The Timberline is a copper, gold, and silver mine located in Alaska.
About the MRDS Data:
All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.
Mine Info
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Timberline MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Timberline
Commodity
Primary: Copper
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Location
State: Alaska
District: Valdez Creek
Land Status
Not available
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Not available
Ownership
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:
Physiography
Not available
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Polymetallic veins
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: The quartz veins are associated with chloritization of the adjacent diorite.
Rocks
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Geology): Age = Probably Cretaceous or younger.
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Smith, 1981
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Surface exploration consists of trenches and pits along the traces of the veins. A short adit was driven which encountered the down-dip extension of the Big Caribou and Little Caribou vein systems. Samples of the veins contain up to 0.33 ounce of gold per ton (Smith, 1981).
Comment (Production): Production Notes = A small mill was installed in about 1934; it consisted of a jaw crusher, ball mill, classifier, and amalgamating plates. Production was very small.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986, model 22c)
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rock in the area of this site is spotted phyllite, cut by CHLORITIZED DIORITE of probable Cretaceous age. The deposit consists of five veins in shear zones in altered diorite. The largest vein, the Big Caribou, has been traced for 1,000 feet; it is up to 8 feet wide, and contains kidneys and lenses of quartz, arsenopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite. Other veins include the Big Water Hole, Freda G., Valdez Creek 6, and Little Caribou. Veins comprise quartz bands up to 2 feet wide. Some of the sulfides also are disseminated in the diorite. The veins appear to be localized in a conjugate fracture system associated with east-trending fault zones. Samples of the veins contain up to 0.33 ounce of gold per ton (Smith, 1981).
Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = This was one of the very few lode gold producers in the Valdez Creek drainage.
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
References
Reference (Deposit): Smith, T.E., 1981, Geology of the Clearwater Mountains, south-central Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological "&" Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 60, 72 p., 3 sheets, scale 1:63,360.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.
Reference (Deposit): Kaufman, M.A., 1964, Two new occurrences of ore minerals in the Denali area (Healy A-1 and Mt. Hayes B-6): Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Prospect Evaluation 67-4, 5 p.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, T.E., 1971, Geology, economic geochemistry, and placer gold resources of the western Clearwater Mountains, east-central Alaska: Reno, University of Nevada, Ph.D. dissertation, 440 p.
Reference (Deposit): Ross, C.P., 1933, The Valdez Creek mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849, p. 289-467.
Reference (Deposit): Tuck, Ralph, 1938, The Valdez Creek mining district, Alaska, in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-B, p. 109-131.
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These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.
