Oscar Prospect, Fortymile District, Southeast Fairbanks Borough, Alaska, USA
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Location: The Oscar prospect covers about 5 square miles on the ridge west of Gold Bottom Creek, about 4 miles northwest of Mount Veta. The coordinates are the approximate center of the prospect, in section 14, T. 8 S., R. 23 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian; the location is accurate within 1,000 feet. The Oscar prospect is located within Doyon, Ltd. selected or conveyed land.
Geology: The Oscar prospect is at the contact between the Mount Veta syenite of Jurassic age and Paleozoic marble, calcareous schist, and quartzite (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-10]). Hypabyssal Tertiary felsic intrusions and volcanic rocks and Tertiary or Mesozoic quartz-monzonite plutons are also present. The relation of these younger intrusions to the Oscar prospect is not known. Ten outcrops of skarn occur at the prospect, but vegetation cover is extensive (WGM Inc., 2000 [Veta property summary]; WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-10]). Ground magnetometer surveys indicate that several skarns are connected in the shallow subsurface and blind extensions continue beneath tundra cover. Magnetite, pyrrhotite, galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite occur in calc-silicate rocks and hornfels (Dashevsky and others, 1986). Average grades are generally less than 11 percent combined lead and zinc, and as much as 3 ounces of silver per ton. A massive chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite boulder in rubble contains 18.8 percent copper and 18 ounces of silver per ton. A trench over a ground-magnetic anomaly revealed iron-stained and geochemically anomalous soils that contain as much as 3.8 percent lead, 10 ounces of silver per ton, 0.4 percent copper, 0.9 percent zinc, and 860 ppb gold. Rock samples collected in 1990 contain as much as 2,040 ppb gold, 192 ppm silver, 9,134 ppm lead, greater than1 percent copper, and greater than1 percent zinc (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-10]). Four northeast-trending soil anomalies are as much as2,000 feet long; they contain from 30 to greater than 7,000 ppb gold, 1 to 30 ppm silver, 100 to greater than 10,000 ppm copper, and as much as more than 10,000 ppm zinc (WGM Inc., 2000 [Veta property summary]). Molybdenum- and silver-bearing calc-silicate inclusions in quartz monzonite occur across Gold Bottom Creek, east of the Oscar prospect skarns. Several other prospects are associated with the Mount Veta intrusive complex, including Little Enchilada (EA103), East Eva (EA098), Eva Creek (EA099), Little Whiteman Creek (EA060), Oscar West (EA097), unnamed (north of Fish Creek) (EA062), Molly Creek (EA100), and Mitchell (EA101). Bear Creek Mining Co. discovered the Oscar prospect in 1971; they conducted soil and rock sampling and a ground magnetic survey (Dashevsky and others, 1986). In 1975, WGM Inc. did stream sediment reconnaissance in the area; 1976 work by WGM Inc. included stream sediment sampling, reconnaissance geologic mapping, rock sampling, trenching, and soil sampling on a grid. In 1981, Arctic Resources Inc. extended the soil grid, and in 1982, Doyon, Ltd. traversed outlying ridges and slopes, sampled soils on a grid over a blind skarn, and conducted a ground magnetometer survey. In 1990, Central Alaska Gold Co. did geologic mapping and rock, soil, and stream-sediment sampling (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-10]). In 2000, WGM Inc. reported that the Oscar prospect was near the drilling stage; they proposed to: find the limit of the soil anomalies by expansion of the soil grid; follow up airborne geophysics and stream-sediment anomalies; complete geologic mapping; and commence drilling (WGM Inc., 2000 [Veta property summary]). Work by WGM Inc. in 2001 was restricted to stream-sediment sampling near the peripheries of the prospect (WGM Inc., 2002).
Workings: Bear Creek Mining Co. discovered the Oscar prospect in 1971; they conducted soil and rock sampling and a ground magnetic survey (Dashevsky and others, 1986). In 1975, WGM Inc. did stream-sediment reconnaissance in the area; 1976 work by WGM Inc. included stream-sediment sampling, reconnaissance geologic mapping, rock sampling, trenching, and soil sampling on a grid. In 1981, Arctic Resources Inc. extended the soil grid, and in 1982, Doyon, Ltd. traversed outlying ridges and slopes, sampled soils on a grid over a blind skarn, and conducted a ground magnetometer survey. In 1990, Central Alaska Gold Co. did geologic mapping and rock, soil, and stream-sediment sampling (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-10]). In 2000, WGM Inc. reported that the Oscar prospect was near the drilling stage; they proposed to: find the limit of the soil anomalies by expansion of the soil grid; follow up airborne geophysics and stream-sediment anomalies; complete geologic mapping; and commence drilling (WGM Inc., 2000 [Veta property summary]). Work by WGM Inc. in 2001 was restricted to stream-sediment sampling near the peripheries of the prospect (Ventures Resources, 2002).
