Inspiration Point; Inspiration Mine Prospect, Skagway Mining District, Skagway, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Inspiration Point; Inspiration Mine Prospect	Prospect
Skagway Mining District	Mining District
Skagway	City Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: This location corresponds to map location 52 of Gilbert and others (1990) and the location in Clough (1989 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C]), referred to as the Inspiration Mine. It is in the south-central part of section 23, T. 26 S., R. 60 E. of the Copper River Meridian. However, Cobb (1972 [MF 424]) shows this prospect on the White Pass-Yukon railroad about 0.6 miles south of the Alaska-Canada border and Gilbert and others (1990) located an Inspiration Mine at the 3,400 foot elevation near the west-central edge of section 26, T. 26 S., R. 60 E..
Geology: According to Clough (1989 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C]), the Inspiration Mine was probably discovered in the mid-1920's and was intermittently worked until its abandonment in the late 1930's. An 18-ton trial shipment of ore reportedly assayed 7.65% lead, 6.2% zinc, and 3.05 ounces of silver per ton. Local prospectors apparently restaked the property in 1988. The upper level of workings includes an inclined shaft, a vertical shaft, an open-cut, and a 165-foot adit. There is another adit about 200 feet below the upper level of workings. Mineralization occurs in skarn zones developed along sheared limestone within the Clifton Granite. At this locality, the Clifton Granite is actually a diorite. Mineralization is confined to the skarn zones and is not found in the diorite. This is probably the same as location 52 of Gilbert and others (1990) who described skarn, garnet skarn, diorite, and sheared diorite. Skarn samples contain up to 1,500 ppm copper, 7,200 ppm lead, and 24,000 ppm zinc. U-Pb zircon dates of 48 Ma for the Clifton Granite establish a maximum age for the mineralization (Clough, 1991 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C]; Gilbert and others, 1990).
Workings: Exploratory work was done annually from about 1926 to 1932 (Berg and Cobb, 1967).
Age: U-Pb zircon dates of 48 Ma for the Clifton Granite establish a maximum age for the deposit (Clough, 1991 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C); Gilbert and others, 1990).
Alteration: Skarn peripheral to a diorite intrusion.
Production: According to Clough (1991 [BOM, v. 2, sec. C], the Inspiration Mine was probably discovered in the mid-1920's and was intermittently worked until its abandonment in the late 1930's. An upper level of workings includes an inclined shaft, a vertical shaft, an open-cut, and a 165-foot adit. There is another adit about 200 feet below the upper level of workings. An 18-ton trial shipment of ore reportedly assayed 7.65% lead, 6.2% zinc, and 3.05 ounces of silver per ton. Local prospectors apparently restaked the property in 1988.

Commodities (Major) - Ag, Pb; (Minor) - Au, Cu, Zn
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Skarn, contact metasomatic (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 18a or 19a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SK073

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References