Little Chief Mine, Little Chief Peak, Sultan Basin, Sultan District, Snohomish Co., Washington, USA

Hi,

I would be interested to find any available reference about Tschermakite from Little Chief Mine, Snohomish Co.
I attach two photos of a Tschermakite sample, came from this location; size of specimen-3.4 x 2.4 x 3.4 cm; the second photo-fov 29 mm.
I think it would be interesting to view more photos of minerals collected from this area.

All my thanks,:-)

Nicu

Tschermakite is an amphabole and they are not easy to analyze correctly. How certain are you that your specimens are Tschermakite.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

I am probably involved in this in some way or another.

There are two amphiboles of interest at the Little Chief mine.

One is a thin bladed, medium green amphibole, and the other is a much more interesting very dark green and stouter crystallized amphibole containing 4% to 6% chlorine. I don't know if either are tschermikite. I think I determined that the latter MIGHT be pargasite

Chlorine bearing amphiboles are related to ore deposites. The Little Chief is very interesting since some of the World's best alloclasites occur there.

Bob Downs can make a best guess on these amphiboles. He has some specimens of them. If anyone of you amphibole professionals want some, I will be happy to provide samples.

It is virtually impossible to collect at the Little Chief since it is in the Everett, Washington Watershed and no overnight visits are allowed.

To get to the Little Chief now that the roads are all closed it is necessary to use a canoe to paddle across Spada Lake Reserviour to Williamson Creek and then hike the four miles to the base of Little Chief Creek where I once, long ago, parked my Jeepster at the juncture to the road and never dreamed that how lucky I was..

Now it is a 16 hour trip with no time left for collecting after arriving at the site. And that site is a scary snow filled canyon.

Mineral collecting is fast becoming an impractical hobby out here in Washington State.. The "wild west" is now the "Regulated West"

~Bart.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2012 12:37PM by Bart Cannon.

Rock, I know that.
Bart, thanks for very interesting description of the places there.
Fortunately, I received the specimen from a mineralogist and field collector and I fully trust in any reference received from him. That's why this occurrence are very special and I requested some references from this mining area.

Nicu,

I looked at your photos, and it would seem that you have the very dark green to black chlorine bearing amphibole.

How did you obtain this material ? Very few collectors have been to this location.

And who performed the analyses ?

Bart

Interestingly enough, there are no amphiboles listed for the locality.
Alloclasite is also not listed.
On the other hand, there is native nickel. Is that true?

Bart,
Indeed, it seems Chlorite that partially covering these amphibole crystals.
Usually, I only analyze the self-collected samples. I will contact the dealer by e-mail and I hope to receive additional information.

Michael,
Can you send me a reference / Alloclasite from Little Chief ? Thanks.
As identification of native nickel in this area I think should be consulted ''Inventory of Washington Minerals-Metallic Minerals (Huntting, 1956)''

Nicu

Nicu,
The reference on Alloclasite comes from Bart Cannon's post in this thread: "some of the World's best alloclasites occur there."

Alloclasite and amphibole added

Further explanations.

The allocalsite ID is based upon crystal form and a rough EDS match. No XRD. The Fe,Co,Ni sulfarsenides are almost as bad as amphiboles to ID.

To be honest I have no idea if my pieces is really the World's best alloclasite. I will get a photo of it and post at a later time.

The specimen was collected by Ed Molsee who lives some miles North of Seattle.

The deposit is in a breccia pipe on the NW side of Vesper Peak in Jurassic Volcanics some distance above the underlying Vesper Peak granodioritic stock.

I still do not know the true ID on the chlorine bearing amphibole.

There are orther Ni and Co sulfarsenides present at the Little Chief, mostly as small shiny xls rather than the large rosettes of the possible alloclasite.

The deposit is a possible resource of the strategic metal cobalt as well as nickel and gold, but since it is in the Everett Watershed it will never be mined.

Just across Vesper Peak is a major copper, tungsten breccia zone once owned by Bren Mac, It was closed down as well. The main portal was once accessible, and one could find three foot in diameter open quartz pockets with the occassional scheelite.

It is still possible to hike in to the upper outcroppings of that breccia zone hiking through Hedley Pass. One to six inch quartz crystals can pulled out of pockets. Lumps of chalcopyrite contain inclusions of various lead bismuth sulfides.

It's worth the trip in just for the spectacular scenery. For the truly hardy, the Vesper Peak garnet mine, owned John Lindell can be accessed and visited and lightly collected with permission from John and I. Do not even contemplate the trip unless you are an experienced mountaineer.

Finally, I have extreme doubt about the presence of native nickel at the Little Chief.

Bart

You have to do some quantitative analysis to determine the Co/Fe ratio otherwise you will not be able to distinguish alloclasite from glaucodot. Even then glaucodot can have a Co/Fe ratio as high as of 3:1 ( 24wt.%Co / 8wt% Fe) (samples from Cobalt, Ontario).

Hello Bart,

I received an e-mail from Joe George about my ''Tschermakite'' specimen. I tried to contact John Lindell, but probably isn't a priority for him. I will analyze this specimen, its origin will remain, unfortunately, undetermined.
I will send the Joe answer, via PM, if you agree this.
I like to tell you that I am very grateful for all the references about Little Chief.

Best Regards,

Nicu

Nicu,

I consider the Little Chief to be one of the most interesting mineral deposits in Washington State. Due to the watershed circumstance, the mineral deposit is nothing more than a tax liability for the owner. I am working on buying it for a pittance.

It is most likely that your specimens from Joe George came directly from Ed Molsee.

I should also mention that I did not make it clear that the Vesper Peak Garnet claim is owned jointly by John Lindell and me.

There are a few references in the literature about the Little Chief. I am sure that they are in my library, but the starting point for all mining research in Washington State is Bulletin # 37 "Inventory of Washington Minerals" Part II Metallic Minerals by Marshall T. Hunting, 1956. The entire book is available on-line via the WADNR. Another book which treats the Little Chief is Washington Division of Mines and Geology bulletin # 36 "Geology and Ore Deposits of the Sultan Basin, Snohomish County, Washington" By Ward Carithers and A.K. Guard.

There is also a modern description of access to the deposit in "Volume 1, The West Central Cascades, Discovering Washington's Historic Mines"

I sell this book at no profit to myself on behalf of the Northwest Mining Publishers. It is $26.95 plus postage. I may have just broken a Mindat rule by mentioning this. They have four other books on Washington Mining History and mine locations. You can contact them directly by calling Daryl Jacobsen at 425 481 2387. Their books are a treasure trove of mining history in my state.

Bart



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 08:58AM by Bart Cannon.

Bart,

Concerning your first mentioned publications, I found them relatively easy and it must be helpful me. For the last mentioned, I have noted, indeed, I would like to enjoy it.
I am much obliged to you for all these references.

Nicu