Age: Skarn mineralization is spatially associated with the contact of the Mount Veta syenite of Jurassic age and Paleozoic marble, calc-schist, and quartzite (WGM Inc., 1998 [DLR 98-10]).
Commodities (Major) - Ag, Au, Cu, Pb, Zn
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Cu skarn or Zn-Pb skarn (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 18b and18c).
Mineral List
18 entries listed. 15 valid minerals.
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References
Burleigh, R.E., and Lear, K.G., 1994, Compilation of data for Phase I of the mineral resource evaluation of the Bureau of Land Management Black River and Fortymile subunits: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 48-94, 116 p. Carter, C.H., 1981, Doyon exploration program, Blocks 4, 5, 8, and 22: Doyon, Ltd. Report 81-27. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). Dashevsky, S.S., 1983, Doyon exploration program, Block 8 - Fortymile, 1982: Doyon, Ltd. Report 83-01. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). Dashevsky, S.S., Nicol, D.L., and Bond, J., 1986, Mines, prospects, and geochemical anomalies on Doyon Limited regional overselection lands, Alaska, Blocks 1-8: Doyon, Ltd. Report 86-01a, 300 p. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). DiMarchi, J.J., Weglarz, T.B., Dickey, C.F., Laux, D.P., Smith, M.T., Toro, J., and Kurtz, J.P., 1991, Central Alaska Gold Co. 1990 annual report, Alaska field operations - Doyon option volume 1: Doyon, Ltd. Report 91-8a. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). DiMarchi, J.J., Weglarz, T.B., Dickey, C.F., Laux, D.P., Smith, M.T., Toro, J., and Kurtz, J.P., 1991, Central Alaska Gold Co. 1990 annual report, Alaska field operations - Doyon option volume 2, analytical results, geochemical results part A: Doyon, Ltd. Report 91-8b. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). DiMarchi, J.J., Weglarz, T.B., Dickey, C.F., Laux, D.P., Smith, M.T., Toro, J., and Kurtz, J.P., 1991, Central Alaska Gold Co. 1990 annual report, Alaska field operations - Doyon option volume 2, analytical results, geochemical results part B: Doyon, Ltd. Report 91-8c. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). DiMarchi, J.J., Weglarz, T.B., Dickey, C.F., Laux, D.P., Smith, M.T., Toro, J., and Kurtz, J.P., 1991, Central Alaska Gold Co. 1990 annual report, Alaska field operations - Doyon option volume 10: Doyon, Ltd. Report 91-8g. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). Lessman, J., and Holm, B., 1978, 1977 annual progress report, Doyon Project, Volume 8, Mt. Veta area: Doyon, Ltd. Report 78-05. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). Ventures Resource Corp., 2002, 2001 Annual report: Ventures Resource Corporation, 32 p. WGM Inc., 1977, Doyon Project, 1976 annual progress report, volume 1a, Blocks 1, 4, 5, 7, 8: Doyon, Ltd. Report 77-02a. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). WGM Inc., 1998, Veta property, 1997 annual report, volume 1: Doyon, Ltd. Report 98-10, 227 p. (Report held by Doyon, Ltd., Fairbanks, Alaska). WGM Inc., 2000, Veta property summary, in Ventures Resource Alaska project overview and properties summary: Ventures Resource Corporation report.
USGS PP1760A Mesozoic Magmatism and Base-Metal Mineralization in the Fortymile Mining District, Eastern Alaska— Initial Results of Petrographic, Geochemical, and Isotopic Studies in the Mount Veta Area
USGS PP1760A Mesozoic Magmatism and Base-Metal Mineralization in the Fortymile Mining District, Eastern Alaska— Initial Results of Petrographic, Geochemical, and Isotopic Studies in the Mount Veta Area
