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

Tanana

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tungsten
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308832
MRDS ID A015294
Record type Site
Current site name Tanana
Alternate or previous names Grant, Hirshberger
Related records 10002822

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.53195, 64.95167 (WGS84)
Relative position The Tanana propsect is located in the SE1/4SW1/4 sec. 34, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Fairbanks Meridian. The Tanana prospect is on the northeast side of Tungsten Gulch, a headwater tributary of First Chance Creek. It is about 3 miles east of the junction of the Steese and Elliott Highways at Fox. The prospect originally consisted of six scheelite lodes on five claims (Mertie, 1917). This prospect is included in locality 27 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).
(click for info)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tungsten Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Scheelite Ore

Alteration

  • Schist is soft, decomposed, and iron stained (Mertie, 1917).

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 42
USGS model code 14a
Deposit model name W skarn

Nearby scientific data

(1) -147.53195, 64.95167
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Tanana prospect lies along the western edge of a Cretaceous granite porphyry. Gold and tungsten are found in auriferous quartz-scheelite veinlets that cut decomposed schist (Mertie, 1917). Berg and Cobb (1967, p. 220), reported that the scheelite deposits were found in tactite, silicified limestone, granite dikes, pegmatitic dikes, and in small quartz veins in schist. The schistosity strikes N. 30 E. and dips 35 NW.; one gold-quartz vein strikes N. 8 W. and dips 60 E. (Mertie, 1917). In 1942 and 1943, the only workings that could be found were a caved shaft and several small prospect pits. These workings revealed little geologic information because they had become filled with slope wash and were overgrown with vegetation (Byers, 1957).

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Prospecting took place on five claims where six scheelite lodes were identified (Mertie, 1917). In 1942 and 1943, the workings included a caved shaft and several small prospect pits (Byers, 1957).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF FB095
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A015294
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS D002650

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B. Jr., 1917, Lode mining in the Fairbanks District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662-H, p. 403-424.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1924, Geology and mineral resources of the region traversed by the Alaska Railroad: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755-C, p. 73-150.

  • Deposit

    Thorne, R.L., Muir, N.M., Erickson, A.W., Thomas, B. I., Hedie, H. E., and Wright, W. S., 1948, Tungsten deposits of Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 4174, 22 p.

  • Deposit

    Byers, F.M., Jr., 1957, Tungsten deposits in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-I, p. 179-216.

  • Deposit

    Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous Lode Deposits of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 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., 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

    Mulligan, J.J., 1974, Mineral resources of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline corridor: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8626, 24 p.

  • 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

    Cobb, E.H., 1975, Mineral resources of Alaska, in Yount, M.E., ed., U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Program, 1975: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 722, p. 37.

  • Deposit

    Thorne, R.L., Muir, N.M., Erickson, A.W., Thomas, B. I., Hedie, H. E., and Wright, W. S., 1948, Tungsten deposits of Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 4174, 51 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1917; Byers 1957

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = W skarn deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 14a)

Reporter information

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