USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
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deposits, at Chichagoff and Hirst-Chichagof are quartz-sulfide<br />
veins controlled by faults in metagraywacke and argillite of the<br />
Cretaceous Sitka Graywacke of the Valdez Group (Reed and<br />
Coats, 1941; Nokleberg and others, 1994a). The Bauer, Silver<br />
Bay, Cache, and Lucky Chance mines of the Sitka district have<br />
similar graywacke-hosted quartz-pyrite-pyrrhotite-arsenopyrite<br />
veins (Berg and Cobb, 1967). Located near the northern end of<br />
Chichagof Island, are the Apex-El Nido and Goldwin fissure<br />
quartz-sulfide vein mines that are hosted in Tertiary diorite<br />
plutons and amphibolite (Reed and Coats, 1941).<br />
Chichagoff and Hirst-Chichagof Au Quartz Vein Deposit<br />
The Chichagoff and Hirst-Chichagof Au quartz vein<br />
deposit consists of tabular to lenticular quartz veins that are a<br />
few meters thick, extend a few hundred meters along strike, and<br />
are as much as a few thousand meters depth along plunge. The<br />
veins are mainly ribbon quartz containing minor pyrite, arsenopyrite,<br />
galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and some scheelite<br />
and tetrahedrite locally (Berg, 1984; Bundtzen, Green, Deager,<br />
and Daniels, 1987; Brew and others, 1991). Ore shoots occur<br />
mainly in shear and gouge zones along the Hirst and Chichagof<br />
Faults, especially along undulations in fault planes. The deposit<br />
is hosted in metagraywacke and argillite of the Cretaceous Sitka<br />
Graywacke. The mine produced about 24.6 million g Au, 1.24<br />
million g Ag, and minor Pb and Cu from 700,000 tonnes of ore.<br />
Average grade is 7.2 g/t Au and 2.0 g/t Ag. Reserves are 91,000<br />
tonnes of ore grading 41.2 g/t Au in several ore bodies.<br />
Apex and El Nido Au Quartz Vein Deposit<br />
The Apex and El Nido Au quartz vein deposit consists of<br />
quartz fissure veins as much as 2 m thick and stockworks containing<br />
sparse pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite,<br />
tetrahedrite, and gold (Still and Weir, 1981; Johnson and<br />
others, 1981). The mine at the deposit produced an estimated<br />
622,000 g Au and 93,300 g Ag. The host rocks are an altered<br />
Mesozoic diorite pluton and an amphibolite mass within the<br />
pluton. The pluton intrudes late Paleozoic low-grade pelitic<br />
and intermediate volcanic rocks. Minor sulfides occur in the<br />
altered diorite wall rocks. The deposit also contains disseminations,<br />
veinlets, and small masses of scheelite. The vein system<br />
is symmetrical around a vertical fault that bisects the deposit.<br />
Origin of and Tectonic Controls for Baranof Metallogenic Belt<br />
The Au quartz vein deposits of the Baranof metallogenic<br />
belt occur mainly in the Late Cretaceous flysch of the Sitka<br />
Graywacke (part of the Valdez Group) where these units are<br />
metamorphosed to greenschist facies. The Au-quartz vein<br />
deposits also occur in early Tertiary granitoid plutons (with isotopic<br />
ages of about 51 to 52 Ma) that intrude the Chugach terrane;<br />
hydrothermal muscovite from Au-bearing veins has been<br />
dated at about 52 Ma (Taylor and others, 1994). As described<br />
above for the origin of the Chugach Mountains metallogenic<br />
belt, theAu quartz veins of the Baranof metallogenic belt are<br />
interpreted as forming in response to subduction of the spread-<br />
Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary Metallogenic Belts (84 to 52 Ma) (figs. 102, 103) 243<br />
ing Kula-Farallon Ridge beneath the southern <strong>Alaska</strong> continental<br />
margin (Plafker and others, 1989; Bradley and others,<br />
1993; Haeussler and Nelson, 1993; Haeussler and others, 1995;<br />
Goldfarb and others, 1995; 1997; Goldfarb, 1997).<br />
Juneau Metallogenic Belt of Au Quartz Vein<br />
Deposits (Belt JU), Southeastern <strong>Alaska</strong><br />
The Juneau metallogenic belt (also referred to as the Juneau<br />
gold belt) of Au quartz vein deposits (fig. 103; tables 3, 4)<br />
(Twenhofel and others, 1949; Twenhofel, 1952; Goldfarb and<br />
others, 1997, 1998) occurs in the Coast Mountains of southeastern<br />
<strong>Alaska</strong>. The belt, which was first defined by Spencer (1906)<br />
and redefined by Brew (1993), occurs in two areas. The northern<br />
part of the belt contains significant deposits at <strong>Alaska</strong> Juneau,<br />
Jualin, Riverside, Sumdum, and Treadwell. The southern part of<br />
the belt contains smaller deposits.The belt occurs along strike<br />
for about 250 km and is hosted in the Yukon-Tanana and Stikinia<br />
terranes, the Gravina-Nutzotin Gambier overlap assemblage, and<br />
younger, early Tertiary granitoid plutonic rocks. The significant<br />
deposits in the belt are at <strong>Alaska</strong>-Juneau, Gold Standard (Helm<br />
Bay), Goldstream, Jualin, Kensington, Riverside, Sea Level,<br />
Sundum Chief, and Treadwell (table 4) (Nokleberg and others<br />
1997a,b, 1998). Most of the deposits occur in the western, greenschist<br />
facies part of a belt of inverted, regional-grade metamorphic<br />
that occurs to the west of, and underneath of a extensive,<br />
foliated tonalite sill that intruded along the western edge of the<br />
Yukon-Tanana terrane and the Wrangellia superterrane (Brew,<br />
1994; Gehrels and Berg, 1994).<br />
<strong>Alaska</strong>-Juneau Au Quartz Vein Deposit<br />
The Au-quartz vein deposit consists of a network of lenticular<br />
quartz veins a few centimeters to 1 m thick that contain<br />
sparse scattered masses of gold, pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite,<br />
galena, with minor sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and silver<br />
(Goldfarb and others, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1997; Newberry and<br />
Brew, 1987, 1988; Light and others, 1989; Brew and others,<br />
1991; Miller and others, 1992). The <strong>Alaska</strong>-Juneau mine<br />
produced 108 tonnes Au, 59 tonnes Ag, and 21,800 tonnes<br />
Cu from 80.3 million tonnes of ore mined between 1893 and<br />
1944. Reserves of 61.6 million tonnes grading 1.8 g/t Au<br />
remain (<strong>Alaska</strong> Mineral Industry, 1993, p.13).The vein lode<br />
system is about 5.6 km long and 600 m wide. The deposit consists<br />
of a series of parallel quartz stringers that are hosted in<br />
several units in (1) phyllite and schist near the contact between<br />
the Late Triassic Perseverance Slate; (2) amphibolite derived<br />
from late(?) Mesozoic (meta)gabbro dikes and sills; and (3)<br />
the informally named Gastineau volcanics of Permian and (or)<br />
Late Triassic age. Most of ore occurs in quartz veins, some in<br />
adjacent altered metamorphic rocks.<br />
Jualin Au Quartz Vein Deposit<br />
The Jualin Au-quartz vein deposit consists of four or five<br />
major quartz fissure veins and pipe-like stockworks that con-