The Mother Lode vein and other nearby orebodies are localized in the lower part of the Upper Triassic Chitistone Limestone. This ore was accessed from both the Mother Lode and Bonanza mines, which developed 12 levels between surface exposures at about 1,800 meters elevation on the Bonanza vein (MC093) to depths at elevations of about 1,450 meters. The largest orebody is the Mother Lode vein, which produced 507,000 tons of ore containing 12.05 percent copper. The Mother Lode mine produced 1,216,000 tons of ore containing 12.39 percent copper. This record largely summarizes information provided by MacKevett and others (1997).
MacKevett and others (1997) provide an excellent synthesis and interpretation of the structure, stratigraphy, economic geology, and geochemistry of these deposits.
Cobb and MacKevett (1980) refer to the many Federal government publications, dating from the time of the Bonanza discovery in 1900, that contain information about them. Bateman and McLaughlin (1920) and Lasky (1929) provide important descriptions of the geology, mineralogy, and structure of these deposits. 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 ). The locality is in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve.
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