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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Blue Bonanza

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Antimony
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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. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002790
MRDS ID A015256
Record type Site
Current site name Blue Bonanza
Alternate or previous names Midnight Sun
Related records 10257890

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.06296, 64.89077 (WGS84)
Relative position The Blue Bonanza mine is located in the NW1/4NE1/4 sec. 25, T. 1 N., R. 3 W., Fairbanks Meridian. This mine is on the divide between Sheep Creek and Nugget Creek at an elevation of about 1,900 feet. It is about 0.7 mile north of the top of Ester Dome. The mine is locality 8 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fairbanks D-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Fairbanks N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Fairbanks 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
Antimony Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Stibnite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Nearby scientific data

(1) -148.06296, 64.89077
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Ore was mined from a rich quartz vein that was 18 inches thick at the surface and narrowed with depth. Two periods of vein formation have been described. The older quartz is crushed and has cavities, whereas the younger quartz has glassy crystals and is banded parallel to walls (Smith, 1913 [B 525]). Gold is visible both near and remote from sulfides. The sulfides are galena, pyrite, and some stibnite; considerable silver is present in tetrahedrite. By 1914, a shaft was driven to a depth of 130 feet; however, the richest ore was concentrated in a zone 12 to 15 feet below the surface (Chapin, 1914 [B 592-J, p. 321-355]). Hill (1933) described a quartz vein on the property as being 5 to 6 inches wide and oriented N. 10 W., dipping 65 E. A grab sample from the dump contained $9.22 of gold per ton (0.45 ounce of gold per ton) (Hill, 1933).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The mine was developed by a 35-degree inclined shaft at least 30 feet deep; the richest ore was concentrated in a zone 12 to 15 feet below the surface (Chapin, 1914 [B 592-J, p. 321-355]).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Smith, 1913 (B 525)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Schist-hosted gold-quartz vein

Reporter information

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

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.