![]() No other metals were of economic importance in these orebodies. The estimated 536,000 tons of copper recovered was accompanied by the recovery of about 100 tons of silver (MacKevett and others, 1997). Together they produced 4 million metric tons of ore with a grade of 13 percent copper. These mines developed several different orebodies but their underground workings were interconnected. Geology: The Mother Lode, Bonanza (MC093), Jumbo (MC091), and Erie (MC083) mines, all on the ridge between McCarthy Creek and Kennicott and Root Glaciers, produced significant amounts of high-grade copper ore when they were operated by Kennecott Copper Corporation between 19. The Mother Lode mine is shown on the McCarthy C-5 quadrangle (1993 edition). This is locality 91 of MacKevett (1976) Cobb and MacKevett (1980) included this mine under the name 'Kennecott Copper Corp.'. It is at an elevation of about 5,300 feet, 2,600 feet east of Bonanza Peak (elevation 6983) and about 300 feet east of the center of section 14, T. Location: The Mother Lode mine is at the head of a small cirque valley on the west valley wall of McCarthy Creek (MacKevett, 1970 ). ISSN 1027-5606.The locality is in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". ^ Geologic Studies in Alaska bu the U.S.Geology and Mineral Resources of the Nizina District, Alaska, USGS Bulletin 448. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for viewing and climbing. Temperatures can drop below −20 ☌ with wind chill factors below −30 ☌. Weather systems coming off the Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Wrangell Mountains ( orographic lift), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. : 77 The deposits were mined for their spectacularly high-grade copper ore which exceeded 70 percent.īased on the Köppen climate classification, Bonanza Peak is located in a subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers. ![]() Native copper can also be found in the greenstone. Copper is found as polymetallic replacement deposits in the fault planes, fractures and joints. Minerals include chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite, with associated malachite, azurite, and cuprite. Present-day visitors may hike to the abandoned Bonanza, Jumbo, and Erie mines, all of which are strenuous full-day hikes, with Erie Mine being a somewhat terrifying scramble along cliffs overlooking the Stairway Icefall.īonanza Peak is part of the Wrangellia Terrane. Copper deposits are found at the disconformity between the Upper Triassic Chitistone limestone and underlying Permian Nikolai greenstone. ![]() : 260 The Kennecott operations reported gross revenues above $200 million and a net profit greater than $100 million. From 1909 until 1938, the mines produced over 4.6 million tons of ore containing 1.183 billion pounds of copper mainly from the Bonanza, Jumbo and Mother Lode, as well as several million ounces of silver. The Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode and Erie mines were connected by tunnels. The Erie mine was perched on the northwest slope above the Root Glacier. The Mother Lode mine was located in a cirque on the east side of the summit. Jumbo Mine was in the west cirque below the summit. Glacier Mine, which is really an ore extension of the Bonanza, was an open-pit mine and was only mined during the summer. Bonanza Mine was located on a ridge south of the summit, and was in the early 1900s, confirmed by Stephen Birch as the richest known concentration of copper in the world. ![]() The Bonanza ore body was discovered August 1900 by prospectors "Tarantula" Jack Smith and Clarence L. On a clear day the summit of Bonanza Peak offers views of Sourdough Peak, Mount Blackburn, and Fireweed Mountain.īonanza Peak hosted five mines: Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode, Erie, and Glacier. The mountain's local name was reported in 1914 by the U.S. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the Nizina River, which in turn is part of the Copper River drainage basin. The confluence of the Kennicott and Root Glaciers lies below the mountain's west slope. Elias National Park and Preserve, immediately northeast of Kennecott, 7 mi (11 km) northeast of McCarthy, 3.46 mi (6 km) north of Porphyry Mountain, and 5.2 mi (8 km) southeast of Donoho Peak. The peak was notable for its abundance of copper deposits which were mined from 1909 through 1938. Bonanza Peak is a 6,983-foot (2,128 meter) mountain summit located in the Wrangell Mountains, in the U.S.
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