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Alder Gulch - Virginia City

Past Producer in Madison county in Montana, United States with commodities Gold, Garnet
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  17. Reserves and resources
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10105717
MRDS ID W014672
Record type Site
Current site name Alder Gulch - Virginia City
Related records 10294912

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -112.00253, 45.32379 (WGS84)
Elevation 1585
Relative position BETWEEN ALDER AND VIRGINIA CITY, MONTANA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Madison(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Alder(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillon(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Dillon(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Ruby(hydrologic unit)

Missouri Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Missouri Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Montana Madison

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 006S}006S}007S 004W}003W}003W 09,10,11,12,13,14,15}07,08,16,17,22,26,35}01;12 Montana

Comments on the location information

  • UTM COORDINATES OF INTERSECTION OF GRANITE CREEK AND ALDER GULCH.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Garnet Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Almandine Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54
Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Rock unit name Aplite And Andesite Porphyry Intrusions;Tobacco Root Batholith;
    Rock description Aplite And Andesite Porphyry Intrusions;Tobacco Root Batholith;
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Alluvium

Nearby scientific data

(1) -112.00253, 45.32379
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Tobacco Root Batholith, Laramide Folds And Faults

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Source Of Gold Believed To Be Veins In Virginia City District, Especially Kersarge And Lucas Lodes.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1863
Discoverer Fairweather, Sweeney, Hughes, Rodgers, Cover, And Edgar
Year of first production 1863
Year of last production 1925

Comments on exploration

  • 1863-1866 ESTIMATED THAT PLACERS YIELDED $30,000,000 FROM ALDER GULCH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES (LYDEN, 1948).

    1866-1906 ANOTHER $10,000,000 IN GOLD PRODUCED FROM ALDER GULCH (LYDEN, 1948).



    TOTAL PRODUCTION WAS 2,500,000 OUNCES.



    1898- CONREY PLACER MINING COMPANY ORGANIZED. OVER 37 MILLION CUBIC YARDS WERE PLACERED USING SIX CONNECTED-BUCKET DREDGES. DREDGING OPERATIONS HERE WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE 1920'S.



    1935-1937 HUMPHREY?S GOLD CORPORATION RECOVERED 19,591.7 FINE OZ GOLD USING A DRY-LAND DREDGE.



    COMINCO COMPLETED FEASIBILITY AND MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES OF THE GARNET CONTENT OF THE GOLD TAILINGS IN 1994 AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE PRODUCTION DECISION. IN EARLY 1995, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO COMMENCE GARNET MINING IN MID-1995.

Mining district

District name Virginia City District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Cominco Resources International Ltd. (1994, Vancouver, British Columbia)

Production statistics

  • Year 1959
    Period 1863-1959
    Material gold
    Ore mined 81mt
    Accuracy Estimate

Comments on the production information

  • IN LATE 1994, PRODUCTION OF GARNET WAS EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN LATE 1995.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1994
    Total resources 13605000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Garnet Almondine 4 wt-pct Abrasives Major 1994

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ORE CONSISTS OF ALLUVIAL AU TAILINGS.
  • THERE IS A RELATIVELY LARGE VOLUME OF VIRGIN GRAVEL IN RUBY VALLEY BELOW ALDER GULCH BUT DEPTH OF PAY, LOW GRADES, AND HIGH LAND PRICES HAVE DISCOURAGED EXPLOITATION

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 30000M
    Overall width 500M

Comments on the workings information

  • FROM 1863-1899 GRAVELS WORKED BY SLUICE BOXES, PANS, AND ROCKERS. DREDGING FROM 1899-1922. SLUICING AND DRYLAND DREDGING 1922-1942, AND 1946-1948

Comments on other economic factors

  • 1863-1866 ESTIMATED THAT PLACERS YIELDED $30,000,000 FROM ALDER GULCH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES (LYDEN, 1948).

    1866-1906 ANOTHER $10,000,000 IN GOLD PRODUCED FROM ALDER GULCH (LYDEN, 1948).



    TOTAL PRODUCTION WAS 2,500,000 OUNCES.



    1898- CONREY PLACER MINING COMPANY ORGANIZED. OVER 37 MILLION CUBIC YARDS WERE PLACERED USING SIX CONNECTED-BUCKET DREDGES. DREDGING OPERATIONS HERE WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE 1920'S.



    1935-1937 HUMPHREY?S GOLD CORPORATION RECOVERED 19,591.7 FINE OZ GOLD USING A DRY-LAND DREDGE.



    COMINCO COMPLETED FEASIBILITY AND MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES OF THE GARNET CONTENT OF THE GOLD TAILINGS IN 1994 AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE PRODUCTION DECISION. IN EARLY 1995, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO COMMENCE GARNET MINING IN MID-1995.

Comments on development

  • DREDBING OPERATIONS HERE WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE 1920'S. COMINCO COMPLETED FEASIBILITY AND MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES OF THE GARNET CONTENT OF THE GOLD TAILINGS IN 1994 AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE PRODUCTION DECISION. IN EARLY 1995, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO COMMENCE GARNET MINING IN MID-1995.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1994, ... AS COMINCO EVALUATES ALDER GARNET, IN WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 324, P. 28.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1995, COMINCO TO START ALDER GARNET OPERATION, IN WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 329, P. 15.

  • Deposit

    LYDEN, C.J., 1948, THE GOLD PLACERS OF MONTANA: MONTANA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY MEMOIR 26, P. 80-83

  • Reserve-Resource

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1994.

  • Deposit

    WINCHELL, A.N., 1914, MINING DISTRICTS OF THE DILLON QUADRANGLE, MONTANA AND ADJACENT AREAS: U.S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 574, P. 57

  • Deposit

    COMINCO TO START ALDER GARNET OPERATION, IN WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 329, P. 15

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ALMANDINE OCCURS IN THE LOOSE, CLAY-FREE TAILINGS FROM EARLY 20TH CENTURY GOLD DREDGING OPERATIONS.
Deposit GRAVITY CONCENTRATION; ?A SHALLOW TROUGH BENEATH THE AXIS OF THE (ALLUVIAL) FAN MAY REPRESENT THE CHANNEL OF THE STREAM BEFORE IT WAS AGGRADED WITH BOWLDERS AND GRAVEL. THE TROUGH CONTAINS BOWLDERS OF UNUSUAL SIZE AND AN INCREASED AMOUNT OF GOLD? (WINCHELL, 1914).
Deposit SOURCE OF GOLD BELIEVED TO BE VEINS IN VIRGINIA CITY DISTRICT, ESPECIALLY KERSARGE AND LUCAS LODES.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1976 Krohn, Douglas H. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 15-DEC-1994 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 19-APR-1995 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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