Tukgahgo Mountain


Tukgahgo Mountain is a mountain in the Takshanuk Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska with a peak elevation of. It is located in Haines Borough, to the southwest of Chilkoot Lake and to the southwest of Skagway. Geological investigations of the veins in the mountain have revealed silver, gold, platinum, and palladium mineralization, derived from mid-Cretaceous events.

Geography

Tukgahgo, an indigenous name given by the Tlingits, was recorded by geologist Eugene C. Robertson and published by the United States Geological Survey in 1952. Tukgahgo is located southwest from Chilkoot, while Skagway is to the northeast. Vanderbilt Point is located west of Tukgahgo's summit. The head of Shakuseyi Creek is on the east slope of the mountain.

Geology

A 1991 geological sampling of a rock formation to the southwest of Tukgahgo Mountain on the northwest Chilly Peak strike or trend with a movement of, recorded as down on the northeast side compared to the southwest side. Along the fault metabasalts to the southwest are in fault contact with the diorite intrusive.

Samples collected from the veins were analyzed for metals like molybdenum, platinum and palladium. One vein with visible molybdenite assayed at 1,240 ppm across the vein. Quartz veins also revealed pyrite, chalcopyrite, malachite, and molybdenite. The gold content was reported to be 0.824 ppm, while silver and copper contents were of the order of 2.70 ppm and 2,140 ppm, respectively. The mineralization is interpreted as of mid-Cretaceous age. The metallic elements identified as present in the vein structures include silver, gold, copper, with minor quantities of palladium and platinum but no mining operations have been reported.