Baney Prospect, Chichagof Mining District (Chicagof Mining District), Sitka, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Baney Prospect	Prospect
Chichagof Mining District (Chicagof Mining District)	Mining District
Sitka	City Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

The prospect is in West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness.
Location: The Baney prospect is at an elevation of about 50 feet, north of Elbow Passage and west of Klag Island. The prospect is 0.1 mile southeast of the center of sec. 16, T. 49 S., R. 58 E. It is location P-67 of Bittenbender and others (1999), location 38 of Cobb (1972, 1978), and MAS no. 0021140011 (U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 2002). The location is accurate within about 0.2 mile.
Geology: Johnson and Karl (1985) map the rocks in the area of this prospect as Cretaceous graywacke and argillite interbedded with sparse, lenticular beds of basalt. The rocks are cut by numerous high-angle, mainly northwest-striking faults. Reed and Coats (1941) describe the workings on this prospect as a 20-foot-deep shaft which was flooded in 1938, and numerous open cuts, pits, and trenches. The country rock is slaty graywacke that strikes about N65W and dips about 70SW. The prospect consists of quartz veinlets in the footwall of a fault that strikes N55W and dips 50-75SW. The veinlets strike NE, dip steeply NW, and possibly occupy joints in the graywacke. One veinlet about 14 inches thick contains about 0.5 ounce of gold per ton. The prospecting also has exposed a silicified dike(?) that, along with adjacent graywacke, is cut by small veinlets of quartz that generally trend about N45E and dip 80NW. Bittenbender and others (1999), citing Nelson (1931) and Still and Weir (1981), describe an auriferous quartz vein 0.2-3 feet thick exposed for a length of at least 300 feet. A selected sample of this material assayed 2.76 ounces of gold per ton and 0.32 percent tungsten. There is no record of production. Isotopic studies indicate that the gold-quartz veins in coastal southern and southeastern Alaska are Eocene, about 50 Ma in age (Haeussler, 1995; Goldfarb, 1997; Goldfarb and others, 1997). ARDF record SI087 provides an overview of the geology of auriferous quartz veins in the Chichagof Mining District.
Workings: Reed and Coats (1941) describe developments on this prospect as a 20-foot-deep shaft which was flooded in 1938, and numerous open cuts, pits, and trenches.
Age: Isotopic studies indicate that the gold-quartz veins in coastal southern and southeastern Alaska are Eocene, about 50 Ma in age (Haeussler and others, 1995; Goldfarb, 1997; Goldfarb and others, 1997).
Alteration: Dike(?) is silicified.
Production: There is no record of production, but the assay data and the extent of the workings suggest that at least some gold was recovered.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - W
Development Status: Undetermined.
Deposit Model: Low-sulfide gold-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SI113

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References