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West Creek

Prospect 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. 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 10094059
MRDS ID A012606
Record type Site
Current site name West Creek
Related records 10136001

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.49021, 64.6782 (WGS84)
Relative position This lode prospect is located on the south side of West Creek (SO029) at an elevation of about 400 feet; it is about 1.6 miles upstream from the confluence of West Creek and Shovel Creek (SO017). It is locality 15 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181), locality 8 of Asher (1969, DGGS R33), and locality 117 of Gamble (1988).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Solomon C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Solomon(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Solomon Native Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Marcasite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Chlorite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification.

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 > Schist
    Rock unit name Solomon Schist
    Rock description Solomon Schist
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -164.49021, 64.6782
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Quartz veins in schist have been explored by an adit and 600 or 700 feet of underground workings (Smith, 1908). The quartz veins contain chlorite, small stringers and vugs of pyrite and marcasite, and arsenopyrite. Some gold and arsenopyrite is reported to be disseminated in the country rock (Smith, 1908). The adit trends about S 10 E; a zone of quartz-vein float about 50 feet wide trends S 30 W for 250 feet upslope from the adit (Asher, 1969, DGGS R33). Slickensides are present on both hanging and footwalls (Smith, 1910). A grab sample from the adit dump contained 0.04 ounces Au per ton and a composite grab sample of quartz-vein float contained 0.11 ounces Au per ton and 0.01 ounces Ag per ton (Asher, 1969, DGGS R33). Another composite grab sample of quartz on the adit dump contained 0.15 ppm Au, 5,100 ppm As, and 26 ppm Sb (Gamble, 1988). The country rock is described as chloritic schist by Smith (1910) and regional mapping indicates that it is part of a metavolcanic assemblage thought to be Ordovician in age (Till and others, 1986).? These veins are probably the same age as some other gold-quartz veins of southern Seward Peninsula. The southern Seward Peninsula lode gold deposits formed as a result of mid-Cretaceous metamorphism (Apodoca, 1994; Ford, 1993, Ford and Snee, 1996; Goldfarb and others, 1997) that accompanied regional extension (Miller and Hudson, 1991) and crustal melting (Hudson, 1994). This higher temperature metamorphism was superimposed on high pressure/low temperature metamorphic rocks of the region.
  • Age = Cretaceous

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = An adit was driven 350 feet on the main vein and a short crosscut was driven on a small stringer; there is a total of about 600 to 700 feet of underground workings (Smith, 1908). About 350 feet further west, a 300- foot-long adit was driven on similar vein.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Smith, 1908

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Gold-quartz vein in metamorphic rocks; low sulfide-Au quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 19-AUG-99 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.