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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Lonesome

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper
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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 10000965
MRDS ID A011637
Record type Site
Current site name Lonesome
Alternate or previous names Gold Mint, Kelly Gold Mint, Hatcher
Related records 10112934

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.12462, 61.78567 (WGS84)
Relative position At the end of the uninproved road that runs parallel to the upper portion of the Little Susitna River. Marked with multiple adit symbols and labeled 'Lonesome Mine' on the Anchorage D-6 1:63,360-scale topographic map. The Gold Mint workings are about 2,000 ft east of road terminous. Accurate within 400 ft. Locality 35 from Cobb (1972) and locality 25 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)

Federal lands

Hatcher Pass Management Area-East(State Special Management Area)

State Special Management Area ST(Type of land area)

ST(Federal land areas administered by ST)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Altaite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Nagyagite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) 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). Surface oxidation.

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) -149.12462, 61.78567
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Quartz in narrow stringers and veins up to 18 inches wide cut fine-grained, fractured diorite or gabbro of early Paleocene to Late Cretaceous age. Stringers and veins contain free gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and the tellurides nagyagite and altaite. Veins strike N 35 to 50 W, and dips 40 to 62 SW. One vein is displaced several feet along a transverse fault (Ray, 1933; Ray, 1954). 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).? A similar vein deposit is exposed to the southeast in an area of Eocene conglomerate of the Arkose Ridge Formation. This could indicate a post-Eocene age for mineralization of Lonesome mine gold deposits, because it may be younger than the Eocene continential rocks overlying the batholith of the Willow Creek district. A 2 to 3 inch vein of quartz assayed 19 oz/ton Au and 22 oz/ton Ag. The same vein is exposed and oxidized at surface and shows 400 oz/ton Ag (Ray, 1954).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous or younger based on host rock age. A similar vein deposit is exposed to the southeast in an area of Eocene conglomerate of the Arkose Ridge Formation. This could indicate a post-Eocene age for mineralization of Lonesome mine gold deposits, because it may be younger than the Eocene continential rocks overlying the batholith of the Willow Creek district (Ray, 1954).

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 = Smith (1930) listed the Marion-Twin Gold Mining Company, the owner of the Lonesome Mine, as one of the largest producers in the district in 1928. Production reported intermittently between 1931 and 1949. Amount of total production is unknown.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Developed by surface trenching and several hundred feet of underground workings on 3 levels. By 1921 a tunnel was being driven on the upper vein and surface pits were being dug on the lower veins (Chapin, 1921). By 1922 the underground workings totalled 435 ft of adit, crosscut, shaft and raise. Mill was running in 1922 (Brooks and Capps, 1924). A five-stamp mill stood beside the Little Susutina River in the early 1930s. From 1946 to 1949 a new mill was installed and some underground development was done. The new mill and camp were built around 1946 although two five-stamp mills still stood in the old mill building (Stoll, 1997) the mine operated intermittently until 1949. ? A 2 to 3 inch vein of quartz assayed 19 oz/ton Au and 22 oz/ton Ag. The same vein is exposed and oxidized at surface and shows 400 oz/ton Ag (Ray, 1954). There is considerably more silver in these veins than in other veins of the district.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Ray, 1954

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

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.