Cliff; Fog Prospects, Chistochina Mining District, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Cliff; Fog Prospects	Group of Prospects
Chistochina Mining District	Mining District
Valdez-Cordova Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

This prospect is within the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Location: These prospects are located east of Deception Creek on the north side of Elliott Creek valley; they are at an elevation of about 4,100 feet in the NW1/4 section 34, T. 2 S., R. 7 E., of the Copper River Meridian. The prospects are approximately located, perhaps to within one-half mile. They are incuded in locality 64 of Cobb and Matson (1972) and locality 54 of Winkler and others (1981 [OFR 80-892-B]).
Geology: These prospects are near the Albert Johnson prospect (VA034) north of the headwaters of Elliott Creek. At the Albert Johnson prospect, bornite, chalcopyrite, and some native copper occur in small sheeted veins and replacement deposits in fractured Triassic Nikolai Greenstone (Mendenhall and Schrader, 1903; Moffit, 1918, p. 156-157). In general, thin veins, films and disseminations of bornite, chalcocite, and pyrite cut Triassic Nikolai Greenstone in this area (Moffit and Maddren, 1908,1909; Moffit and Mertie, 1923). Gangue minerals are commonly quartz, calcite, and epidote; secondary copper minerals include malachite, azurite and some chalcanthite. Some mineralization occurs as irregular pods in greenstone. The Nikolai Greenstone and overlying Chitistone Limestone are deformed into a large, asymmetric anticline with its axis approximately parallel to Elliott Creek. The copper mineralization is believed to be related to the regional mineralizing event that produced the rich Kennecott copper deposits in the McCarthy quadrangle (MacKevett and others, 1997).
Workings: These prospects were mostly explored with open cuts (Moffit and Mertie, 1923).
Age: The copper mineralization is believed to be related to the mineralizing event that produced the rich Kennecott copper deposits in the McCarthy quadrangle to the east (MacKevett and others, 1997). This event is interpreted to have accompanied Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous deformation and metamorphism (MacKevett and others 1997, p. 88).

Commodities (Major) - Cu; (Minor) - Ag
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Veins, disseminations, and fracture fillings in greenstone; probably related to

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	VA053

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References