- NICKEL DEPOSITS OF COPPER
RIVER VALLEY ARE DESCRIBED
R. M. Overbeck, of the geological
survey, has Issued the following in
formation in reference to the nickel
deposits in the lower Copper River
valley:
Nickel is one of the few metals
for which the United States now de
pends on other countries. Its import
ance has been shown by tile exten
sive uses to which it was put during
the war, and consequently the discov
ery of deposits of nickel ore would
be welcome additions to the knowl
edge of *the mineral wealth of the
*Unitd States. The purpose of the
present investigations of the nickel
deposits of Alaska is to accumulate
data about the extent to which the
United States can be independent of
other countries for its supply of nick
el. Such data are valuable even if
the deposits are never W’orked, be
cause they may prescribe limits to
the monopoly held by other countries.
Unless a strong demand for nickel
on the Pacific coast should arise
through the establishment of indus
tries in which nickel is used, the pre
sent known nickel deposits of Alaska
probably could not compete, for their
nickel content alone, with the deposits
of Sudbury, Canada.
The nickel deposits near Spirit
Mountain, in the lower Copper River
valltf, were visited in August, 1917,
by the writer, who spent about one
and a half days in examining the
prospects. An occurrence of nickel
In southeastern Alaska, has been des
cribed in a previous report.
Location
The Spirit Mountain nickel deposits
are near the head of Canyon Creek,
a small westward-flowing stream that
enters Copper River about 8 miles be
low the mouth of Chitina River. The
mouth of the creek, which is nearly
opposite mile 121 on the Copper River
& Northwestern Railroad, is about 9
miles south of the town of Chitina.
Although Canyon Creek is only 12
miles long, it is fed by several gla
ciers and consequently at times car
ries much water. Canyon Creek flows
northeast for 3 miles and, making a
rightangled bend, northwestward for
the remaining distance. The lower
course of the stream lies in the nar
tcw box canyon. The principal nick
el deposit is on the west side of the
creek about IV2 miles southwest of
the right-angled bend and about the
same distance from the head of the
’creek. The main exposure is on a
steep hillside several hundred feet
above stream level, or approximately
4.000 feet above the sea.
The deposits, though they derive
their name from the prominent peak
on Copper River known as Spirit
Mountain (elevation 7,270 feet), lie
about 12 miles east of the peak.
The claims can be reached from
Chitina by two trails. One trail
leaves the east side of Copper River
at Taral; the other, at a point a
short distance below the mouth of
Canyon Creek. The Canyon Creek
trail is the one most used now, for it
is reported to be in somewhat better
condition than the Taral trail. The
Canyon Creek trail is steep, rising
2.000 feet in a little over a mile, but
at the time of visit the footing for
horses was good in all except one
place. The distance to the claims
from the river is hbout 12 miles. By
either trail a crossing of Copper River
, is necessary, but boats and Indian
boatmen can usually be hired for the
trip. Horses have to swim, as the
river is narrow and swift at both
crossing places.
The nearet town to the deposits is
Chitina, which lies near Copper River
and opposite the mouth of Chitina
River, about 9 miles above the mouth
of Canyon Creek. Supplies can be
obtained at Chitian, or from Cordova,
the nearest seaport and the coast ter
minus of the Copper River & North
western Railroad, 130 miles from
Chitina.
The region is extremely rugged.
Copper River has an elevation of 400
feet just below the mouth of Canyon
Creek, but the mountains on either
side rise steeply to elevations of
6.000 feet or more. Many of the
streams flow through deep canyons
iust before entering Copper River
«nd most of them are fed by glaciers.
Timber line averages, 500 feet above
sea level. The Spirit Mountain de
posits are several miles from the near
est timber. A more detailed discussion
of the geography of the region is
given by Moffit.
Geology
The following notes on the geology
of the region in which Canyon Creek
lies are quoted or abstracted from the
report by Moffit on the Hanagita
Bjemner region.
Two groups of sedimentary rocks
I
j occupy most of the area under con
I sideration. The oldest consists of
I schist, slate, and limestone, which
form the chief rocks of the mountains
between Hanagita Valley and Chitina
River and of those south of the Han
agita Valley eastward from Copper
River for nearly thirty miles. These
sedimentary beds are folded, faulted
and much metamorphosed. Further
more, they are intruded in a most
complicated manner by igneous rocks
and sills, which are chiefly dioritic
but include granitoid rocks of a more
basic kind.
The second group of sedimentary
beds consists of interstratified slate
and graywacke, here classed as early
Mesozoic (?) (Valdez group). It ad
joins the group first mentioned on the
south. * * * These sedimentary rocks
are folded and faulted but are less
metamorphosed than the schist and
limestone beds bounding them on the
north. They are cut by numerous
light-colored dikes of quartz mon
zonite. «
Igneous rocks are common through
out this district. Diorite and closely
related types are the most common,
but more basic intrusive rocks are
found in several places. The diforitic
rocks doubtless belong to several per
iods of intrusion. Some of them are
light colored, coarse grained, and al
most unaltered; others are fine grain
ed and dark colored. Diorite is es
pecially common in the vicinity of
Taral and is in places so greatly al
tered that it can not be readily dis
tinguished from the altered diabase
associated with it. The greenstone so
abundant east of Taral is derived from
diorite and diabase. A very few- basic
dikes having the composition of per
idotites were found in this vicinity.
