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

Lower Gold Standard

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Bismuth, Lead
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 10100968
MRDS ID A012304
Record type Site
Current site name Lower Gold Standard
Alternate or previous names Lone Jack (Helm Bay), Alaska, Free Gold
Related records 10209707

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -131.99873, 55.64863 (WGS84)
Relative position The lower Gold Standard mine is at an elevation of less than 100 feet, about 0.15 mile inland from the southwest shore of Helm Bay, and about 5.3 miles from the mouth of the bay. The map site is in section 1, T. 72 S., R. 87 E., of the Copper River Meridian, and is accurate within 0.1 mile. It corresponds to loc. 28 in Elliott and others (1978), and to loc. 239 in Maas and others (1995, fig. 46 and p. 192). It also includes the Lone Jack prospect at Helm Bay (Maas and others, 1995, loc. 240). The upper Gold Standard mine (Maas and others, 1995) is in the Craig quadrangle about 0.4 mile west of this site, and is not described in this report.? Also see Additional comments.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Prince of Wales-Hyder(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ketchikan C-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Ketchikan NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ketchikan(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Southern 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
Bismuth Critical Secondary
Lead Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Tetradymite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Locally, the wallrock next to the veins is bleached and impregnated with pyrite.

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 Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -131.99873, 55.64863
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The country rocks near this site are marine, andesitic and basaltic metavolcanic rocks that are gradationally interbedded with flyschlike metasedimentary rocks (Berg and others, 1988, p. 18). The strata were regionally metamorphosed to greenschist-grade phyllite and semischist in Late Cretaceous time (Brew, 1996, p. 27). The depositional age of the strata is uncertain. Berg and others (1998, p. 17) report that they closely resemble Upper Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous strata nearby on Gravina Island. ? the deposit consists of auriferous, pyritic quartz fissure veins in schistose metavolcanic (greenstone) and subordinate metapelitic rocks (Brooks, 1902, p. 59-60; Wright and Wright, 1908, p. 153-155; Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 46). There are two sets of veins: both sets strike N25W, parallel to the foliation of the schistose hostrocks, but dip in opposite directions. The older set dips 60-85 NE, parallel to the foliation, and contains the best ore, especially at the intersection of the two vein systems (Brooks, 1902, p. 59). The principal vein is 6 inches to 6 feet thick and has been traced along strike for more than 1000 feet. It consists of quartz, calcite, and chlorite, and, in addition to free gold, contains pyrite and minor tetrahedrite and galena. The walls of the vein are well defined by slickensides with gouge on the footwall side, and by a seam filled with calcite carrying free gold along the hanging wall. Locally, the wallrock next to the veins is bleached and impregnated with pyrite (Maas and others, 1995, p. 183). ? Maas and others (1995, table 25) report the following average metal contents in their samples from the lower Gold Standard mine: 10.4 ppm Au, 99 ppm Cu, 7.4 ppm Pb, 48 ppm Zn, 2.3 ppm Te, and 9.6 ppm Sn. They also report (table 24) that the average gold content in quartz at two places on this property is 8.12 and 8.71 ppm, and that the average gold content in pyritic schist is 17.0 and 35.9 ppm. The sampling by Maas and others (1995, p. 184) shows a distinct northward plunge to the ore zone, which is cut off by a fault that strikes NE and dips 45SE. The continuation of the ore zone past this fault has not yet been determined.? Fluid inclusion studies of quartz vein material from several of the Helm Bay lodes suggest that the veins formed at temperatures and pressures consistent with conditions during the Late Cretaceous greenschist-grade regional metamorphism (Maas and others, 1995, p. 184).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Ketchikan

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Maas and others (1995, p. 192) report that the combined production from the lower and upper Gold Standard mines from about 1898 to 1941 was 310 kg or more of gold, and 33 kg or more of silver. They do not report the amount produced only from the lower Gold Standard. Judging from the assay values and the extent of the workings, production from each mine may have been about equal. In addition to the lode production, a little placer gold was mined in 1913 from near the main outcrop of the vein (Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 46).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The deposit was discovered in 1897 and mined intermittently from 1898 to 1941. It was developed by a 150-foot shaft and 700 feet of drifts and tunnels on two levels. A ten-stamp mill on the site was installed in 1899 and was still operating at 20 tons per day in 1938. An average grade of $6.00 Au/ton was reported in 1922 (Brooks, 1922, p. 35). ? Maas and others (1995, p. 192) report a 1300-foot adit and two glory holes at the lower Gold Standard mine, and a nine-foot adit on the Lone Jack claim. They also report (p. 191) that the entire lower Gold Standard adit was sampled by private interests as recently as 1993, but the gold values were subeconomic.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Brooks, 1902; Maas and others, 1995

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide gold-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Deposit Other Comments = the Gold Standard was the largest producer of gold and silver in the Helm Bay area. In early reports, it was also referred to as the Alaska and Free Gold claims (Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 46).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 29-JUN-99 H.C. Berg 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.