native silver have been reported, as have secondary oxides of the copper, lead, silver, and iron sulfides. A secondary, radioactive mineral, tentatively identified as uranium sulfate, occurs as a thin, yellowish coating on some of the sulfide and oxide minerals and on fracture surfaces; the primary radioactive mineral, which appears to be associated with rutile, has not been identified (West and Benson, 1955, p. 41). The Fish Creek no. 2, or Gray Copper, vein contains scheelite and barite in addition to the sulfides. Molybdenite flakes occur in some of the aplite and pegmatite dikes. On the basis of lead-isotope studies, Maas and others (1995, p. 254) established that the age of the Gray Copper vein is Eocene, and suggest that the Ruby Silver vein also is Eocene. The veins thus are roughly contemporaneous with the emplacement of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite batholith. More than 3600 feet of underground workings were driven at the Mountain View mine between 1925 and 1944, but the only ore shipments were for mill tests.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = More than 3600 feet of underground workings were driven at the Mountain View mine between 1925 and 1944, but the only ore shipments were for mill tests.

Comment (Geology): Age = On the basis of lead-isotope studies, Maas and others (1995, p. 254) established that the age of the Gray Copper vein is Eocene, and suggest that the Ruby Silver vein also is Eocene. The veins thus are roughly contemporaneous with the emplacement of the Hyder Quartz Monzonite batholith.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Buddington, A.F., 1929, Geology of Hyder and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, with a reconnaissance of Chickamin River: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 807, 124 p.

Reference (Deposit): West, W.S., and Benson, P.D., 1955, Investigations for radioactive deposits in southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-B, p. 25-57.

Reference (Deposit): Byers, F.M., and Sainsbury, C.L., 1956, Tungsten deposits of the Hyder district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-F, p. 123-140.

Reference (Deposit): Elliott, R.L., Berg, H.C., and Karl, Susan, 1978, map and table describing metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report, 78-73-B,17 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Elliott, R.L., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1053, 154 p.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1988, Geologic map of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Series Map MF-1807,27 p., scale 1:250,000.

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.

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