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Mabel

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Molybdenum, Lead
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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. 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 10000956
MRDS ID A011627
Record type Site
Current site name Mabel
Related records 10233944

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.21768, 61.79762 (WGS84)
Relative position 1.3 miles northwest of confluence of Reed Creek and Little Susitna River. Marked with adit symbol and labeled 'Mabel Mine' on the Anchorage D-6 1:63,360-scale topographic map. Accurate within 400 ft. Locality 25 from Cobb (1972) and locality 18 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-6(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
Molybdenum Secondary
Lead Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Telluride 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) -149.21768, 61.79762
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Quartz vein, up to 10 ft thick, cuts the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The vein pinches, swells, and breaks up into narrow stringers along strike (Ray, 1933). Minerals in the vein include free gold, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, molybdenite, pyrite, sphalerite, unconfirmed tellurides and tetrahedrite. The strike of the vein is usually north and dip ranges from 23 to 66 W, with the most common dip between 35 and 45 W. Vein is offset by two parallel normal faults that strike N 55 W, and dip 74 NE (Ray, 1954). Some of the ore shoots are terminated by these faults. Rocks are reported to show right lateral displacement with net offsets of 100-150 ft. Movement in the fissure containing the vein was, based drag and offset of aplite dikes, reverse.? 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; the quartz 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 = Smith (1929) indicated that Mabel mine was one of the principal producing mines in the district. The production probably totaled 4,840 oz of Au by 1933 (Ray, 1933). Stoll (1997) estimated that the mine yielded around 16,000 oz of gold.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = First staked in 1911. Development included open cuts and stripping which traced the vein for about 2,000 ft, plus at least 490 ft of underground workings most of which were below the main level. Site had mill, aerial tram, and a cyanide plant. Ore was taken to the mill by aerial tram, the tailings were saved for future treatment. Most of the mining was south of the Mabel fault, along a major transverse fault. Six tons of ore was shipped to Tacoma in 1912. Intermittent mining and development to 1917, mine produced continually from 1917-1930, and worked intermittently from 1931-1947. Ray (1933) indicated production probably worth more than $100,000 (about 4,840 fine oz of Au based on gold at $20.66/oz). Ray (1954) indicated that future development is likely to be expensive and difficult because of lack of data on faulting.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Ray, 1954

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Deposit Other Comments = Further development would require finding the extensions of the main vein north of the Mabel fault. This would be difficult and expensive since the vein has probably been down-faulted significantly below the level of present workings (Ray, 1954).

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.