The Champion II prospect is located within Doyon, Ltd. selected or conveyed land. For more information contact Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska.
Location: The Champion II lode prospect is on a ridge north of Champion Creek; it is in the southeast portion of the Eagle C-2 quadrangle about 0.3 mile south of hill 4230. The coordinates are the approximate center of the Champion II prospect area, near the eastern boundary of section 21, T. 4 S., R. 30 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate. The Champion II prospect is located within Doyon, Ltd. selected or conveyed land.
Geology: The Champion II prospect is in interlayered Paleozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks at the south edge of an extensive complex of granitic intrusions of Tertiary or Mesozoic age (Foster, 1976; WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). Drilling indicates the dominant lithology is isoclinally folded quartzite with interlayered chlorite schist or gray schist, all of which have been variously hornfelsed. Marble is found throughout the quartzite and schist units; it is 60 feet thick in the center of the prospect area. The closest large intrusions are located approximately 1 mile to the north and 1 mile to the east. Igneous rocks near the prospect include andesite and dacite sills and dikes and diorite dikes and plugs. There is also an altered granodiorite dike immediately north of the marble body. Some marble layers have been altered to calc-silicate skarn, and contain chlorite, epidote, idocrase, garnet, wollastonite, and clinopyroxene. Shear zones and inferred steeply dipping faults truncate the east side of a soil anomaly (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). A linear identified on aerial photographs on the west side of the soil anomaly roughly parallels the fault on the east side and suggests the soil anomaly is contained within a horst structure. Chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite occur within high-grade sulfide bands along foliation and in scattered quartz-carbonate veins (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). Pyrite is a minor constituent and most commonly occurs with pyrrhotite in graphitic phyllite. Pyrite also is found as disseminated grains or in small quartz-carbonate veins in other rock types. Pyrrhotite is a product of contact metamorphism adjacent to dikes. Chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite are primarily in skarn but also are present in significant concentrations in quartzite. In the skarn, sulfides are generally coarse grained and granular and form segregated mineral bands parallel to foliation. In chloritic, gray, and graphitic schist, sulfides vary from wispy, fine-grained disseminations and laminae to coarse-grained aggregates along foliation. Trace galena and sphalerite are present in altered diorite dikes as disseminated grains or in fractures and veinlets showing bleached selvages. Sphalerite is generally reddish brown in both fine and coarse crystals; a small portion of the finer sphalerite is pale brown to cream colored. Minor secondary minerals, including malachite and limonite, are present in fractures to depths of 200 feet. Lead isotopic ratios indicate a Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary age for the Champion II sulfides; this indicates an intrusive origin (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1995). Alteration associated with mineralization at the Champion II prospect includes silicification and calc-silicate development in marble and bleaching in all rocks types. Alteration of intrusive rocks includes weak argillic and propylitic alteration with development of clays in feldspars and a chlorite-quartz-epidote-calcite assemblage around mafic minerals (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). The lead soil anomaly at Champion II is about 6,000 feet by 6,000 feet in area,and it is open to the south (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). High lead values in soil trend east-west, and this orientation is also seen in zinc, copper, and silver anomalies. Some soil samples contain greater than 1,000 ppm lead, and as much aS 5,800 ppm copper, 6,500 ppm zinc, and 500 ppb gold. Rock samples contain as much as 12.6 percent lead, 3.9 percent copper, and 3.6 percent zinc. Two rock samples from a graphitic unit contain as much as 0.02 ounce of gold per ton. Drilling at Champion II intersected significant copper-lead-zinc mineralization in 7 out of 9 drill holes (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). Drill hole CH1 intersected sulfides within interlayered marble, chlorite-epidote skarn, and graphitic and chlorite schist. Assays over 19 feet within that schist averaged 1percent copper, 2.5 percent lead, 2.4 percent zinc, and 0.81 ounce of silver per ton. Drill hole CH2 intersected a 12-foot-thick zone of skarn and chlorite schist that averages 1.4 percent copper, 2.4 percent lead, 1.7 percent zinc, and 2 ounces of silver per ton. Drill hole CH3 intersected a shear zone containing a block of gray schist and skarn with chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite mineralization along foliation planes. This zone is 15 feet wide and averages 0.2 percent copper, 1.2 percent lead, 1.1 percent zinc, and 0.1 ounce of silver per ton. Below this zone, another shear contains trace chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite and pyrite in quartzite and gray schist. Drill hole CH4 intersected trace pyrite in an intrusion; scattered quartz veins with minor chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite in a shear zone; and trace chalcopyrite and galena within calcareous zones in the quartzite and schist. Drill hole CH5 was drilled to test a surface showing of chalcopyrite and malachite in quartzite; it intersected weakly mineralized magnetite-bearing marble. Champion I (EA048), East Champion (EA047), North Champion (EA046), and Oregon Creek (EA045) are other base-metal prospects within 5 miles of the Champion II prospect. The discovery of base metals in the Champion II prospect area was made in the 1930's by prospectors who hand-excavated trenches (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). From 1975 to 1977, WGM Inc. conducted regional geochemical reconnaissance and mapping in the area. A large copper-lead-zinc-silver soil anomaly was defined, but there was no indication of the prospect in VLF, EM, and magnetic surveys. In 1996 and 1997, soil sampling extended the anomalies. In 1997, 3,044 feet of HQ core was drilled and significant mineralization was intersected. In 1998, Ventures Resource Alaska drilled 3,000 feet of core (Swainbank and others, 1998).
Workings: The discovery of base metals in the Champion II prospect area was made in the 1930's by prospectors who hand-excavated trenches (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). From 1975 to 1977, WGM Inc. conducted regional geochemical reconnaissance and mapping in the area. A large copper-lead-zinc-silver soil anomaly was defined, but there was no indication of the prospect in VLF, EM, and magnetic surveys. In 1996 and 1997, soil sampling extended the anomalies. In 1997, 3,044 feet of HQ core was drilled and significant mineralization was intersected. In 1998, Ventures Resource Alaska drilled 3,000 feet of core (Swainbank and others, 1998).
Age: Lead isotopic ratios indicate a Late Cretaceous or early Tertiary age for the Champion II mineralization (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1995).
Alteration: Alteration associated with mineralization at the Champion II prospect includes silicification and calc-silicate development in marble and bleaching in all rocks types (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-12]). Alteration of intrusive rocks includes weak argillic and propylitic alteration with development of clays in feldspars and a chlorite-quartz-epidote-calcite assemblage around mafic minerals.

Commodities (Major) - Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn; (Minor) - Au
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Cu skarn, Zn-Pb skarn (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 18b, 18c).

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

Mineral List

11 valid minerals.