Elizabeth Prospect (ARDF - VA033), Chistochina Mining District, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Elizabeth Prospect (ARDF - VA033)	Prospect
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: This prospect is near Rainbow Creek on the north side of Elliott Creek (Moffit and Mertie, 1923, locality 20, plate 3); it is at an elevation of about 4,100 feet in the SW1/4 section 35, T. 2 S., R. 7 E., of the Copper River Meridian. This prospect is approximately located, perhaps to within one-half mile. It is included in locality 65 of Cobb and Matson (1972) and locality 55 of Winklerand others (1981 [OFR 80-892-B]). Cobb (1979 [OFR 79-1241]) incuded this prospect under the name 'Elliot Cr.'.
Geology: Small veins, lenses, and impregnations of bornite and chalcocite occur in fractured Triassic Nikolai Greenstone (Moffit and Maddren, 1908, 1909; Moffit and Mertie, 1923) . Locally present gangue minerals are commonly quartz and calcite; secondary copper minerals include malachite and azurite. A grab sample of ore from this prospect contained 21.69 percent copper and 1.87 ounces of silver per ton (Mendenhall and Schrader, 1903, p. 26). Post-mineralization faulting has fractured the deposits. The Nikolai Greenstone and overlying Chitistone Limestone are deformed into a large, asymmetric anticline with its axis approximately parallel to Elliot 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: This prospect has been explored by a combination of open cuts, an adit,and drifts. About 475 feet of underground workings were in place in 1908 (Moffit, 1909).
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: Thin veins, impregnations, and fracture fillings in greenstone; probably relate

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	VA033

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References