East Canyon Occurrence, Delta River Mining District, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
East Canyon Occurrence	Occurrence
Delta River Mining District	Mining District
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: This occurrence is approximately 1 mile north-northwest of peak 6346 at an elevation of about 4,800 feet. It is east of the east fork of Broxson Gulch below an unnamed hanging glacier, near the center of section 22, T. 18 S., R. 9 E., Fairbanks Meridian.
Geology: The Rainy ultramafic complex is a steeply north dipping dike-like body of dunite that varies from less than 100 feet thick to more than 6,000 feet thick and extends for more than 12 miles in length. A discontinuous marginal gabbro extends along most of the southern (lower) contact and is more discontinuous along the northern (upper) contact (W.T. Ellis, oral communication). The Rainy ultramafic/mafic complex of Late Triassic age intrudes the Slana Spur Formation of Pennsylvanian age (Nokelberg and others, 1992). On the western side of the complex the marginal gabbro sequence is as much as 1,500 feet thick. Prominent rock types are gabbronorites, very coarse grained clinopyroxene mafic gabbro, and wherlite. Mineralization consists of disseminated pyrrhotite and pentlandite in a peridotite near the southern contact of the Rainy complex. A mineralized sample contained 0.187 percent nickel, 282 parts per billion (ppb) palladium, and 108 ppb platinum (W.T. Ellis, oral communication, 2001).
Workings: Exploration on the Rainy property was done by American Copper and Nickel Company (ACNC) working with Fort Knox Gold Resources Inc. Exploration since 1994 includes sampling, airborne and ground geophysical surveys, and completion of one diamond drill hole (W.T. Ellis, oral communication, 2001). The East Peak occurrence (MH135) was discovered and staked by ACNC in 1995, but the claims were allowed to lapse in 1999. MAN geologists collected a mineralized sample that contained 0.187 percent nickel, 282 parts per billion (ppb) palladium, and 108 ppb platinum (W.T. Ellis, oral communication, 2001). The occurrence is on active MAN Resources claims.
Age: Late Triassic, synchronous with emplacement of Rainy complex, which is part of a 120-mile long belt of mafic-ultramafic and associated rocks in the east-central Alaska Range.
Alteration: The olivine melagabbro and peridotite are variably serpentinized.

Commodities (Major) - Ni, Pd, Pt
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Ni-Cu-PGE in differentiated mafic-ultramafic sill.

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	MH131

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality