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Olsen (Anvil Creek)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Antimony, Copper
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002002
MRDS ID A012847
Record type Site
Current site name Olsen (Anvil Creek)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.39938, 64.57511 (WGS84)
Relative position The Olsen lode prospect is at an elevation of about 200 feet on the east side of Anvil Creek. It is 1,000 feet south of the Snake River road switchback where it crosses Anvil Creek and about one-quarter mile south of the mouth of Specimen Gulch. The map location is in the SW1/4 section 36, T. 10 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian. This is locality 12 of Hummel (1962 [MF 247]). The location is accurate within 500 feet.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Antimony Primary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Stibnite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Talc Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27
Model code 180
USGS model code 27d
Deposit model name Simple Sb (veins, pods, etc)

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Nome Group
    Rock description Nome Group
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.39938, 64.57511
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Olsen prospect consists of two long-abandoned shafts sunk on the east side of Anvil Creek. The workings date from the early 1900's (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]; Cathcart, 1922). A 54-foot shaft was sunk on a north-northwest striking, west-dipping quartz vein. According to the owner, Charles Olsen, the shaft struck stibnite ore at 49 feet and was in stibnite-bearing rock to abandonment of the shaft at 54 feet. A 97-foot shaft was sunk nearby. It reportedly encountered stibnite-bearing ore at 60 feet that continued on the hanging wall of a vein to the bottom of the shaft; the shaft was abandoned due to flooding. Material observed on the dump included finely crystalline stibnite with quartz and pyrite. The material reportedly assayed about 1 ounce of gold per ton, 2.05 dollars worth of silver, and some copper (Cathcart, 1922, p. 239-40). The veins reportedly had talc schist hanging walls about 10 feet thick.? Mertie (1918 [B 662-I, p. 431-432]) believed that the veins were in a fault zone. He noted that graphitic schist walls were cut by nearly vertical quartz veins with a strike of N 45 E. The veins probably are in the Anvil fault zone as shown by Hummel (1962 [MF 247]), who mapped a wide graphitic zone between two main faults along this part of Anvil Creek. Where the Anvil fault is exposed in the Snake River road cut (NM234), the graphitic schist is highly sheared and contorted in a zone 100 feet wide and locally contains stibnite.
  • Age = Probably mid-Cretaceous or younger; see 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 = Five lode claims aligned about N 25 E were located and prospected by Charles Olsen before 1916 (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]). A 97-foot shaft had a 35-foot drift. Workings in 1920 (Cathcart, 1922) included the 97-foot shaft and a 54-foot shaft.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012847
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF NM233

Bibliographic references

  • 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

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1918, Placer mining on Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, p. 451-458.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1918

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986, model 36a); simple Sb deposits (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27d).
Deposit Model Number = 36a, 27d

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