Sunrise Prospect

The Sunrise Prospect is a copper, tungsten, and molybdenum mine located in Snohomish county, Washington at an elevation of 4,501 feet.

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: Sunrise Prospect
Secondary: Bren Mac
Secondary: Vesper Peak
Secondary: Brenmac

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Molybdenum
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Bismuth
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc

Location

State: Washington
County: Snohomish
District: Sultan Basin

Land Status

Land ownership: National Forest
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.
Administrative Organization: In Snoqualmie National Forest

Holdings

Type: State Lease
Type: Located Claim

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Bren Mac Mines, Ltd.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Canada
Years: 1976 -

Owner Name: W. E. Oldfield
Home Office: Washington
Years: 1951 - 1952

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Prospect
Deposit Type: Breccia Pipe
Operation Type: Underground
Discovery Year: 1897
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Pacific Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Cascade-Sierra Mountains
Physiographic Section: Northern Cascade Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Porphyry Cu-Mo

Orebody

Form: Pipe-like Stockwork Breccia

Structure

Type: L
Description: Breccia Pipe

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Pyritization (In Wall Rock)

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Phyllic (In Pipe)

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Weak Potassic

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Propylitic (In Wall Rock)
Alteration Text: Propylitic (In Wall Rock), Weak Potassic, Phyllic (In Pipe)

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: 0.002-0.006 OZ/TON AU, 0.049-0.088 OZ/TON AG. AVG GRADES: 0.319% CU, 0.071% MOS2, 0.062% WO3

Materials

Ore: Galena
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Biotite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Epidote
Gangue: Siderite
Gangue: Orthoclase
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Sericite

Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): RESERVE ESTIMATES OF 60 MILLION TONS AT 0.8% CU EQUIVALENT (HOLLISTER, 1979). BREN MAC MINES, INC., REPORTED TO HAVE BLOCKED OUT >40 MILLION TONS AT >0.9% RECOVERABLE CU EQUIVALENT (GRANT, 1976). DEPOSIT REPRESENTS ONE OF LARGEST W RESOURCES IN THE NORTHWEST

Comment (Commodity): ANALYSIS OF A CONCENTRATE YIELDED BI. DEPOSIT ALSO POSSIBLY CONTAINS RE

Comment (Development): BRECCIA PIPE EXPLORED TO A DEPTH OF 3,300 FT

Comment (Workings): ADITS, DRIFTS, CROSSCUTS, OPEN CUTS. OVER 18,000 FT OF DRILLING

Comment (Deposit): MRDS RECORD D000692 HAS BEEN MERGED WITH THIS RECORD AND DELETED

Comment (Deposit): DEPOSIT HAS BEEN GIVEN THE INFORMAL NAME OF A BRECCIA PIPE CU DEPOSIT, FOR WHICH THERE IS NO PUBLISHED MODEL. MINERALIZATION IS PREDOMINANTLY FOUND IN THE BRECCIA PIPE, BUT EXTENDS OUTWARD FROM IT IN DISSEMINATIONS. A PORPHYRY COPPER IS PRESUMED AT DEPTH

Comment (Deposit): From Derkey and others (1990, p. 366) The property has been explored extensively and includes 17,338 ft of diamond drilling, 800 ft of percussion drilling, 3,728 ft of underground adits, 557 ft of drifts, and 1,256 ft of cross-cuts. Metallurgical testing of bulk samples was completed in 1971. The most recent evaluation was done by Brenmac. Companies that explore the pipe prior to Brenmac include Century Explorations Inc., Bear Creek Mining Co., and Malaspina Mining Co. The property consists of four lode claims and surrounding state leases. The four claims are the Elderado (sometimes called Eldorado), Oxdental (sometimes referred to as Oxedental, Occidental, or Oxidental), the Quaker City, the Wall Street, and the Sultan Basin Mining Co. mill site.

Comment (Geology): From Derkey and others (1990, p. 366) The Sunrise breccia pipe is genetically related to Oligocene intrusive rocks, which crop out north of the pipe. Quartz diorite fragments increase in abundance with depth. The elliptical pipe was delineated by drilling and underground exploration. The exposed vertical extent of the pipe extends from an elevation of 5,000 ft to 3,000 ft (the elevation of the exploration adit). At an elevation of 5,000 ft, the pipe is 200 ft by 700 ft; at 3,000 ft, the dimensions are 350 ft by 900 ft. The cross-sectional area of the pipe continues to increase with depth. The pipe plunges at an angle of minus 70 degrees to the south.

