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True North

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10307720
Record type Site
Current site name True North

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.53596, 65.04767 (WGS84)
Relative position The True North property lies approximately 2 miles northwest of Pedro Dome. It covers approximately 11,000 acres of State of Alaska Mining claims and patented Federal mining claims (Masterman, 1998). The location given is the approximate center of those claims. The Hindenburg/Markovich mine (ARDF no. LG054) is part of the True North prospect.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Alteration

  • (Local) Quartz, manganese-oxides, ankerite, mariposite, sericite and carbon.

Nearby scientific data

(1) -147.53596, 65.04767
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The True North gold deposit is a structurally controlled, disseminated gold deposit located on the northwest flank of Pedro Dome. Gold was recognized on the property as early as 1913, but historic production was limited to stibnite ore, mined from the Hindenburg/Markovich mine (ARDF no. LG054), which is located within the current True North land holdings. Mineralization at True North is associated with quartz-carbonate veins in a heterogeneous high-grade metamorphic package containing calcareous eclogites, particularly where carbonaceous schists and quartzite are prevalent (Swainbank and others, 1998, p. 8). Gold occurs within a northeast-trending zone, 2500 feet wide and 5000 feet long, west of the northeast-trending Eldorado Fault. Gold-bearing zones are typically 20 to 60 feet thick within gently dipping shear zones and faulted lithologic contacts (Masterman, 1998). Gold grades within the shear zones average 0.05 to 0.10 ounces of gold per ton (Masterman, 1998). Ar-Ar dating of alteration associated with mineralization at Fort Knox, Ryan Lode, Golden Summit and True North all place the main mineralizing event at +/- 90 Ma (Masterman, 1998). Exploration activities on the True North property from 1991 to 1997 consisted of 9,832 top-of-bedrock soil samples, 15,621 feet of trenching, 40,133 feet of core drilling and 153,914 feet of RC drilling (Masterman, 1998). Auger soil-sampling programs occurred in 1998 (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999, p. 10). There is particular interest in a 400 foot by 1,000 foot gold-arsenic-antimony anomaly occurring southwest of the True North trend (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999, p. 10). . As of 1997, geologic resources were calculated to be 1.3 million ounces of gold with a grade of 0.072 ounces of gold per ton (Swainbank and others, 1998, p. 8; Masterman, 1998). In 1997, core drilling and 55,000 feet of reverse-circulation drilling led to the discovery of the Merlyn and Dome Creek mineralized zones (Swainbank and others, 1998, p.8).

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = As of 1997, geologic resources were calculated to be 1.3 million ounces of gold with a grade of 0.072 ounces of gold per ton (Swainbank and others, 1998, p. 8; Masterman, 1998).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The following history of exploration is based on an extended abstract presented by Steve Masterman, Newmont Exploration Limited, at the 1998 Alaska Miners Association Meeting. In 1990, Dick Swainbank brought the property to the attention of AMAX Gold, Inc. (AGI). AGI acquired the claims and conducted soil sampling, trenching, and 6,332 feet of reverse-circulation (RC) drilling. In 1994, after drilling 14 RC holes under an exploration agreement, LaTeko acquired the property from AGI. During the summer of 1994, LaTeko expanded the soil grid, excavated additional trenches, drilled 52,000 feet of RC and 2,040 feet of HQ core. In 1995, Newmont Exploration Ltd. began exploration on the property, after entering into a joint venture with LaTeko. Exploration activities on the True North property from 1991 to 1997 consisted of 9,832 top-of-bedrock soil samples, 15,621 feet of trenching, 40,133 feet of core drilling, and 153,914 feet of RC drilling (Masterman, 1998). In 1998, most exploration work consisted of auger soil sampling programs (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999, p. 10). In 1999, Kinross Gold Exploration acquired Newmont's 65% interest in the True North Venture.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF LG055

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Masterman, S. S., 1998, The True North gold project, Fairbanks mining district, Alaska [abs.], in Extended abstracts of the 16th biennial conference on Alaskan mining: Alaska Miners Association Annual Meeting, March, 1998, Fairbanks, Alaska.

  • Deposit

    Swainbank, R.C., Clautice, K.C., and Nauman, J.L., 1998, Alaska's Mineral Industry 1997: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 52, 65 p.

  • Deposit

    Szumigala, D.J., and Swainbank, R.C., 1999, Alaska's mineral industry 1998: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report SR 53, 71 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Swainbank and others, 1998

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Disseminated carbonate-replacement gold mineralizaton associated with intrusion- and schist-hosted crushed veins and low-angle shears.
Deposit Other Comments = Metallurgical tests found that gold recoveries would probably be 85-95% for the 1.3 million ounces of gold in the non-sulfide, coarse material from the oxide zones at the Hindenburg and Shepard prospects (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999, p. 10). Deeper, more sulfide-rich samples from the Hindenburg and the Shepard prospects probably will have gold recoveries ranging from 61 to 68%.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAY-99 C.J. Freeman, J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation