Geologic map released by Alaska for Delta mineral belt

Patricia Jones

Petroleum News contributing writer

The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys released geologic maps and a report on Nov. 5 covering approximately 400 square miles of mineral-rich lands in east-central Alaska.

Geologic data is concentrated within a corridor roughly 20 miles long and 10 miles wide that follows a northwest-southeast axis through the central map area.

Private companies conducting exploration in the area between 1976 and 2001 provided information for the maps and the accompanying 122-page booklet. Roughly $20 million was spent by industry exploring for and evaluating base metal and gold deposits in the Delta mineral belt during that time. (See July 13, 2003 issue.)

The complex geology of the area is divided into seven mappable metamorphic units that identify and follow the time-stratigraphic horizons along which base and precious metal rich massive sulfides were deposited.