The small area between Canyon Creek
and Chitina River is in large part a
complex of intrusives in which large
masses of sedimentary rock have
been inclosed. Diabase is the pre
vailing type, but diorite is common
and presents a varied appearance.
A dike of peridotite consisting of py
roxene and much-altered olivine with
metallic sulphides was found near the
head of Canyon Creek. The surround
ing rocks are schist and limestone,
very much folded and extensively;
faulted.
The country has been extensively
glaciated.
The Deposits
Up to the time of the writer’s visit j
in 1917 sixteen nickel claims had been
located in the Canyon Creek valley.
Some of these claims were staked as
early as 1907 and 1908. Moffit, who
in 1911 visited the deposits on the
west side of the creek, has described
them briefly, and apparently little de
velopment work has been done on
them since that time. The 16 claims,
which are consolidated, are held by
three or four men. Six of these
claims are on the west side of Can
yon Creek near its head, 4 on the
east side,4 just over the ridge on the
east side, and 2 opposite the mouth
of Fall Creek on the ridge along the
south side of Canyon Creek. The
principal development work has been
done on the "claims west of Canyon
Creek. At the time of visit in 1917
no work was being done on any of
the claims.
The country rock of the Canyon
Creek valley is schist of probable
Carboniferous age. The numerous
bodies of igneous hock that have in
truded the schist are conspicuous be
cause of their rusty-looking crop
pings. The shapes of the3e bodies
are irregular, but the irregularity is
probably due in part to faulting which
took place after intrusion. The slick
ensided surfaces found along the con
tact between the schist and igneous
rock indicate that such faulting has
occurred, and a fault trace shows
prominently on the face of a cliff on
the the west side of Canyon Creek.
The intrusive bodies range from
acidic rocks, such as quartz mon
zonite, to basic rocks, such as peri
dotites. Quartz stringers are also
rather abundant in the schist.
Becaused he used gasoline to start
a fire with instead of kerosene, Russel
Radenbaugh of Ketchikan was pain
fully burned last week. Young Raden
baugh was lighting a fire in a stove
in his fathers boat at the time of the
accident and the bystanders heard
the explosion and saw a flaming fig
ure jump overboard. When Russel
came to the serface he called out to
the bystanders to put out the flame
in the boat, which was quickly done.
Scarborough Pictures that please at
prices that are right. Over Cordova
drug store. Phone 140—3 rings.
Read the Daily Times Tor the latest
and most reliable world news.
NOTICE
W. rr. Dugdell of Katalla, lost some
where on the streets of Cordova In
the afternoon of the 23rd of Decem
ber, a package of private papers. If
the finder will leave same at the
office of Donahoe & Diamond, he will
receive a suitable reward.
W. H. DUGDELL
Scarborough Pictures that please at
prices that are right. Over Cordova
drug store. Phone 140—3 rings.
——--♦ -
Best coffee in town served at ths
City Bakery. 13-tj
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Fresh Ever-Ready Flashlight Bat*
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NOTICE OF FORFEITURE
To e. M. Gage, Peter Conaton, Will
iam Farrell, Jack Ryan, Morrlss
O’Donnell, Eli McQuade and Georga
Dempsey:
You and each of you are hereby no
tified that I have performed the an
nual assessment labor required
by law for the years 1912, 1913, 1914,
1915 and 1916, upon the following
described placer claims on Young
creek, a tributary to Nizina river, sit
uated in the Chitina mining and re
cording district, Territory of Alaska,
United States of America, to-wit:
(1) Boston Association Placer
Claim, recorded in 1911, and
(2) The New York Association
Placer Claim, recorded in 1911,
and that unless within the time
prescribed by law you pay your pro
portionate amount of said expendi
ture. your interest in said claims and
each of them will be forfeited to me
under the provisions of the statutes
of the United States relating to in
terest in mining claims for failure
to contribute their proportionate
share of the expenditures required
by law for such annual work.
DEXTER CAYOUETTE.
City of Seattle, State of Washington,
United States of America—ss.
Personally appeared before me, a
Notary Public in and for the State
of Washington, Dexter Cayouette, of
Dan creek, Alaska, who deposes and
says that the statements in the above
notice are true, and that the said par
ties have not contributed any money
as labor towards the assessment work
on the mentioned claims for the
period stated.
DEXTER CAYOUETTE.
Subscribed and sworn to before me
this twenty-fifth day of September,
1919.
(Seal) FORD O. ELVEDGE,
Notary Public for the State of Wash
ington.
My commission expires July 29, 1923.
Date of first publication Oct. 1, 1919.
Date of last publication Dec. 31, 1919.
YOUR FUR8 MADE TO ORDER
Best work guaranteed. Low
est prices. Over 2,000 Alaska
customers.
R. W. Drew
Tacoma's Expert Furreir
11th and B’dw’y, Tacoma, Wash.
NEW ;
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