Ineral Occurrences
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COPPER MINERAL OCCURRENCES IN THE WRANGELL MOUNTAIN - PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AREA, ALASKA M. I.R. L. Report No. 27 MINERAL 1 NDUSTRY RESEARCH LABORATORY University of Alaska Lawrence E. Heiner Ernest N. Wolff Donald G. Grybeck March, 1971 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have assisted with the preparation of this report, but the following deserve special mention: Earl H, Beistline, Dean of the College of Earth Sciences and Mineral Industry, helped with many of the administrative problems. James A. Williams, Director of the Alaska State Division of Geological Survey, was most cooperative in making available the Divisions Kardex files and other information on which this report is based. William E. Eckart and Bruce I. Thomas, U. S. Bureau of Mines, have been most helpful in administering the contract with the Bureau under which this report was prepared. The following people also contributed: William Sothen, Judy Bur leson, Robert Timmer, Rod Blakestad, Marcia Luick, Jerry Colp, Carol Murray and Soleddd Martin. We wish also to acknowledge the help of many people throughout the area who searched the mining records. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1NTRODUCTlON LOCATION SETTLEMENTS AND TRANSPORTATION ROUTES CLIMATIC ENVIRONMENT TECTONIC SETTING GENERAL GEOLOGY BEDDED ROCKS Precambrian or Lower Paleozoic Cambrian to Devonian I I Mississippian to Permian Triassic and Jurassic I Cretaceous Tertiary Orca Group ~ Quaternary and Tertiary 1G NEOUS ROCKS Jurassic - Cretaceous Plutonic Rocks Tertiary Plutonic Rocks Tertiary Volcanic Rocks Quaternary Volcanic Rocks 1 MININGAREAI I I Copper River Region Chistochina District t Nelchina District Nizina District Prince Wi l liam Sound District Yakataga District Kenai Peninsula Region Homer District Hope District Seward District Cook Inlet - Susitna Region Anchorage District Willow Creek District ...111 Page Yukon River Region Tok District Chisana District Fortymile District INFORMATION RECORDED FOR MINERAL OCCURRENCES TABULATlO N OF COPPER MINERAL OCCURRENCES Anchorage Quadrangle Blying Sound Quadrangle Cordova Quadrangle Gulkana Quadrangle McCarthy Quadrangle Nabesna Quadrangle Seward Quadrangle Valdez Quadrangle AREAL DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL OCCURRENCES APPENDIX - COMPUTER PRINTOUT (MINEFIL) REFERENCES CITED BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Prince William Sound - Wrangell Mountains area Location map 3 2 Mining Regions and Districts (Quadrangles shown) 4 3 Physiographic Provinces 6 4 Strategic Location of Alaska, Polar map 7 5 Principal Mining areas, Location map 22 I 6 Percentage of Occurrences by Stratigraphic and lgneous 111 Sequence for all Metal l ics and for Copper Percentage of Occurrences by Stratigraphic and lgneous Sequence for Gold and for Silver Percentage of Occurrences by Stratigraphic and lgneous Sequence for Lead and for Zinc Percentage of Occurrences by Stratigraphic and lgneous Sequence for all Patented Claims and all Active Claims PLATES IN POCKET 1 Plate 1 Geology of the Prince William Sound, Wrangel l Mountains area 2 Location of Quadrangles Proposed Wrangell Mountains National Scenic area All Mineral Occurrences Metal l ic Deposits Copper Deposits Gold Silver Lead Zinc lron Molybdenum All Patented Claims All Active Claims Tectonic Elements INTRODUCTIO N On January 9, 1970, the U.S. Bureau of Mines entered into an agreement with the University of Alaska based upon a proposal submitted by the Mineral lndustry Research Laboratory. Under the terms of this agreement, the Laboratory undertook to compile information on copper occurrences in eight quadrangles covering what are loosely known as the Copper River, White River, and Prince William Sound copper provinces. If time permitted four other quadrangles would be added, and this has been possible. Information was to be obtained by searching published and unpublished records of the Bureau of Mines, the U.S. Geological Survey, the State Division of Geological Survey, the University of Alaska, and the recording offices. The con- tract states: 1. The data are to be organized, coded, and stored on magnetic tape, 2. The data are to be evaluated and coded on a "merit" or worth basis. 