The mine is in Denali National Park and Preserve.
Location: The Galena mine (Cobb, 1980 [OFR 80-363]) is on the southwest end of Quigley Ridge between elevations of about 2050 and 2300 feet. The patented Galena claim abuts the Frances claim to the east.. The main mine workings are in the SW1/4 SW1/4 section 12, T. 16 S., R. 18 W., Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate within 300 feet. The mine site corresponds to number 8 of Cobb (1972 [MF 366]), 6 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977), 16 of Bundtzen, Smith, and Tosdal (1976), 20 of Bundtzen (1981), and 27 of Thornsberry, Smith, and Tosdal (1984). Its relation to nearby patented and unpatented claims in force in about 1960 is shown in Hawley and Associates (1978).
Geology: The country rocks at the Galena mine are metafelsite, quartzite, and graphitic and chloritic phyllite of the Spruce Creek sequence (Hawley and Associates, 1978; Thornsberry, McKee, and Salisbury, 1984, fig. K-2 and occurrence map, v. 2). The deposit is a quartz-siderite vein that strikes about N. 45 E., and dips 60 to75 SE (Capps, 1919, p. 105-106; Davis, 1923, p. 123). The vein has a sharp hanging wall and a gradational foot wall; it is about 8 or 9 feet thick where developed in a crosscut. The vein is limonitic and contains pyrite, galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite, and arsenopyrite. The sulfides locally form pods up to 1 foot thick. About 300 feet northeast of the mine portal, and on strike with the vein, an open cut developed a foot-thick quartz vein containing chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite. About 50 to 100 tons of ore was mined from the adit and open cut, and shipped to a smelter before 1923 (Brooks, 1922; Davis, 1923). Some of the ore was very rich, assaying up to 131 ounces of silver per ton (Capps, 1919, p. 105-106).
Workings: The deposit was discovered and mine development began before 1920 (Capps, 1919). About 50 to 100 tons of ore was mined in the winter of 1920-1921 and shipped to a smelter (Brooks, 1922, p. 53; Davis, 1923, p. 123). The workings were largely caved by 1931 (Wells, 1933). The area was explored in about 1960 by Moneta-Porcupine (Seraphim, 1962), but no ore was developed. The Galena mine area was mapped and sampled by Bundtzen (1981); Hawley and Associates (1978); and, in 1983, by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (Thornsberry, McKee, and Salisbury, 1984, v. 2, location 27). During their investigation, the Bureau drilled one core hole below the discovery adit (hole K-17). This hole intersected what is probably the Galena vein between 234.1 feet and 240.5 feet. The weighted assay of the 5.2-foot vein intercept is 0.2 ounce of gold per ton and 8.14 ounces of silver per ton. Copper, lead, and zinc contents each average about 0.1-0.4 percent. During the same study, a selected surface sample of the vein assayed more than 45 ounces of silver per ton, 3.3 percent lead, 5.5 percent zinc, and small amounts of gold and copper.
Age: The deposit is assumed to be Eocene (see record MM091).
Alteration: Silicification. Oxidation of iron minerals.
Production: The Galena mine produced 50 to 100 tons of ore which reportedly yielded about 17,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen, Smith, and Tosdal, 1976, p. 25).

Commodities (Major) - Ag, Au; (Minor) - Cu, Pb, Zn
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Polymetallic vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c).

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Commodity List

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Mineral List

ⓘ 'Tetrahedrite Subgroup'

7 valid minerals.