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Valley of Tears

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  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 10002281
MRDS ID A013185
Record type Site
Current site name Valley of Tears
Alternate or previous names Dundas River
Related records 10282759

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -136.37014, 58.51583 (WGS84)
Relative position This deposit (placer) is in a wide valley on a south-flowing tributary of the Dundas River. It is about 1.25 miles south of Lake Seclusion, locally called Dundas Lake . (Claim location notices described it as located 2 miles south of Dundas Lake in the Dundas River.) At least part of the placer is within the NE 1/4 SW 1/4, section 5, T. 39 S., R. 55 E., of the Copper River Meridian. The location is accurate within a few tenths of a mile.? The deposit could be the Dundas River placer, which was reported by MacKevett and others (1971, p. 67) and Cobb (1972, location 69) to be in the Mt. Fairweather B-2 quadrangle.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hoonah-Angoon(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mount Fairweather C-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Juneau NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Mount Fairweather(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Glacier Bay(hydrologic unit)

Northern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Glacier Bay National Park(National Park)

National Park NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = Native gold

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Alluvium

Nearby scientific data

(1) -136.37014, 58.51583
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Valley of Tears placer is about 2 miles south of the contact between a large granitic body of Cretaceous age and carbonate-rich strata of Paleozoic age (Brew and others, 1978). The deposit appears to be a river bar placer that was formed by reworking of slightly auriferous outwash and alluvium derived from the granitic contact region exposed at Lake Seclusion.? the Bureau of Mines collected nine 3- to 7.5-pound samples at the site (Kimball and others, 1978, p. C363-4). The samples were panned at Juneau; all panned concentrates contained gold visible under a binocular microscope. Fire assays of the samples indicated a very small total gold content (about 1 cent per cubic yard, with gold valued at about $300 per ounce). Mining equipment was found at the site. Probably miners found and mined small, rich concentrations of lag-concentrated sand and gravel in river bar deposits.
  • Age = Holocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Juneau

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Small, but some production probable.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Very low-grade resource; mineable in local concentrations.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Surface prospects were found near a cabin; there were visible claim lines. All samples collected by Kimball and others (1978) of alluvial material contained gold that could be concentrated by panning. The placer may be the same deposit reported by MacKevett and others (1971, p. 67) as the Dundas River placer. The placer deposit was covered with nine claims owned by the Jimmie Martin estate. Tentatively the Valley of Tears placer is regarded as the same deposit that was given an uncertain location on the 'Dundas River' in Mt. Fairweather B-2 quadrangle by MacKevett and others (1971) and by Cobb (1972).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Brew, D.A., Hawley, C.C., Huff, L.C., and Smith, J.G., 1971, Mineral resources of Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 632, 90 p., 12 plates, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Brew, D.A., Johnson, B.R., Grybeck, D., Griscom, A., Barnes, D.F., Kimball, A.L., Still, J.C., and Rataj, J.L., 1978, Mineral resources of the Glacier Bay National Monument Wilderness Study Area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-494, 670 p.

  • Deposit

    Kimball, A.L., Still, J.C., and Rataj, J.L., 1978, Mineral resources, in Brew, D. A., and others, Mineral resources of the Glacier Bay National Monument wilderness study area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-494, p. C1-C375.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E. H., 1981, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected non-metallic mineral occurrences in the Mt. Fairweather quadrangle, Alaska, Supplement to Open-file Report 78-316: U. S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-249B, 15 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Mt. Fairweather quadrangle, Alaska; Supplement to Open-file Report 78-316; Part A, Summaries of data to January 1, 1980: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-249-A, 20 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Mount Fairweather quadrangle, AK: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Study Map MF-436, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Kimball and others, 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = River bar-type placer formed by reworking of slightly auriferous Holocene outwash and alluvium.
Deposit Other Comments = the site is in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 15-APR-99 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group

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.