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Kelty

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

Identification information

Deposit ID 10094057
MRDS ID A012555
Record type Site
Current site name Kelty
Related records 10208802

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.27329, 67.55973 (WGS84)
Relative position The reference point for this property is approximately 2 miles west of the Little Squaw mine (CH040) between Squaw and Boulder creeks (sec. 32, T. 32 N., R. 3 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). The exact location of the Kelty prospect is somewhat imprecise. It was described in Maddren (1913) as being along the same mineralized zone as the Summit (CH041) and Eneveloe (CH046) claim groups and 'situated on the southwest headwaters of Big Squaw Creek'. This would place the property within the Squaw Creek drainage west of Eneveloe and along the Summit fault. The location as shown in DeYoung (1978) is farther west into the Boulder Creek drainage. A sketch map in Mertie (1925) shows claims in this general area which extend across the divide between Big Squaw and Boulder creeks, and these may represent this property. The location is accurate within a 1-mile radius.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Copper Secondary
Lead Secondary
Antimony Secondary
Zinc Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Quartz Gangue

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -148.27329, 67.55973
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = There is little information about this prospect. Maddren (1913) described it as being west of, and along the same zone as, the Eneveloe property. Heiner and Wolff (1968) indicated that it is on a zone of crushed gold quartz. Dillon (1982) described it as steeply dipping (65 degrees southeast) auriferous quartz veins in schistose rock. It is reasonable to conclude that the prospect is similar to the other gold-quartz vein prospects and mines in the area. These are generally described as discontinuous quartz veins emplaced along steeply dipping, northwest-trending normal faults in Devonian quartz-muscovite schist, phyllite, and quartzite intruded by small mafic sills and dikes (Chipp, 1970). The intrusions have been metamorphosed to greenstone or greenschist. The quartz veins pinch and swell, generally pinching out within a few hundred feet or less. Their widths vary from a few inches to several feet but generally are less than 10 feet. The quartz veins exhibit evidence of shearing, which indicates that the veins were emplaced before or during fault movement. Sulfide content of the veins is typically less than 5 percent. The primary sulfides are, in relative order of abundance, arsenopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and pyrite. Much of the gold occurs as native gold. Weathering near the surface has oxidized and leached the sulfides to produce scorodite and limonite. The genesis of these gold deposits is still in question, although various authors have hypothesized genetic links to a variety of felsic and mafic igneous rocks from which the gold was remobilized during metamorphism (Mertie, 1925; Boadway, 1933; Chipp, 1970; Dillon, 1982).
  • Age = Middle Cretaceous based on arguments by Dillon (1982) that the age of emplacement of the gold-bearing quartz veins of the Koyukuk and Chandalar districts was between the Neocomian metamorphism of the Devonian host rocks and their erosional unroofing and cooling in Albian time.
  • Age = Host rock is Devonian.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Chandalar

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012555
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF CH049

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Maddren, A.G., 1913, The Koyukuk-Chandalar region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 532, 119 p.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1925, Geology and gold placers of the Chandalar district, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 215-263.

  • Deposit

    Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska, Report 16, 306 p.

  • Deposit

    Grybeck, D.J., 1977, Known mineral deposits of the Brooks Range, Alaska: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-166C, 41 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    DeYoung, J.H., Jr., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-878-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Dillon, J.T., 1982, Source of lode and placer gold deposits of the Chandalar and upper Koyukuk Districts: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 158, 25 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Cruz, E.L., 1983, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-278, 91 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Maddren, 1913

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Deposit Other Comments = See also: Eneveloe (CH046), Summit (CH041), Little Squaw (CH040), and Mikado (CH045). No site-specific information available for this location.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 17-NOV-1999 J.M. Britton U.S. Geological Survey