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Little Gem (Hatcher)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10003474
MRDS ID A106232
Record type Site
Current site name Little Gem (Hatcher)
Alternate or previous names Little Gem Gold Mining Company

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.24269, 61.82956 (WGS84)
Relative position At the headwaters of Archangel Creek, approximately 1,000 ft northeast of the end of the Fern Mine Road. Accurate within 1,000 ft. This is locality 19 of Cobb (1972) and locality 16 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the vein is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).

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) -149.24269, 61.82956
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = A 1 to 10 inch thick quartz vein cuts quartz diorite of the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The vein contains a very rich streak, 1/2 to 2 inches thick, with abundant coarse specks of free gold. The vein is reportedly traceable for 1,500 ft (Capps, 1915; 1919).? the Willow Creek Pluton is a zoned pluton. The outer part consists of hornblende quartz diorite and lesser hornblende tonalite; the core consists of hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and lesser hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite and biotite quartz monzonite. Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the vein is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous or younger; vein cuts the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Willow Creek

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Unknown.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Staked in 1913. Development included two tunnnels, 25 ft and 60 ft in length. Mill and material for tram was present but not installed in 1917 (Capps, 1915; 1919). Probably eventually became part of the Fern property - ARDF number AN005 (Cobb, 1979).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A106232
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF AN050

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1914, Gold lodes and placers of the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 245-272.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1915, The Willow Creek District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 607, 86 p.

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1920, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-F, p. 169-176.

  • Deposit

    Ray, R.G., 1954, Geology and ore deposits of the Willow Creek Mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1004, 86 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-E, p. 147-200.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-G, p. 147-194, 195-200.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1919, Gold lode mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-D, p. 177-186.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-409, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials in the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1095, 184 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Capps, 1919

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 30-JUL-1998 D.P. Bickerstaff U.S. Geological Survey