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

Maid of Mexico

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000288
MRDS ID A010334
Record type Site
Current site name Maid of Mexico
Alternate or previous names Maid of Texas
Related records 10282817

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -133.03687, 56.56474 (WGS84)
Relative position Accurate to within 100 yards. Well known mine on central Woewodski Island in the SW1/4, SW1/4, section 23, T 61 S, R. 79E. In 1996, a trail was still passable from the center of the north shore of Harvey Lake, north to the mine. The main workings were on the Main of Mexico vein/mine; the Maid of Texas vein is about 100 yards to the southeast.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Wade Hampton(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Petersburg C-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Petersburg N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Petersburg(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Central Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Tongass National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = sphalerite in minor amounts.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Rusty Weathering In Argillite

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 Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Mudstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -133.03687, 56.56474
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Main of Mexico vein is about 2-6 feet thick, averaging about 4 feet. It can be traced for at least 2000 feet but the underground working expose only a small portion of it. The vein consists mainly of white quartz with sparse sphalerite, pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, and free gold. The vein is largely in black carbonaceous argillite associated with pyrite-bearing, calcareous felsic metatuff, felsic dikes, and minor limestone and mudstone. The black carbonaceous unit is overlain(?) by greenstone, greenshist, and marble. Several faults are known in the underground workings. Brew (1997 [OF 97-156-J]) correlates the country rock with the Triassic Hyd Group which typically consists of felsic and intermediate flows and breccia, argillite, and minor limestone. ? Nine samples collected by Williams (1954) assayed trace to 0.64 ounces per ton in gold, a trace of silver, 0.20-0.68% lead, and 0.30 to 0.77% Zn. The Maid of Texas vein is parallel to the Maid of Mexico vein and about 100 yards to the southeast (Roehm, 1945 [DGGS IR 195-37]).? the Maid of Mexico vein was explored by more than 1000 feet of underground workings from several adits prior to World War II. Some production resulted, mainly in the 1930's. The property was active in 1979 and the owners had cleaned out the drifts in anticipation of production. However, a visit in 1996 by D. Grybeck suggested that little had been done since. Williams(1954) noted that the Alaska Department of Mines had seven confidential maps dating from 1933 to 1935 of the underground workings in their files. He noted 130 feet of crosscut from the portal of the mine and 260 feet of drifting on the vein; also several raises and winzes.
  • Age = Triassic or younger based on age of the host rock.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Kupreanof

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Small test shipments were made as early as 1917 and the property produced ore during the 1930's. The remains of a small mill are still present on the property. Production records not available but discussions with the owners in 1979 by the reporters, the size of the dumps, and the amount of underground work indicate that total production was probably more than the 100 ounces of gold and silver reported in the literature (Buddington, 1923).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Explored by more than 1000 feet of underground workings from several adits prior to World War II. The property was active in 1979 and the owners had cleaned out the drifts in anticipation of production. However, a visit by D. Grybeck in 1996 suggested that little had been done since. Williams(1954) noted that the Alaska Department of Mines had seven confidential maps dating from 1933 to 1935 of the underground workings in their files. He noted 130 feet of crosscut from the portal of the mine and 260 feet of drifting on the vein; also several raises and winzes.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Williams, 1954; this description

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Gold quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-98 H.C. Berg U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-NOV-98 D.J. Grybeck U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.