Ruby Creek Prospect, Bornite, Shungnak Mining District, Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Ruby Creek Prospect	Prospect
Bornite	Village
Shungnak Mining District	Mining District
Northwest Arctic Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Location along Ruby Creek on the north side of the Cosmos Hills in T. 19 N., R. 9 E., Kateel River Meridian. Shown as locality 24 in Mayfield and Grybeck (1978). Location accurate to within 600 ft. (200 m).

Geology: Sulfide minerals form matrix of breccia replacement deposits in brecciated and intensely folded and faulted dolomite and limestone of the Devonian Bornite marble, a 3000-ft.-thick (1000 m) unit of carbonate rocks. Deposit is structurally and stratigraphically confined to a sequence of Devonian dolomite, limestone, and calcareous phyllite (Kennecott Exploration Co., written comm., 1997). The deposit is interpreted (Hitzman and others, 1986, p. 1644-1674) to have formed along a rifted continental margin in Late Devonian time. It occurs along a fault (?)-contolled margin of a carbonate bank adjacent to a shale-filled graben.

Workings: Exploration shaft, drifts on two levels, and extensive core drilling have been completed (Kennecott Exploration Co., written comm., 1997).

Age: Late Devonian
Alteration: Dolomite

Reserves: Estimate by Kennecott Exploration Co. of 50 million tonnes averaging 1.2% Cu with 454,000 tonnes grading up to 4% Cu. Some samples reach 0.02% eU but the U content of the ore is apparently negligible (Matzko and Freeman, 1963). Undisclosed amounts of Zn and Co (Bundzten and others, 1996, p. 56).

Commodities (Major) - Cu; (Minor) - Ag, Au, Co, Pb, U, Zn
Development Status: No
Deposit Model: Kipushi

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	AR018

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References