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Goodluck Gulch

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Tungsten
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001982
MRDS ID A012826
Record type Site
Current site name Goodluck Gulch
Related records 10160490

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.46217, 64.644 (WGS84)
Relative position Goodluck Gulch is on the low slopes along the east side of Snake River, 1,400 feet due west of the Snake River road and 1.8 miles northwest of Mount Byrnteson. The map location is in the SW1/4 section 3, T. 10 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian. This is locality 38 of Cobb (1972 [MF 467], 1978 [OFR 78-93]). It is also locality 4 of Hummel (1962 [MF 247]) but Hummel's location is approximate. The location in this record is accurate within 500 feet.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Tungsten Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Albite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Albitization and sulfidization, including dissemination of arsenopyrite in schist prior to development of northeast-striking sheeted veins.

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Mica Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.46217, 64.644
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = A deposit at Goodluck Gulch, approximately located by Hummel (locality 4, 1962 [MF 247]) was relocated by Kennecott Exploration Company in 1995. It apparently was first reported by Moffit (1913, p. 131) who noted: 'A large amount of highly mineralized quartz is present in schist exposures south of Good Luck Gulch . . . Panning shows the presence of gold.' Bedrock was not visible when the prospect was visited by Cathcart (1922, p. 247-248), but he did find scheelite in thin-section examination of dump material. The location is important because Goodluck Gulch is the northernmost significant deposit in a belt of gold lodes east of Snake River that extends northerly from near Bonanza Hill (NM228) and the Anvil fault through Rock Creek (NM207). Surface expression of this deposit includes a large quartz-boulder felsenmeer on the Snake River plain adjacent to the deposit; white vein quartz boulders in the felsenmeer are as much as 3 feet across. Old prospect trenches are on the upland adjacent to the felsenmeer. The quartz vein system in bedrock probably also extends some distance into the Snake River flood plain because large blocks of quartz are visible in the Snake River gravels on a northwesterly projection of the deposit; these boulders are not present north of this projection. The deposit extends uphill nearly to the Snake River road (Hummel's 1962 location) but is best developed near Snake River.? Relocation of the prospect was followed in 1995 by soil geochemical sampling, trenching, and drilling. The deposit consists of schist extensively replaced by arsenopyrite, schist replaced by tabular albite impregnated by arsenopyrite, and veinlets and extensive masses of quartz as much as several feet across. Most of the deposit is crudely stratabound, and some is folded. Drill core in GLC95-2 at a depth of about 140 feet cuts nearly isoclinal folds with saddle-reef type quartz-feldspar veins in small-scale folds and as much as 5 percent arsenopyrite disseminated in the folded schist. Pyrite is less abundant than arsenopyrite, and galena is sparsely disseminated in quartz. Near the surface, the sulfidized schist is mainly weathered to a reddish iron oxide, probably hematite. Late-stage mineralized quartz occupies northeast-striking fissures, the common direction for late sheeted veins in the area. Bedrock in the area is graphitic schist probably of early Paleozoic protolith age (Hummel, 1962 [MF 247]; Sainsbury, Hummel, and Hudson, 1972 [OFR 72-326]; Till and Dumoulin, 1994; Bundtzen and others, 1994).
  • Age = Probably mid-Cretaceous or younger, the time of regional metamorphism of the enclosing schist. Fold-controlled mineralization at Goodluck Gulch is assumed to be somewhat older than sheeted veins developed at Rock Creek (NM207).

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 = Cathcart (1922) reported that pits and short trenches were present on the property. In 1995, Kennecott Exploration Company explored the area with about 1,000 feet of backhoe trenches and diamond core holes; maximum gold grades were a few hundreths of an ounce per ton.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012826
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF NM202

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

  • Deposit

    Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.

  • Deposit

    Hummel, C.L., 1962, Preliminary geologic map of the Nome C-1 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-247, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Sainsbury, C.L., Hummel, C.L., and Hudson, Travis, 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Nome quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-326, 28 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Till, A.B., and Dumoulin, J.A, 1994, Geology of Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H.C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, DNAG, v. G-1, p. 141-152.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = This report

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a); a residual gold placer is also developed on the lode.
Deposit Other Comments = There has probably been a very small amount of gold production from the residual placer. Cathcart (1922) reported sacked ore or concentrates on the property.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUL-00 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 10-JUL-00 Travis L. Hudson Hawley Resource Group