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Gopher

Past 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. 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 10308753
Record type Site
Current site name Gopher
Alternate or previous names Gopher Gulch, Gopher Creek, Gopher Cr.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -150.86879, 62.57754 (WGS84)
Relative position C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3)) show this locality in the northeast quarter of Section 25, T. 29 N., R. 9 W., of the Seward Meridian at the head of Gopher Gulch about two miles north of the confluence of Little Writer with Willow Creek. Also shown as locality 28 by Clark and Cobb (1972).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Talkeetna NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Yentna 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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Alteration

  • C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe argillic alteration of the Tertiary quartz porphyry intrusive rocks.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Nearby scientific data

(1) -150.86879, 62.57754
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Willow Creek drains across the contact between Mesozoic slate and graywacke (KJs) and Tertiary strata of the Sterling (?) (Tcp) and Tyonek (?) (Tts) Formations of the Kenai Group (Reed and Nelson, 1980). The placer gold deposits within Willow Creek and the headwater drainages, Gopher and Ruby Gulches, are hosted in Pleistocene stream gravels. At the head of Gopher Gulch, highly argillaceous white quartz congomerate contained about 1500 ounces of angular gold in a 320 by 660 foot cut (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). Gold is concentrated mainly on bedrock (Cobb and Reed, 1980). Mertie (1919) describes intricately intergrown gold and lead in one specimen from this locality. Mining was conducted on Gopher Gulch as early as 1917 (Garrett, 1998). The white quartz conglomerate placers (e.g. Willow Creek, Thunder Creek, TL032, 058, Dollar Creek, TL031) represent the oldest placers in the Cache Creek area. Capps (1925) describes the white quartz conglomerate as the basal unit of the Tertiary Kenai Formation. However Clark and Hawley (1968) suggest that the white quartz conglomerate is older and that the Kenai Group was deposited on it. They believe the auriferous conglomerate is near its original source in part because the characteristics of the gold show a common source that has not moved far or has not been reworked. Further, they indicate that the conglomerate is a product of shearing and weathering in situ of argillic altered, auriferous Tertiary quartz porphyry intrusive rocks and associated quartz veins that were emplaced along northeast, high angle normal faults. The lineaments in Dutch and Cache Creeks represent two of these faults. Tributaries to Willow Creek which have been mined include: Ruby Creek (TL041), Willow Creek (TL042); Falls Gulch, Rocky Gulch, Slate Gulch, and Snow Gulch. See also Peters Creek (TL045).
  • Age = Tertiary and Pleistocene (Clark and Hawley,1968).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Undetermined.

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = At the head of Gopher Gulch, highly argillaceous white quartz conglomerate contained about 1500 ounces of angular gold in a 320 by 660 foot cut (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Hand-mining and (?) hydraulic operations were conducted since 1917 (Garrett, 1998).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

  • Deposit

    Clark, A.L., and Hawley, C.C., 1968, Reconnaissance geology, mineral occurrences, and geochemical anomalies of the Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 68-35, 64 p.

  • Deposit

    Hawley, C.C., and Clark, A.L., 1973, Geology and mineral deposits of the upper Chulitna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 758-A, p. 1-10, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000 and 1:500,000.

  • Deposit

    C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p., 7 plates.

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of reference to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-884, 106 p.

  • Deposit

    Garrett, D. R., 1998, The Blue Ribbon Mine, Yentna Mining District, Alaska: Worldwide Web URL http://www.alaska.net/~freegold/brm.html.

  • Deposit

    Clark, A.L., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-369, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = Similar deposits occur on Thunder Creek (TL032, 058) and Dollar Creek (TL031), both tributaries to Cache Creek. Also see Peters Creek (TL045). The structural grain of the area is defined by major northeast-trending, steeply dipping faults (Hawley and Clark , 1968).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

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.