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Sanford

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002796
MRDS ID A015262
Record type Site
Current site name Sanford
Alternate or previous names Lone Tree
Related records 10160121

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.01295, 64.8916 (WGS84)
Relative position The Sanford mine is located in the NW1/4 sec. 29, T. 1 N., R. 2 W., Fairbanks Meridian, at an elevation of 1,550 feet on the summit of the ridge between Sheep Creek and Happy Creek. The location is marked on the Fairbanks D-3 topographic map; it is about 1.3 miles northeast of the top of Ester Dome. The mine is locality 12 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Nearby scientific data

(1) -148.01295, 64.8916
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Sanford mine is on a ridge near the contact of biotite schist of the Muskox sequence with bleached feldspathic, quartzose schist and quartz-muscovite schist, quartzite, and chlorite-quartz schist of the Fairbanks Schist (Newberry and others, 1996). Gold was mined from a quartz vein that strikes N. 40 E. and dips 45 SE. By 1931, about 150 tons of ore that yielded $6,700 in gold (about 324 ounces of gold) was milled from the property (Hill, 1933, p. 149). Part of this ore was said to have had an average grade of $52 in gold per ton (2.42 ounces of gold per ton) (Hill, 1933, p. 149). The shaft on the vein was 150 feet deep in 1931. About 30 feet east of the main shaft, some high-grade ore in a vertical vein was explored by several suface pits.

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 Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = By 1931, about 150 tons of ore that yielded $6,700 in gold (about 324 ounces) was milled from the property (Hill, 1933, p. 149).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = James Hill (1933, p. 149) made a visit to the property in 1931, and the following is a summary of his observations. A 105-foot shaft was sunk on the dip of a vein oriented N. 40 E., 45 SE. From the surface to a depth of 20 feet, the vein had been stoped both north and south of the shaft. There was a 65-foot drift to the south at the 20-foot level of the shaft and a 60-foot drift to the south on the 65-foot level. All the ore above the 65-foot level had been stoped. Some high-grade ore in a vertical vein striking N. 20 E. was explored by several suface pits about 30 feet east of the main shaft.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A015262
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF FB008

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Hill, J.M., 1933, Lode deposits of the Fairbanks District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849-B, p. 29-163.

  • Deposit

    Chapman, R.M., and Foster, R.L., 1969, Lode mines and prospects in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 625-D, 25 p., 1 plate.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-410, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-662, 174 p.

  • Deposit

    Newberry, R.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Clautice, K.C., Combellick, R.A., Douglas, T., Laird, G.M., Liss, S.A., Pinney, D.S., Reifenstuhl, R.R., and Solie, D.N., 1996, Preliminary geologic map of the Fairbanks mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Public Data File 96-16, 17 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Hill, 1933

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Schist-hosted gold-quartz vein

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 31-JUL-2001 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 31-JUL-2001 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation