Published Quarterly DGGS Summarizes Alaska's 1983 Exploration and Production Total Value of 1983 Production in Alaska
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
I 1 STATE OF ALASKA I Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological 8 Geophysical Surveys ' 400 Wlloughb~ 3601 C St (8th fU Pouch 7-028 P.0. Box 772116 191 Univ. Ave (Bunt) P.0. Box 7438 Juneau 99801 * Anchorage 99503* Anchorage 99501 Eagle River 99577 Fairbanks 99701*+ Ketchikan 99901* Vol. XXXIII July 1984 No. 3 Published Quarterly Bill Sheffield-Governor Esther C. Wunnicke-Commissioner Ross G. Schaff-State Geologist IN THIS ISSUE -P DGGS summarizes Alaska's 1983 exploration and Geologist believes gas causes massive plumes production DGGS prints Prudhoe Bay Guidebook, new RIs, ICs State clerks have a field day Miners, state battle over access across preserve State not learning quake lessons, State Geologist says Kusko kwim village mayor pushes fight with mining 1,923 new claims filed; down somewhat over last year firm Mining grant bill okayed Our Gangue DGGSer a 'biker' Metals Market *Mining-information office +Publications office (Division of Mining) (DGGS) DGGS summarizes Alaska's 1983 copper deposit near Talkeetna. exploration and production The state's administration indi- By DGGS geologists T.K. Bundtzen and G.R. Eakins cated its support of the mining in- (fromMining Engineering, May 1984) dustry. The Offjce of Management and Total value of 1983 production in Budget will begin developing regula- Alaska (excluding oil and gas) was tions to streamline permitting pro- $232.4 million, up nearly 18 percent cesses and establish offices in from 1982. The sand-and-gravel and Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. building-stone industries were respon- Governor Rill Sheffield directed Alas- sible for the high overall values.. ka's Department of Natural Resources About 5.3 t (169,000 oz) of gold were (DNR) Commissioner Esther C. Wunnicke produced from 300 placer mines last to establish a Division of Mining year, about the same as 1982. No within DNR. The governor said this lode-gold production was reported. division will give specific attention Although development expenditures to the state's administration of min- decreased $27.8 million and explora- ing issues. The new division became tion continued to drop from record effectj.ve Feb. 1, 1984. levels set from 1979 to 1981, the total 1983 value for exploration, de- velopment, and production was $294.3 Exploration million, up nearly 4 percent from 1982's $283 million. Grass-roots ex- While reported exploration expen- ploration continued, and at least two ditures for 1983 indicate an overall important discoveries were made or decline from previous years, interest announced in 1983---the Johnson River in precious metals, tin, and tungsten precious- and base-metal deposits west remained high. The potential for new of Anchorage and the Coal Creek tin- di.scoveries and large-scale mineral 2 ALASKA MINES & GEOLOGY production in Alaska has not lessened, geochemical and geophysical surveys and companies are continuing to do were conducted to evaluate the deposit assessment work and explore claims for base and precious metals. Anaconda acquired during the past few years. reported one drill hole assayed 41 g/t A surge in prospecting and de- (1.2 oz per st) of gold and 24.8 per- velopment of offshore minerals in cent zinc. CIRI said exploration will Alaska has occurred during the past continue for another 2 years before a 2 years. DNR is reactivating the decision is made whether to develop state's offshore program and will the property. issue permits to explore for minerals Anaconda continued drilling, on submerged lands. trenching, and geologic studies of a Total reported 1983 expenditures major tin deposit at Kougarok Moun- for exploration were $34.1 million, tain, 130 km (80 miles) north of Nome down 26 percent from 1982 and 56 per- on the Seward Peninsula. Anaconda has cent from 1981. Other indicators of applied for a permit to construct a mineral-exploration activities are the 1.8-km (6,000-ft)-long airstrip on number of claims on which assessment Budd Creek and a connecting 16-km work was performed and the number of (10-mile)-long access road to serve new claims staked. Both declined the prospect area. sharply last year. Exploration by Houston Interna- tional Minerals Corp. at Coal Creek, 8 Company Activities km (5 miles) west of the Parks Highway near Hurricane Station, resulted in The Wulik basin in the De Long discovery of a tin-bearing sheeted Mountains is the site of extensive 'greisen' vein system. The veins con- study and exploration centered around tain cassiterite, sphalerite, arseno- the Red Dog, Lik, and Sue &posits. pyrite, and subordinate pyrite, chal- Cominco Alaska, Inc., in partnership copyrite, and pyrrhotite. Drilling with NANA Regional Crop., considers indicated a 4.5-Mt (5-million-st) de- the Red Dog deposit in the development posit grading better than 0.2 percent stage. Additional drilling last season tin. Most veins lie within an early did not significantly change previous- Tertiary granite that intrudes older ly announced reserve estimates for the granite and metasedimentarg rocks. 