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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-

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