Geology of the Golden Zone mine area, Alaska

The Golden Zone mine area, in the upper Chulitna district, is underlain mainly by siltstone and tuff, volcanic conglomerate and breccia, and limestone. These rocks were invaded, probably in the Tertiary, by dikes and a small stock of porphyry. The ore deposits of the area are the Golden Zone breccia pipe, a nearly vertical body about in the center of the porphyry stock, and steeply dipping veins. Most veins strike north to northeast and are commonly only 1-5 feet thick, but locally are as much as 15 feet thick. Both pipe and vein deposits are gold deposits of low to moderate grade that are characterized by abundant arsenopyrite; some contain possibly economic amounts of copper, lead and zinc minerals. Of the deposits of the mine area, only the Golden Zone has been explored to any extent, and both it and some of. the veins deserve further exploration to determine their potential.