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

Martin

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, 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. 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 10000938
MRDS ID A011611
Record type Site
Current site name Martin
Alternate or previous names Alaska Free Gold Mining Co.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.29157, 61.78567 (WGS84)
Relative position On northeastern flank of Skyscraper Mountain, marked with an adit symbol and labeled 'Martin Mine' on the Anchorage D-7 1:63,360-scale topographic map. Accurate within 100 ft. Locality 13 of Cobb (1972) and locality 10 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-7(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)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Secondary
Lead Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold 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).

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) -149.29157, 61.78567
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Martin mine is the site of the first lode discovery in the district, 1906. At the point of discovery the lode was separated into two quartz bodies about 15 feet apart. The top body showed 5 feet of milling ore and below it from 4 to 10 feet of ore (Capps, 1915). The two major veins, Homestake and Skyscraper veins, cut quartz diorite of the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton and are in shear zones and are separated by a transverse fault. The Homestake vein, probably a continuation of Granite Mountain vein at Independence mine (ARDF number AN001), is 6 to 24 inches wide, strikes N 10 E, and dips 30 - 42 N. The Skyscraper vein (also known as the Smuggler-Union vein), is also seen in the Independence mine (ARDF number AN001), is 1.5 to 8 ft wide, strikes N 10 E, and dips 45 N (Ray, 1933). Both veins carry free gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and a little galena in quartz gangue. The veins are probably cut off by the same faults that are seen in the Gold Bullion mine (ARDF number AN004) (Ray, 1933). Recovery from the Homestake vein was about 1 oz/ton Au (Capps, 1915).? the Willow Creek Pluton is a zoned pluton: the outer part consists of hornblende quartz diorite and lesser hornblende tonalite; the core consists of hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and lesser hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite and biotite quartz monzonite. 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).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous or younger; vein cuts the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton.

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 = Active mining from about 1911 to about 1920, during which time it was one of the major mines of the district (Cobb, 1979). The Martin mine recovered over 95 percent of the estimated 27,000 ounces of gold recovered from the Skyscraper vein and recovered an estimated 1,500 ounces of gold from the Homestake vein, for an estimated total production of about 27,150 ounces of gold for the Martin mine (Stoll, 1997).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Discovered by Robert Hatcher, the Martin mine is the site of the first lode discovery in the district, 1906. Development included surface stripping, open cuts, and several tunnels, there was a mill, cyanide plant, and aerial tram onsite during active years. In 1911, some ore was milled at the Alaska Gold Quartz Mining Company (Independence mine ARDF number AN001) mill. The mine's own mill was installed in 1912 and enlarged with a cyanide plant added in 1914 (Capps, 1915). By 1918, 9 tunnels having aggregate length of 3,400 ft plus connecting stopes and winzes (Chapin, 1920). An unsuccessful attempt made by Brooklyn Development Co.(Kelly-Willow prospect ARDF number AN032) to undercut the veins with a 1,200 ft tunnel from the west side of Skyscraper Mountain. Abandoned prior to 1931 with the camp and surface plant being dismantled (Ray, 1933). Recovery from Homestake vein was about 1 oz/ton Au (Capps, 1915).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Ray, 1933

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Deposit Other Comments = Martin mine is the site of first lode-gold discovery in the district in 1906 (Capps, 1915). Martin mine is often confused or combined with Eldorado mine (ARDF number AN033), however the literature separates the two mines.

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.