Mullen Prospect, Chistochina Mining District, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Mullen Prospect	Prospect
Chistochina Mining District	Mining District
Valdez-Cordova Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

This prospect is within the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Location: This prospect is adjacent to or very near the Ammann prospect (VA045), which is on the divide between upper Copper Creek and an unnamed (unmapped) west tributary (Van Alstine and Black, 1946, plate 30). The prospect is at an elevation of about 3,800 feet in the SW1/4 section 24, T. 2 S., R. 7 E., of the Copper River Meridian. This prospect is approximately located, perhaps to within one-quarter mile. It is included in locality 70 of Cobb and Matson (1972) and locality 57 of Winkler and others (1981 [OFR 80-892-B]). Cobb (1979 [OFR 79-1241]) includes this prospect under the name 'Mullen'.
Geology: Mineralized northeast-trending fault zones cut Triassic Nikolai Greenstone and Chitistone Limestone at the Mullen prospect (Van Alstine and Black, 1946). Mineralization consists of calcite or quartz-calcite veins with copper-bearing minerals. The mineralized veins contain various amounts of bornite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, covellite, and pyrite; secondary minerals include azurite, malachite, and limonite. In places, the copper-bearing minerals form small irrgeular pods in the fault zones. The veins range from 1 to 12 inches in thickness and have been traced in underground workings for as much as a few tens of feet of strike length. A 5-foot channel sample contained 1.55 percent copper, and a 4-foot channel sample contained 5.82 percent copper, 0.28 ounces of silver per ton, and a trace of gold. The underground workings at the Mullen prospect consisted of two adits, short cross cuts and drifts, and two declines that have a total length of at least 800 feet (Van Alstine and Black, 1946). Small, altered diorite intrusive bodies are present at the contact between Nikolai Greenstone and Chitistone Limestone. The copper mineralization is believed to be related to the regional mineralizing event that produced the rich Kennecott copper deposits in the McCarthy quadrangle (MacKevett and others, 1997).
Workings: The Mullen prospect was explored by three open cuts, two adits, short cross cuts and drifts, and two declines that have a total length of at least 800 feet (Van Alstine and Black, 1946).
Age: The copper mineralization is believed to be related to the mineralizing event that produced the rich Kennecott copper deposits in the McCarthy quadrangle to the east (MacKevett and others, 1997). This event is interpreted to have accompanied Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous deformation and metamorphism (MacKevett and others, 1997, p. 88).
Alteration: The diorite bodies are altered to a combination of chlorite, calcite, talc, leucoxene, quartz and pyrite (Van Alstine and Black, 1946).

Commodities (Major) - Cu; (Minor) - Ag, Au
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Vein and fracture fillings in greenstone and limestone; probably related to Ken

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	VA044

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References