Apache (ARDF #SD046) Ag, Au

Apache

Prospect, Probably inactive

Alternative names

Navajo

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Ag; Au
Ore minerals	gold
Gangue minerals	quartz

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	SD
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	C-4
Latitude	57.59463
Longitude	-133.27568
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	The Apache and Navajo adits are at an elevation of about 2,700 feet, about 2.3 miles east of the mouth of Spruce Creek at the head of Windham Bay. The adits are about 0.3 mile northeast of the center of section 30, T. 49 S., R. 76 E.

Geologic setting

Geologic description The Apache-Navajo prospect is one of several prospects and mineral occurrences (SD046-049) in what is often referred to as the Third Zone of Spencer (1906; Kimble and others (1984). They are generally gold-quartz veins and veinlets in muscovite schist of Cretaceous age (Brew and Grybeck, 1984). The Apache-Navajo prospect was explored by two adits, one 60 feet long and the other 80 feet long (Kimble and others, 1984). The prospect was active from 1900 to 1903 but there has been little work since. The claims were patented in 1909. The deposit consists of irregular quartz veinlets and veins that generally parallel the foliation of the host rocks. They are oriented in several directions, notably N35-45W, 55-75SW and N04-08W, 70W. The veins were sampled by Kimble and others (1984); the highest grade sample they collected contained a trace of gold (less than 0.15 part per million (ppm) and up to 0.07 ppm silver. The deposits at the nearby Marty prospect (SD041) and the Sumdum Chief Mine (SD028) have been dated at about 55 million years (Goldfarb and others, 1997). This prospect is geologically similar and probably of the same age. Goldfarb and others (1997) also propose that most gold-quartz vein deposits along the Juneau Gold Belt such as this one were formed from fluids generated by Cretaceous metamorphism and then forced to the site of deposition by the emplacement of the Coast Range Batholith.
Geologic map unit	(-133.277385239287, 57.5942908033362)
Mineral deposit model	Low-sulfide gold-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).
Mineral deposit model number	36a
Age of mineralization	The deposits at the nearby Marty prospect (SD041) and the Sumdum Chief Mine (SD028) have been dated at about 55 million years (Goldfarb and others, 1997). This prospect is geologically similar and probably of the same age.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	The Apache-Navajo prospect was explored by two adits, one 60 feet long and the other 80 feet long (Kimble and others, 1984). The prospect was active from 1900 to 1903 but there has been little work since. The claims were patented in 1909.
Indication of production	None
Additional comments Although the Apache-Navajo prospect is on patented claims, the area around it is in the Chuck River Wilderness Area which is closed to prospecting and mining.

References

MRDS Number	A013352
References Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous lode deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 p. Brew, D.A., and Grybeck, Donald, 1984, Geology of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness study area and vicinity, Alaska, in U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines, Mineral resources of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness study area and vicinity, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1525, p. 19-52. Brooks, A.H., 1904, Placer mining in Alaska in 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p. 43-59. Buddington, A.F., 1925, Mineral investigations in southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773-B, p. 71-139. Goldfarb, R.J., Miller, L.D., Leach, D.L., and Snee, L.W, 1997, Gold deposits in metamorphic rocks in Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral Deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 151-190. Kimble, A.L., Still, J.C., and Rataj, J.L., 1984, Mineral deposits and occurrences in the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness study area and vicinity, Alaska, in U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines, Mineral resources of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness study area and vicinity, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1525, p. 105-210. Moffit, F.H., 1927, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1925: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 792-A, p. 1-39. Redman, Earl, 1988, History of the mines and miners in the Juneau gold belt: Juneau, Alaska, privately printed, 294 p. Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926 and Administrative Report: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797-A, p. 1-50. Spencer, A.C., 1904, The Juneau Gold Belt in Franklin, S.F., and Hayes, C.W., Contributions to economic geology, 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p. 28-42. Spencer, A.C., 1906, The Juneau Gold Belt, Alaska; and A Reconnaissance of Admiralty Island, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 287, 161 p. U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1984, Mineral resources of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness study area and vicinity, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1525, 308 p. Wright, F.E., and Wright, C.W., 1905, Economic developments in southeastern Alaska, in Brooks, A.H., Report on Progress of Investigations of Mineral Resources of Alaska in 1904: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 259, p. 47-68. Wright, F.E., and Wright, C.W., 1906, Lode mining in southeastern Alaska, in Brooks, A.H., 1906, Report on Progress of Investigations of Mineral Resources of Alaska in 1905: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 284, p. 30-54.
Reporters	Donald Grybeck (U.S. Geological Survey)
Last report date	10/8/2004