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Talkeetna

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Molybdenum
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000949
MRDS ID A011620
Record type Site
Current site name Talkeetna
Alternate or previous names Matanuska Gold Mining Company, Talkeetna Mining Company, Consolidated Mining Company, Fern Gold Mining Co.
Related records 10185435

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.25658, 61.82345 (WGS84)
Relative position Near headwaters of Fairangel Creek, a tributary to Archangel Creek. Marked with quarry symbol and labeled 'Talkeetna Mine' on the Anchorage D-7 1:63,360-scale topographic map. Accurate within 400 ft. Locality 16 from Chaplin (1921, plate VI), locality 19 of Cobb (1972), and locality 16 of Mackevett and Holloway (1977).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Molybdenum Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Nearby scientific data

(1) -149.25658, 61.82345
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Alaskite dikes and younger, irregular quartz veins cut a coarse gray quartz diorite of the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The Willow Creek Pluton is a zoned pluton: the outer part consists of hornblende quartz diorite and lesser hornblende tonalite; the core consists of hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and lesser hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite and biotite quartz monzonite. The dikes have been described as both aplitic and pegmatitic and locally carry a few unnamed black minerals, hornblende, and tourmaline. The veins trend N 75 E and tend to pinch and swell. The veins that follow conjugate fractures in the quartz diorite are 12 to 18 inches thick, with a maximum width of 5 to 8 ft. The veins not following the dike contain considerable gold, averaging nearly 5 oz/ton Au. The pyrite in the veins have mostly been leached, leaving cubical cavities (Capps, 1915). A 30 inch thick vein follows the dike, but no reports of content are available (Brooks, 1925). Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954). A surface grab sample of the vein walls, collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, contained 0.57 g/ton Au (0.017 oz/ton Au) (Kurtak, 1986).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous or younger; dikes and veins cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Willow Creek

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Unknown, mining (and some milling) was reported from 1917-1923.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Explored by small open cuts and several hundred feet of underground workings in several adits. Development began in 1910 with two small open cuts, tunnelling planned for 1910-1911. Mining was reported from 1917-1923 and one tunnel was reported to be 500 ft long in 1923 (Brooks, 1925). A tramway once led from adit portal to a camp and mill below. The mine was inaccessible in 1950 (Ray, 1954). An average grade of 5 oz/ton Au was reported for the veins cross-cutting the dike (Capps, 1915). By 1933, the Talkeetna mine was undercut by, but not connected with, the workings of the Fern mine (ARDF number AN005). The same company, Fern Gold Mining Company, owned both the Talkeetna mine and Fern mine by about 1925.? A surface grab sample of the vein walls, collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, contained 0.57 g/ton Au (0.017 oz/ton Au) (Kurtak, 1986).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A011620
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF AN025

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Katz, F.J., 1911, A reconnaissance of Willow Creek gold region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-G, p. 139-152.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1912, The Alaska mining industry in 1911, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1911: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 17-44.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1914, Gold lodes and placers of the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 245-272.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1915, The Willow Creek District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 607, 86 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

  • Deposit

    Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692, p. 11-42

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1920, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-F, p. 169-176.

  • Deposit

    Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., and Martin, G. C. 1921, The Alaska mining industry in 1919: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 59-95.

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1921, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-E, p. 201-206.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.

  • Deposit

    Ray, J.C., 1933, The Willow Creek gold-lode district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849-C, p. 165-229.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1942, Occurrences of molybdenum in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-C, p. 161-210.

  • Deposit

    Ray, R.G., 1954, Geology and ore deposits of the Willow Creek Mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1004, 86 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Kurtak, J.M., 1986, Results of the 1984 Bureau of Mines site specific field studies within the Willow Creek mining district: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 17-86, 17 p.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-E, p. 147-200.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-G, p. 147-194, 195-200.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1919, Gold lode mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-D, p. 177-186.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials in the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1095, 184 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., 1927, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1925: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 792-A, p. 1-39.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-409, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Capps, 1915

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 30-JUL-1998 D.P. Bickerstaff U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 30-JUL-1998 S.W. Huss U.S. Geological Survey