3. The report is to include a section pertaining to the economic geology of the region studied, as well as a tabulation of all copper.occurrences. / This project is part of a continuing objective of the Mineral lndustry Research Laboratory, i .e . to produce up-to-date compilations of geology and mineral prospect data to be used as a base for research and as an initial guidebook for exploration people desiring to initiate mineral exploration programs in Alaska. It is hoped that this study can be expanded in the near future to include a compilation of all minerals in the area. The study has contributed greatly toward the development of a computer process- able storage and retrieval program for Alaskan mineral occurrences and claims. It is also to be hoped that this program, entitled "MINEFIL", will become an industry- 1 government access tool for extraction, use and study of known mineral occurrence data. LOCATION The area embraced in this report consists of eleven quadrangles: Gulkana, Nabesna, Anchorage, Valdez, McCarthy, Seward, Cordova, Bering Glacier, Blying Sound, Middleton Island, and Icy Bay. These quadrangles include parts of several Mining Regions and Districts as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (Ransome and Kerns, 1954). Most of the area studied lies in the Copper River Region, but parts of the Kenai, Cook Inlet- Susitna, and Yukon River regions are also included. For purposes of tabulating the occurrences of copper deposits, the quadrangle system is 1 better, because the chief source of information is the Kardex file of the Alaska Division of Geological Survey. For purposes of describing mining districts and asso- ciated geology, the U. S. Bureau of Mines system is better. Both are used in this report. Figure 1 shows the location of the area with respect to Alaska. Figure 2 shows the locations of the mining regions and districts (red) as well as the quadrangles (green). The quadrangles are named on Figure 3. Other systems, based on geography or geology, may be used to describe the location or the setting of the area. It lies within Brooks' Pacific Mountain System, the arcuate ranges that border the Pacific (Brooks, 1953). The northern boundary of this province is the north flank of the Alaska Range. Across the northern part of the area are the Nutzotin and Mentasta Mountains on the east, and the Copper River Basin on the west. The Nutzotin and Mentasta Mountains ascend toward the south to become the Wrangell Mountains, which, however, stand as an isolated mass because they are 2 WRANGELL MTS. AREA LOCATION ALASKA -SCALE OF MILES I bounded on the south by the valley of the east-flowing Chitina River, and on the west and northwest by the Copper River. The Wrangel Is reach to an altitude of more than 16,000 feet at Mt. Sanford. A high intermountain valley between the Nvtzotins and the Wrangells contains the east flowing White River. Forming a barrier between the Coast and the lowlands of the Chitina Valley and Copper River basin on the north, are the Chugach Mountains. These terminate on the north against the Matanuska, Copper, and Chitina Rivers. On the east, they rise to merge with the St. Elias Mountains in Canada. A minor unit, part of the Chugach Mountains in the southeast, is the Robinson Mountains. These physiographic units have been described by Wahrhaftig (1 965). Figure 3 shows his breakdown. One area not shown as a physiographic division consists of Prince William Sound and its islands. This Sound projects into the coast and has many islands, some of which contain copper deposits. Copper has been produced in the past from Kennicott in the Chitina Valley and from Prince William Sound. There is therefore, precedent for believing in the feasi- bility of mines in the area being able to export to the contiguous United States. The situation today is potentially more favorable because the area is closer to Japan than United State's west coast ports. Figure 4 shows the relation of Anchorage to Pacific localities. (After Johnson and Hartman, p. 11). SETTLEMENTS AND TRANSPORTATION ROUTES Within the study area the principal towns are Anchorage, Seward, Cordova, and Valdez. The locations of the cities, towns, and roads are shown on several of the figures in this report. I FIGURE No. 4 STRATEGIC LOCATION OF ALASKA AFTER JOHNSON AND HARTMAN Anchorage is Alaska's largest city, having a population of 45,000 within its boundaries. It is located on Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, 75 miles northwest of Seward. Anchorage can be considered the only modern "full service" city ir) the study area. It has an International airport, a harbor, and railroad to Seward and Fairbanks. Anchorage is currently the center for Alaska's oil industry. Seward, a small town of about 2,100, is the ocean terminus for the Alaska Rail- road. Seward has an airfield and an ice-free harbor; for this reason it is an important supply center for interior Alaska. Limited services may be obtained at Seward. Valdez is located at the head of Port Valdez 45 miles northwest of Cordova and 115 miles east of Anchorage. The population of Valdez is small (1,200). The town has an excellent ice-free port and for this reason it is planned to make it the southern terminus for an oil pipe line from Prudhoe Bay. Limited services are available and the town may be reached by air, road or water. Cordova is a small fishing town of about 1 ,600 persons, but once it was the south- ern terminus for Copper River and Northwest Railroad. Cordova has a paved airport but no road to any other town. Limited services are available. Chitina, Copper Center and Glennallen are small highway towns or service areas along the road network in the region. Bush flights, lodging and meals can be arranged at these towns.