1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Chatham

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Antimony
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002949
MRDS ID A015444
Record type Site
Current site name Chatham
Related records 10232801

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.38102, 65.06468 (WGS84)
Relative position Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc. 44; NE1/4NE1/4 sec. 29, T. 3 N., R. 2 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. This mine is at the extreme head of Chatham Creek, at an elevation of 1,825 feet, adjacent to the cabins marked on the Livengood (A-1) quadrangle map.
(click for info)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Antimony Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Stibnite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Scorodite and stibiconite in carbonaceous quartzite.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -147.38102, 65.06468
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The prospect was located in 1908 when Fred Fey discovered a large quartz boulder with visible gold (Times Publishing Company, 1912). About 150 feet below this discovery, an adit revealed a shear zone striking N 60 W and dipping 65 to 80 S. The shear exhibits prominent slickensides showing nearly horizontal strike-slip motion (Smith, 1913; B 525). Average ore width in the stopes was 14 inches (Times Publishing Company, 1912).? A stibnite-bearing shear zone striking east and dipping south cuts the Chatham shear in the southeast drift about 150 feet from the main adit (Brooks, 1914). The stibnite occurs in massive, lenticular pods oriented diagonally to the strike of the shear zone. The shear zone is 10 to 15 feet wide and was traced on the surface for over 500 feet. Individual pods range from a few inches to several feet in width and are 10 to 12 feet in length. In a raise 825 feet from the portal, the stibnite is along a N 70 E, vertically-dipping shear zone with about 18 inches of pure stibnite in a clay-rich gouge zone (Brooks, 1918).? This mine produced both gold and anitmony ore. Ore from the Chatham mine was estimated to contain $30 to $40 per ton in gold (1.45 to 1.93 ounces of gold per ton) (Times Publishing Company, 1912). Workings consisted of the main 1300 foot Chatham adit and a Lower adit which was collared 120 feet below the Chatham adit.? the Chatham mine area was examined by Fairbanks Exploration Inc. in 1986 and preliminary sampling conducted (Fairbanks Exploration Inc., unpublished report, 1986). A sample taken from a small pit near the head of Chatham Creek contained 1800 ppb gold, with anomalous silver, arsenic and antimony. The sample consisted of scorodite and stibiconite in stained carbonaceous quartzite with no visible sufides. Visible gold was found in the pit from which this sample was extracted.

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 = On August 12, 1912, a 12-ton-per-day two-stamp Joshua Hendy mill began treating the Chatham mine gold ore (Times Publishing Company, 1912). Approximately 100 tons of stibnite was mined from a four-foot-thick pod in the east drift (Stewart, 1915). Total amount of gold and antimony ore production is not known.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = By mid-1916, the main Chatham adit had been driven 1,300 feet (Brooks, 1918). Approximately 400 feet of the shear zone had been stoped from the drift level to the surface; the workings extended from a point 175 feet northwest of the main adit to a point 225 feet southeast of it (Brooks, 1914). A second adit was collared 120 feet below the Chatham adit.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A015444
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF LG147

Bibliographic references

  • 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

    Times Publishing Company, 1912, Tanana Magazine, Quartz Edition: Fairbanks, Alaska 76 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1913, Lode mining near Fairbanks, in Prindle, L.M., A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 525, p. 153-216.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1913, Lode mining near Fairbanks: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542-F, p. 137-202.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

  • Deposit

    Eakin, H.M., 1915, Placer mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-I, p. 366-373.

  • Deposit

    Maloney, W., 1915, Annual report of the Mine Inspector to the Governor of Alaska for 1915: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Annual Report 1915, 35 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1917, The mining industry in the territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1915: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 142, 66 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1917, The mining industry in the territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1916: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 153, 89 p.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1919, Mining in the Fairbanks district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-F, p. 321-327.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

  • Deposit

    Joesting, H.R., 1942, Strategic mineral occurences in interior Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 1, 46 p.

  • Deposit

    Ebbley, N., and Wright, W.S., 1948, Antimony deposits in Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4173, 41 p.

  • Deposit

    Killeen, P.L., and Mertie, J.B., 1951, Antimony ore in the Fairbanks District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 51-46, 43 p.

  • 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., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 p.

  • Deposit

    Freeman, C.J., 1992, 1991 Golden Summit project final report, volume 2: Historical summary of lode mines and prospects in the Golden Summit project area, Alaska: Avalon Development Corp., 159 p. (Report held by Freegold Recovery Inc. USA, Vancouver, British Columbia.)

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1914, Lode mining near Fairbanks, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-J, p. 321-355.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Livengood quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-413, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Livengood quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-819, 241 p.

  • Deposit

    Joesting, H.R., 1943, Strategic mineral occurrences in interior Alaska, supplement to pamphlet no. 1: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 2, 26 p.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1918, Lode mining in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662-H, p. 403-424.

  • Deposit

    Smith, S.S., 1917, The mining industry in the territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1915: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 142, 66 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, S.S., 1917, The mining industry in the territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1916: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 153, 89 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1976 (OFR 76-633)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation