Little Squaw (Cosine

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Materials information
Alteration
Mineral occurrence model information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10001767
MRDS ID	A012556
Record type	Site
Current site name	Little Squaw (Cosine
Alternate or previous names	Sine, Crystal, Big Squaw Quartz, Parabola, Engineers Exploration Syndicate, Idaho-Alaska Corp.)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-148.19329, 67.55974 (WGS84)
Relative position	The Little Squaw mine is approximately 3 miles south of the southeast end of Squaw Lake on the ridge between Little Squaw and Squaw Creeks; it is approximately 3 miles above Little Squaw Lake (sec. 34, T. 32 N., R. 3 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). The mine location is shown by a mine symbol on the current topographic map, and the location is also shown on fig. 2 in Chipp (1970); the location is accurate within a 1/4-mile radius.

Geographic coordinates:

-148.19329, 67.55974 (WGS84)

Relative position

The Little Squaw mine is approximately 3 miles south of the southeast end of Squaw Lake on the ridge between Little Squaw and Squaw Creeks; it is approximately 3 miles above Little Squaw Lake (sec. 34, T. 32 N., R. 3 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). The mine location is shown by a mine symbol on the current topographic map, and the location is also shown on fig. 2 in Chipp (1970); the location is accurate within a 1/4-mile radius.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chandalar C-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Chandalar N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chandalar C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country	State
United States	Alaska

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary
Silver	Secondary
Lead	Secondary
Zinc Critical	Secondary

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Arsenopyrite	Ore
Galena	Ore
Gold	Ore
Pyrite	Ore
Sphalerite	Ore
Scorodite	Ore
Quartz	Gangue

Alteration

(Local) Veins are oxidized generally to about 75 ft depth; the principal oxidation products include scorodite and limonite.

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 Host

Rock type

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-148.19329, 67.55974	ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

Geologic Description = The vein on the Little Squaw property is one of several auriferous quartz veins in an area trending northeast from the heads of Tobin and Big creeks to Squaw and Little Squaw creeks. In general, most of the gold-bearing quartz veins in this area are in or near steeply-dipping, northwest-trending normal faults in Devonian quartz-muscovite schist, phyllite, and quartzite intruded by Devonian mafic sills and dikes (Chipp, 1970). The mafic intrusions have been metamorphosed to greenstone or greenschist. Major structural features include large-scale northeast-trending anticlines and synclines, northeast-trending thrusts, and the northwest-trending, high-angle cross faults. Most of the veins are less than 10 feet thick and are discontinuous, pinching out within a few hundred feet or less. The veins are composed principally of white crystalline to microcrystalline quartz, and their sulfide content is generally less than 5 percent. The principal sulfides (in relative order of abundance) are arsenopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and pyrite. Scorodite and limonite are commonly oxidation products. The quartz veins exhibit evidence of post-depositional shearing, indicating that the veins were emplaced before or during fault movement. The genesis of these gold deposits is still in question; various authors have hypothesized genetic links to a variety of felsic and mafic igneous rocks from which the gold was remobilized during metamorphism (Mertie, 1925; Boadway, 1933; Chipp, 1970; Dillon, 1982).? the Little Squaw vein is generally described as brecciated and recrystallized quartz containing free gold, pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. Ashworth (1983) described two generations of quartz: (1) 'barren' massive, white, coarsely crystalline quartz on the hanging wall that is generally devoid of sulfides; and (2) 'main stage' quartz in the footwall that contains smeared arsenopyrite and scorodite, and gold that forms blebs in the quartz and wires in the vugs. At the surface, the vein is 4 feet wide and dips approximately 80 degrees south. At the bottom of a 60-foot winze the dip flattens to 60 degrees south, and the vein reportedly consists of several quartz stringers with abundant arsenopyrite. The vein averages 67 inches wide and consists mostly of barren quartz except for an 8- to 12-inch-wide footwall zone which appears streaked and ribbony due to abundant pyrite and arsenopyrite. Native gold, as flakes or wires, is common at the Little Squaw. In 1933, the vein was described as having a proven length of 200 feet and a depth of 130 feet with a grade of $38.50 per ton over a 4-foot width ($20 per ounce of gold) (Boadway, 1933). In 1934, a weighted average value of 0.505 ounce of gold per ton was determined by using the lower of duplicate assays.
Age = Middle Cretaceous based on arguments by Dillon (1982) that the age of emplacement of the gold-bearing quartz veins of the Koyukuk and Chandalar districts was between the Neocomian metamorphism of the Devonian host rocks and their erosional unroofing and cooling in Albian time.
Age = Host rock is Devonian.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic

Comments on exploration

Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name	Chandalar

Comments on the production information

Production Notes = Early production figures probably combined placer and lode production and indicate that approximately 65,000 oz were produced from lode and placer through 1995. Goldfarb and others (1997) reported that lode production was 17,000 oz and associated placer production was 46,000 oz.

Comments on the reserve resource information

Reserves = Various reserve figures have been published for the Chandalar area lode properties; these typically do not differentiate reserves for specific properties. Some of these figures are as follows: 12,000 tonnes grading 75 grams of gold per ton at the Mikado and Little Squaw (Nokleberg and others, 1996); an inferred lode reserve for the Chandalar district lodes of 45,000 tons with a grade of 2 ounces of gold per ton was reported as late as 1997 (Swainbank and others, 1998). Baggs and others (1988) reported measured reserves of 9,100 metric tons grading 58.70 grams of gold per metric ton as of 1980.

Comments on the workings information

Workings / Exploration = A 185-foot adit with a raise to the surface at 160 feet and a 60-foot winze at 135 feet were reported completed between 1910 and 1933 (Cobb, 1983, OFR 83-278; Stanford, 1931). A road from the Little Squaw to a mill site on Spring Creek was built in 1909-10. Milling 27 tons of ore from the Little Squaw mine at this mill produced an average recovery of $22 per ton at $20 per ounce of gold; the recovery probably was only the free gold. In 1912, a 3-stamp mill was brought to Big Creek to test the Little Squaw ore and used until 1915. Considerable development work has been conducted in the area beginning in 1960 and has been reported to include 1,500 feet of underground workings, surface trenching, and installation of a 100-ton-per-day mill. While most of this work probably focused on the nearby Mikado property, some of the work was probably performed on the Little Squaw property as well.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A012556
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	CH040

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Brooks, A.H., 1912, The Alaska mining industry in 1911, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1911: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 17-44.
Deposit

Maddren, A.G., 1913, The Koyukuk-Chandalar region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 532, 119 p.
Deposit

Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.
Deposit

Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1925, Geology and gold placers of the Chandalar district, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 215-263.
Deposit

Thompson, G.L., 1925, Report on the property of the Chandalar Gold Company: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-1, 18 p.
Deposit

Reed, I.M., 1927, Report on some of the quartz prospects of the Chandalar district: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-2, 4 p.
Deposit

Reed, I.M., 1930, Report on the Little Squaw area of the Chandalar mining district: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-4, 18 p.
Deposit

Stanford, J.V., 1931, Report on Little Squaw, Bonanza, and Mikado groups of claims, Chandalar, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-5, 10 p.
Deposit

Boadway, E.A., 1932, Report on Sulzer properties, Chandalar, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-6, 23 p., 4 sheets.
Deposit

Boadway, E.A., 1933, Report on Mikado and Little Squaw veins, Chandalar, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-7, 37 p.
Deposit

Anderson, Eskil, 1944, Petrographic descriptions of rocks collected during 1944 field investigation in north-west Alaska, and lists of ore and rock samples and placer concentrates collected in northwestern and interior Alaska during 1945 field season: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-28, 76 p.
Deposit

Brosgi, W.P., and Reiser, H.N., 1964, Geologic map and section of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map 1-375, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

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

Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska, Report 16, 306 p.
Deposit

Koschmann, A.H. and Bergendahl, M.H., 1968, Principal gold producing districts of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 610, 283 p.
Deposit

Chipp, E.R., 1970, Geology and geochemistry of the Chandalar area, Brooks Range, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 42, 39 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:36,000.
Deposit

Brosgi, W.P., and Reiser, H.N., 1972, Geochemical reconnaissance in the Wiseman and Chandalar districts and adjacent region, southern Brooks Range, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 709, 21 p.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-457, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Chandalar and Wiseman quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-340, 205 p.
Deposit

Grybeck, D.J., 1977, Known mineral deposits of the Brooks Range, Alaska: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-166C, 41 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.
Deposit

DeYoung, J.H., Jr., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-878-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Grybeck, D.J., and De Young, J.H., 1978, Map and tables describing mineral resource potential of the Brooks Range, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-1-B, 19 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.
Deposit

Reiser, H.N., Brosgi, W.P., De Young, J.H., Jr., Marsh, S.P., Hamilton, T.D., Cady, J.W., and Albert, N.R.D., 1979, The Alaskan Mineral Resource Assessment Program: Guide to information contained in the folio of geologic and mineral resource maps of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 758, 23 p.
Deposit

Arctic Environmental Information and Data Center, 1982, Mineral terranes of Alaska: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 7 sheets, scale 1:1,000,000.
Deposit

Dillon, J.T., 1982, Source of lode and placer gold deposits of the Chandalar and upper Koyukuk Districts: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 158, 25 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Ashworth, K.K., 1983, Genesis of gold deposits at the Little Squaw mines, Chandalar mining district, Alaska: Bellingham, Washington, Western Washington University, M.Sc. thesis, 98 p.
Deposit

Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Robinson, M.S., Clough, J.G., Green, C.B., Clautice, K.H., and Albanese M.A., 1983, Alaska's mineral industry, 1982, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 31, 63 p.
Deposit

Mosier, E.L., Cathrall, J.B., Antweiler, J.C., Tripp, R.B., Lueck, L., and Eakins, G.R., 1987, Gold occurrences and characteristics in the Chandalar-Koyukuk area, in Albanese, M.A. and Campbell, B.W., eds., Proceedings of 9th Annual Alaska Conference on Placer Mining: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Miscellaneous Paper 9, p. 45-53.
Deposit

Baggs, D.W., Northam, M.J., Meyer, M.P., and Maas, K.M., 1988, Selected significant mineral deposits in Alaska, a minerals availability system overview: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 9177, 124 p.
Deposit

Dillon, J.T., Lamal, K.K., and Huber, J.A., 1989, Gold deposits in the upper Koyukuk and Chandalar mining districts, in Mull, C.G., and Adams, K.E., eds., Bedrock geology of the eastern Koyukuk Basin, central Brooks Range, and east-central Arctic Slope along the Dalton Highway, Yukon River to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Guidebook 7, 2 v., 309 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:125,000 and 1:2,851,200.
Deposit

Nokleberg, W.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Grybeck, D.J., Koch, R.D., Eremin, R.A., Rozenblum, I. S., Sidorov, A.A., Byalobzhesky, S.G., Sosunov, G.M., Shpikerman, V.I., Gorodinsky, M.E., 1993, Metallogenesis of mainland Alaska and the Russian Northeast: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-0339, 3 sheets, 230 p.
Deposit

Goldfarb, R.J., Miller, L.D., Leach, D.L., and Snee, L.W, 1997, Gold deposits in metamorphic rocks in Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, 482 p.
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

Brooks, A.H., 1911, The mining industry in 1910, in Brooks, A.K., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1910: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-B p. 21-43.
Deposit

Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., and Conwell, C.N., 1982, Review of Alaska mineral resources 1981: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Annual Report 1981, 48 p.
Deposit

Nokleberg, W.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Dawson, K.M., Eremin, R.A., Goryachev, N.A., Koch, R.D., Ratkin, V.V, Rozenblum, I.S., Shpikerman, V.I., Frolov, Y.F., Gorodinsky, M.E., Melnikov, V.D., Diggles, M.F., Ognyanov, N.V., Petrachenko, E.D., Petrochenko, R.I., Pozdeev, A.I., Ross, K.V., Wood, D.H., Grybeck, D., Khanchuck, A.I., Kovbas, L.I., Nekrasov, I.Y., and Sidorov, A.A., 1996, Significant metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous lode mineral deposits and placer districts, and for metallogenesis of the Russian Far East, Alaska, and the Canadian Cordillera: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-513-B, 385 p.; U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-513-B, 385 p. (CD-ROM format).

Comments on the references

Primary Reference = Chipp, 1970

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Deposit	Other Comments = See also: Mikado Mine (CH045); there may be some confusion in the literature between Little Squaw and Mikado veins. The names Idaho-Alaska Corp. and Engineers Exploration Syndicate associated with this property refer to the transaction in 1932 in which the Idaho-Alaska Corp. took over the leases and options on various properties in the Chandalar district formerly held by the Engineers Exploration Syndicate. Other site names are names of claims on or near the mine.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Deposit

Other Comments = See also: Mikado Mine (CH045); there may be some confusion in the literature between Little Squaw and Mikado veins. The names Idaho-Alaska Corp. and Engineers Exploration Syndicate associated with this property refer to the transaction in 1932 in which the Idaho-Alaska Corp. took over the leases and options on various properties in the Chandalar district formerly held by the Engineers Exploration Syndicate. Other site names are names of claims on or near the mine.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	17-NOV-1999	J.M. Britton	U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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Authoritative Alaska resources

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