Unnamed (near Big Hurrah Creek)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001789
MRDS ID A012594
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (near Big Hurrah Creek)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.26438, 64.65125 (WGS84)
Relative position This prospect is on the south side of Big Hurrah Creek (SO022) about 0.2 miles upstream of the mouth of Linda Vista Creek, a south tributary. This is locality 2 of Asher (1969, DGGS R33).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Marcasite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Quartz veining in metamorphic rocks.

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) -164.26438, 64.65125

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Two short adits explore quartz veins at this locality. The lower adit is reported to have exposed a 7- to 8-foot-wide, vertical but faulted, quartz vein (Smith, 1910, p. 147). The upper adit, a few hundred feet to the south of the lower one, is on a 1-foot-wide quartz vein with arsenopyrite, pyrite, and possibly marcasite (Asher, 1969, DGGS R33). A grab sample of this vein assayed 0.003 ounces Au per ton (Asher, 1969, DGGS R33). The country rock is part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage that includes a distinctive black, very fine-grained, graphitic schist (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 511; Till and others, 1986).? These quartz veins may be similar in age to some other gold-quartz veins of southern Seward Peninsula. The other southern Seward Peninsula lode gold deposits formed as a result of mid-Cretaceous metamorphism (Apodoca, 1994; Ford, 1993, Ford and Snee, 1996; Goldfarb and others, 1997) that accompanied regional extension (Miller and Hudson, 1991) and crustal melting (Hudson, 1994). This higher temperature metamorphism was superimposed on high pressure/low temperature metamorphic rocks of the region.
  • Age = Mid-Cretaceous; possibly same age as some other gold-quartz veins of southern Seward Peninsula.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Two short adits explored quartz veins at this site.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012594
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF SO144

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1910, Geology and mineral resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 433, 234 p.

  • Deposit

    Asher, R.R., 1969, Geologic and geochemical study, Solomon C-5 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Geology Geologic Report 33, 64 p.

  • Deposit

    Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, R., and Marsh, W.R., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic maps of the Solomon D-5 and C-5 quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 511, 12 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.

  • Deposit

    Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Miller, E.L., and Hudson, T.L., 1991, Mid-Cretaceous extensional fragmentation of a Jurassic-Early Cretaceous compressional orogen, Alaska: Tectonics, v. 10, p. 781-796.

  • Deposit

    Apodoca, L. E., 1994, Genesis of lode gold deposits of the Rock Creek area, Nome mining district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, University of Colorado, Ph.D. dissertation, 208 p.

  • Deposit

    Hudson, T.L. 1994, Crustal melting events in Alaska, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H. C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-1, p. 657-670.

  • Deposit

    Ford, R.C., and Snee, L.W., 1996, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of white mica from the Nome district, Alaska: The first ages of lode sources to placer gold deposits in the Seward Peninsula: Economic Geology, v. 91, p. 213-220.

  • Deposit

    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, 482 p.

  • Deposit

    Ford, R.C., 1993, Geology, geochemistry, and age of gold lodes at Bluff and Mt. Distin, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Golden, Colorado School of Mines, Ph.D. dissertation, 302 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Asher, 1969 (DGGS R33)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Gold-quartz vein in metamorphic rocks; low sulfide-Au quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 19-AUG-1999 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology