Rae-Wallace

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000954
MRDS ID A011624
Record type Site
Current site name Rae-Wallace
Alternate or previous names Alaska Free Gold Mining Co., Rosenthal
Related records 10160845

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.24574, 61.79067 (WGS84)
Relative position Near head of Sydney Creek, marked with quarry symbol and labeled 'Rae-Wallace Mine' on the Anchorage D-6 1:63,360-scale topographic map. Accurate within 400 ft. Locality 11 of Capps (1915), locality 22 from Cobb (1972), and locality 18 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Anchorage D-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Anchorage NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Anchorage(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Susitna River(hydrologic unit)

Susitna River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Some vein material shows oxidation (Capps, 1919). Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins 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) -149.24574, 61.79067

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = At least two quartz veins cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The first vein is 1 to 3 ft thick and strikes N 40 W, and dips 10 SW, and contains finely disseminated pyrite and irregularly distributed free gold. The other vein is 6 to 12 inches thick, strikes east, and dips 55 S; it contains pyrite, arsenopyrite, and presumably gold (Capps, 1919). The veins are so close to the mountain top that the amount of mineralized material is small.? 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 veins 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; veins cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Willow Creek

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Amount of production unknown, but probably small.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Explored by several hundred feet of underground workings in at least two tunnels and some open cuts. Development work began in 1914. Two tunnels with aggregate length of 125 ft were dug by 1915. By 1917, one tunnel was extended to a length of 330 ft (Capps, 1914; 1915; 1916; 1919). No activity reported since 1929, when mine activity was intermittent and a little ore was mined.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

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
Reporter 30-JUL-1998 S.W. Huss U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Authoritative Alaska resources

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