Kasna Creek

Site Name

Primary: Kasna Creek
Secondary: Barnes
Secondary: Gilt Edge

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Commodity

Primary: Iron
Primary: Copper
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Zinc

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Bristol Bay

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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: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Skarn Fe

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Text: Unknown

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Swainbank and others (1997) report reserves of over 9,070,000 tonnes of ore that grade more than 1 percent Cu.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = One adit each in Gilt Edge and Barnes deposits. Numerous trenches were dug and sampled by USBM in both ore bodies for assay analysis. Ore bodies average 0.95 precent Cu, 27.5 percent Fe, and 30.1 percent SiO2 (Warfield and Rutledge, 1951). Eakins (1970) reports stream sediments samples that yield up to 2,810 ppm Cu, 150 ppm Pb, and 1,200 ppm Zn.

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = fibrous amphibole

Comment (Production): Production Notes = No production

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Warfield and Rutledge, 1951

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Fe skarn; Cu skarn (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 18d and 18b)

Comment (Geology): Age = Paleocene or younger. A quartz monzodiorite which is probably related to the deposit yields concordant potassium-argon ages for hornblende and biotite of about 61 m.y. (Reed and Lanphere, 1972; 1973).

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Claims currently inactive, but diamond drilling between 1965 and 1970 has proved the presence of copper and iron in significant quantities (Detterman and Reed, 1980). Site is in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The prospect occurs in lenticular contact-metamorphosed Upper Triassic limestone and dolomite. It consists of bedding parallel bands of skarn containing specular hematite, chalcopyrite, and lesser magnetite veinlets in amphibole-chlorite-calcite-quartz gangue. Tuffs, mafic volcanic rocks, and agglomerate occur within the limestone. Capps (1935) reported stringers of solid chalcopyrite several inches thick. The prospect consists of two ore bodies: Gilt Edge, 320 m x 76 m, to the north; and Barnes, 408 m X 12 m, to the south. The limestone and included lodes strike NE and dip NW (Berg and Cobb, 1967). Numerous trenches were dug and sampled by USBM in both ore bodies for assay analysis. Ore bodies average 0.95 precent Cu, 27.5 percent Fe, and 30.1 percent SiO2 (Warfield and Rutledge, 1951). A Tertiary, medium- to fine-grained hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite is nearby (Nelson and others, 1983; unit Ti2). The pluton yields concordant potassium-argon ages for hornblende and biotite of about 61 m.y. (Reed and Lanphere, 1972; 1973)

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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References

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Nokleberg, W.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Dawson, K.M., Eremin, R.A., Goryachev, N.A., Koch, R.D., Ratkin, V.V, Rozenblum, I.S., Shpikerman, V.I., Frolov, Y.F., Gorodinsky, M.E., Melnikov, V.D., Diggles, M.F., Ognyanov, N.V., Petrachenko, E.D., Petrochenko, R.I., Pozdeev, A.I., Ross, K.V., Wood, D.H., Grybeck, D., Khanchuck, A.I., Kovbas, L.I., Nekrasov, I.Y., and Sidorov, A.A., 1997, References for significant metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous lode mineral deposits and placer districts, and for metallogenesis of the Russian Far East, Alaska, and the Canadian Cordillera: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-513-B, 385 p.

Reference (Deposit): Nokleberg, W.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Berg, H.C., Brew, D.A., Grybeck, D.J., Robinson, M.S., Smith, T.E., and Yeend, W., 1987, Significant metalliferous lode deposits and placer districts of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1786, 104 p.

Reference (Deposit): Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T. K., Clough A.H., and Henning, M.W., 1997, Alaska's mineral industry 1996: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 51, 68 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska - Supplement to Open-File Report 76-485: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-1343-A, 25 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-485.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska - Supplement to Open-File Report 76-485: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-1343-B, 20 p.

Reference (Deposit): Detterman, R.L., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Stratigraphy, structure, and economic geology of the Iliamna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1368-B, 86 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1913, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1912: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542, 308 p.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B. L., and Lanphere, M. A., 1973, Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith-- Geochronology, chemistry, and relation to circum-Pacific plutonism: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 84, no. 8, p. 2583-2610.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., and Katz, F.J., 1910, Outline of geology and mineral resources of the Iliamna and Clark lakes region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., and Katz, F.J., 1912, A geologic reconnaissance of the Iliamna region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 485, 138 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral map of the Lake Clark quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-378, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous Lode Deposits of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 p.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., 1967, Results of stream sediment sampling and bedrock analyses in the eastern part of the Iliamna quadrangle, and at Kasna Creek, Lake Clark quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 272, 18 p.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., and Lanphere, M.A., 1972, Generalized geologic map of the Alaska-Aleutian range batholith showing potassium-argon ages of the plutonic rocks: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-372, 2 sheets, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Warfield, R.S., and Rutledge, F.A., 1951, Investigations of Kasna Creek copper prospect, Lake Kontrashibuna, Lake Clark region, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 4828, 10 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1935, The southern Alaska Range: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 862, 101 p.

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