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Wattamuse Creek (lode)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Mercury, Antimony, Tungsten
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10307462
Record type Site
Current site name Wattamuse Creek (lode)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.33471, 59.34427 (WGS84)
Relative position This lode prospect is on the ridge crest that makes up the divide between the headwaters of Wattamuse Creek (GO021), Granite Creek, and South Fork Arolik River. It is on the saddle about 1,000 feet east of a local, 1,813-foot summit, and 0.6 mile due north of Granite Creek. It is accurately located.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Bethel(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Goodnews Bay B-7(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Goodnews Bay(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Goodnews Bay(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Kuskokwim Delta(hydrologic unit)

Lower Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Kiutsarak, Incorporated(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
Silver Secondary
Mercury Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Stibnite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cretaceous
    Chronological age 71.3
    Type of media Biotite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.33471, 59.34427
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = An Upper Cretaceous granitic stock underlies the head of Granite and Wattamuse Creeks (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). This granodiorite to diorite stock hosts 1 inch- to 1-foot-thick quartz veins containing arsenopyrite, stibnite, pyrite, and some chalcopyrite. A soil-geochemical grid over about a 1/4- by 1/2-mile area straddling the ridge crest showed large areas of soil containing more than 100 ppb gold, and several areas containing more than 1,000 ppb gold (Calista Corporation, unpublished data). Individual grab samples collected for Calista Corporation contain up to 9.5 ppm Au, 14.9 ppm Ag, 17 percent As, 22 percent Sb, and 1,500 ppm Hg (Fechner, 1988, p. 58). The U. S. Bureau of Mines collected 19 grab samples of rocks in the headwaters of Wattamuse Creek. One of these, a composite grab sample collected in this prospect area, assayed 2.18 ounces of gold per ton, 6.6 ppm Ag, 2,850 ppm As, 400 ppm Bi, 40 ppm Sb, and 184 ppm W (Fechner, 1988, p. 58). Grab samples of quartz veins contained 1.25 to 5.3 ppm Au. The country rocks to the granitic stock locally include mafic rocks; a sample of mafic rock containing arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite assayed 17.4 ppm Ag, 3.3 ppm Au, 0.13 percent As, 30 ppm Bi, and 0.19 percent Cu (Fechner, 1988, p. 58).
  • Age = Late Cretaceous or younger. A K/Ar age for the host granitic stock is 71.3 +/- 2.1 Ma on biotite (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Goodnews Bay

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = A soil geochemistry grid, selected rock sampling, and probably surface mapping has been completed on the prospect (Calista Corporation, unpublished data).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Hoare, J.M., and Coonrad, W.L., 1978, Geologic map of the Goodnews and Hagemeister Island quadrangles region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-9-B, two sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Fechner, S.A., 1988, Bureau of Mines mineral investigation of the Goodnews Bay mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-88, 230 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Fechner, 1988

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Granitic rock-hosted epithermal gold/silver

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 20-MAR-01 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.