'Main' deposit. Cominco also continued Hanson Properties, Inc. , of work on the Sue deposit just west of Spokane encountered difficulties in Red Dog. Its assessment work in the reactivating the Goodnews Bay platinum Ambler district included drilling and dredge. During the 1983 season, most geological, geochemical, and geophysi- of the company's efforts were directed cal surveys. toward exploring its pl&er gravel by Bear Creek Mining Co. conducted digging test pits. baseline exploration in the Noatak Noranda Exploration, Inc., evalu- district, assessment work on its giant ated deep, meandering bench placers on Arctic Camp deposits in the Ambler Mud Creek in the Fairhaven district district, and drilling on its Bornite 5.6 km (3.5 miles) west of Candle. A (Ruby Creek) deposit in the Cosmos company geologist said the gold may be Hills. in old strandlines and ancient Anaconda has an agreement with sandbars. Using a Hawker Sidley Super- the Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) to drill, the company hopes to locate a explore CIRI ' s lands in south-central 7. 6-hm3 (10-million-yd3) deposit. Alaska. Under the agreement, Anaconda Noranda reentered the old Nabesna had a sizable crew on the Johnson Gold mine in the eastern Alaska Range. prospect south of Tuxedni Bay on the The company built a 3.2-km (2-mile) west side of Cook Inlet. Drilling and long road, restored portals, and per- JULY 1984 3 formed bulk sampling, about 365 m Exploration and engineering (1,200 ft) of surface drilling, and studies are proceeding at several underground work. Alaskan coal fields. Valley Coal Teton Exploration Drilling, in a drilled Matanuska Valley coal leases joint venture with Resource Associates northeast of Palmer. The Korean Alaska of Alaska, drilled the Zakley property Development Corp. and Chugach Natives, on the south flank of the Alaska Range Inc., conducted mapping in the Bering in the Mt. Hayes Quadrangle. The River coal field. When the field is gold-silver-copper deposit is in a developed, Chugach proposes to export skarn zone that reportedly extends for 2.7-4.5 ~t/a(3-5 million stpy) of 1.6 km (1 mile) along the granite- high-quality coal to South Korea. limestone contact. Placer Amax and Diamond Shamrock each Aspen Exploration is seeking a have environmental and marketing permit from the U.S. Army Corps of studies underway in the Beluga coal Engineers to sample gravel and mineral field. deposits at 31 sites along the shore of Cook Inlet from Kalgin Island to Development Projects and Reserves Knik Arm and along the coast of the Kenai Peninsula. Exploration was conducted in 1984 Placid Oil Co. continued to ag- in conjunction with several well-known gressively explore a large block of Alaskan development projects. claims in the Cleary area 32 km (20 Doyon Regional Corp. continued miles) north of Fairbanks. Both vein exploration and development drilling systems and placer deposits are being on its Slate Creek asbestos deposit tested, primarily for precious metals. despite problems in the asbestos in- Also in the Cleary district and at dustry. Reserves are an estimated 55 Livengood, Mohawk Resources Alaska and Mt (61 million st) of 5-6 percent Alaska Mineral Services conducted ex- 4A-7D-quality asbestos fiber. ploration and worked on mills for pro- Reserve estimates at the Greens cessing local ores. Creek deposit 29 km (18 miles) west of Hawley Resource Group continued Juneau have been enlarged to 3.6 Mt (4 drilling at the old Big Hurrah gold .million st) of 8-10 percent zinc, 2.5 mine on the southern coast of the percent lead, 0.5 percent copper, 343 Seward Peninsula. The project has been g/t (10 oz per st) silver, and 3.4 glt underway for the past two seasons. The (0.1 oz per st) gold. Many analysts principal developer is Cornwall believe this project is the most like- Pacific of Vancouver. The ore contains ly of the Alaskan mineral developments primarily gold, but tungsten values to reach production on schedule. are also reported. Several hundred employees will mine Alaska Apollo Gold Mines, Ltd., and mill 770 t1.d. (850 stpd) using dominated exploration news in the underground cut-and-fill methods. Alaska Peninsula-Aleutian Island re- The Juneau Gold Mining Co. com- gion last year. The company began a pleted exploration of the old 6-km (20,000-ft) surface and under- Gastineau Mine mill tailings. Begin- ground drilling program at the old ning this spring, Juneau Gold estimat- Apollo and Sitka Mines on Unga Island ed that 3.6 Mt (4 million st) of a in the Shumagain Island group. Eight total 10 Mt (11 million st) of tail- ore zones have been defined.