Comment (Geology): From Derkey and others (1990, p. 366) Fragments in the Sunrise breccia pipe are 1 in. to several feet across; ore minerals line intersticies. Mineralization (mainly chalcopyrite and molybdenite) also occurs as disseminations in fragments and in fractured wall rocks adjacent to the pipe. The amount of disseminated chalcopyrite increases in quartz diorite with increasing depth. Fragments in breccia and country rock are hornfelsed. Two periods of brecciation are recognized; late east-northeast-trending high-angle faults offset breccia contacts. The Sunrise breccia pipe contains 71 million tons of measured, indicated, and inferred ore reserves averaging 0.319% Cu and 0.071% MoS2 (1972 data). Underground drilling (1,322 ft) indicated an average grade of 0.062% WO3; thirty chip samples ranged 0.04%-0.07% WO3. Assays ranged from 0.002 to 0.006 oz/ton Au and from 0.049 to 0.088 oz/ton Ag. A copper-molybdenite concentrate assayed 0.40% Pb, 0.80% Zn, and 0.18% Bi.

Comment (Geology): From Derkey and others (1990, p. 366) The Sunrise breccia pipe is elliptical in plan and is elongate northwest. The pipe cuts Eastern Melange rocks (Tabor and others, 1988) consisting of Jurassic greenstone, greywacke, and argillite. The breccia pipe lies 1,000 ft south of the Vesper Peak stock and is thought to be genetically related to that stock. Emplacement of the breccia pipe is thought to have been controled by an east-northeast-trending system of fracturing and sheeting (Glacier Peak belt).

References

Reference (Deposit): GRANT, A.R., 1976, REPORT OF EVALUATION, MINERAL RESOURCE ANALYSIS STUDY ON UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE LAND, STATE OF WASHINGTON: PREPARED FOR U.S. FOREST SERVICE - REGION 6, CONTRACT NO. 004724N, P. 27,

Reference (Deposit): GRANT, A.R., 1969, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CONTROLS FOR BASE METAL DEPOSITION IN THE CASCADE RANGE OF WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 58, P. 74-78.

Reference (Deposit): HOLLISTER, V.F., 1979, PORPHYRY COPPER-TYPE DEPOSITS OF THE CASCADE VOLCANIC ARC, WASHINGTON: MINERALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, V. 11, P. 32.

Reference (Deposit): R.U. KING, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, UNPUB DATA.

Reference (Deposit): PUFFET, W., 1972

Reference (Deposit): DERKEY, R.E., JOSEPH, N.L., AND LASMANIS, RAYMOND, 1990 METAL MINES OF WASHINGTON - PRELIMINARY REPORT: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES OPEN-FILE REPORT 90-18, P. 366-367.

Reference (Deposit): CARITHERS, WARD, AND GUARD, A.K., 1945, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE SULTAN BASIN, SNOHOMISH COUNTY, WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 36, P. 68-70.

Reference (Deposit): BROUGHTON, W.A., 1942, INVENTORY OF MINERAL PROPERTIES IN SNOHOMISH COUNTY, WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 6, P. 50.

Reference (Deposit): HEDDERLY-SMITH, DAVID A., 1975, GEOLOGY OF SUNRISE BRECCIA PIPE, SULTAN BASIN, SNOHOMISH COUNTY, WASHINGTON: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON MASTER OF SCIENCE THESIS, 60P. 2 PLATES .

Reference (Deposit): BREN MAC MINES (SUMMARY REPORT) BY A.R. GRANT 1/7/74 LANGL

Reference (Deposit): JAMES R. GLASS CONSULTING GEOLOGIST, 1971, SUNRISE BRECCIA PIPE ORE RESERVE REPORT; UNPUBLISHED REPORT IN WASHINGTON DEPARMENT OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES FILES.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): PUFFET, 1972

Reference (Deposit): PIERCE,PAUL, 1977, BRENMAC-SUNRISE PROPERTY, UNPUBLISHED BUMINES MAS (MINERAL AVAILABILITY SYSTEM) DEPOSIT SUMMARY REPORT, 62 P.

Reference (Deposit): HUNTTING, M.T., 1956, INVENTORY OF WASHINGTON MINERALS - PART II, METALLIC MINERALS: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 37, V. 1, P. 91.

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