Story Creek Occurrence, Colville Mining District, North Slope Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Story Creek Occurrence	Occurrence
Colville Mining District	Mining District
North Slope Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

This occurrence is similar to the Whoopee Creek, Kady, Vidlee, W. Koiyaktat and other occurrences of 'Western Brooks Range Pb-Zn vein'-type. Also, see MAS/MILS Sequence #0020200022 for a site with the same name but located about 2 mi (3.2 km) to the south-southwest (USBM, 1995).
Location: Location plotted is approximate center of cluster of localities shown in Ellersieck and others (1982, p. 35) and localities 254, 256, 261,278-9, 615 of Jansons and Parke (1981, p. 159); and is locality HP57 of Meyer and Kurtak (1992, fig. 2); in T12S, R26W; on topographic bench on south side of small tributary of Story Creek, about 2.5 mi (4 km) west-northwest of hill 4630 and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of Noatak Preserve boundary; located to within 2000 ft (610 m).
Geology: The host rock is tightly folded siltstone and silty shale containing sandstone and minor dolomite and coal interbeds, and represents a stratigraphic interval at the top of the Stuver Member of the Upper Devonian Kanayut Conglomerate and the base of the Lower Mississippian Kayak Shale within a belt of complex regional thrusting. The mineralized zone is 30-50 ft wide and extends at least 1.8 mi. on a N65E trend that crosses folded strata and may be controlled by post-folding fracturing. Three types of mineralization occur: (1) banded massive sphalerite and galena; (2) brecciated sphalerite with galena matrix; and (3) shale-chip breccia with overgrowths of quartz on the chips and galena and sphalerite in the interstices (Ellersieck and others (1982), p. 35).
Workings: Analyses indicate potential for Ag, Au, and Cu, as well as Pb and Zn (Bundtzen and others, 1995, p. 55). A grab sample of high-grade banded sulfide contains 0.43% Cu, 34% Pb, 28.8% Zn, 1.2% Au, and 940 ppm Ag; other composite or grab samples from the same mineralized zone contain up to 15.5% Pb, 50% Zn, and 500 ppm Ag (Ellersieck and others, 1982, p. 35). Geochemical rock and soil sampling was done on 4700 ft. of gridline by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1991, and a high-grade bulk sample contained 5.37% Zn, 2.11% Pb, and 0.014% Cu (Meyer and Kurtak, 1992, p. 54-8).

Commodities (Major) - Pb, Zn; (Minor) - Ag, Au, Cu
Development Status: No
Deposit Model: Lode, sediment-hosted vein and breccia vein Pb-Zn-Ag.

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	HW015

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References