High Grade

Site Name

Primary: High Grade
Secondary: Kloss and Associates
Secondary: Kloss and Snider

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Commodity

Primary: Gold

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Willow Creek

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Ankerite in wall rock and as inclusions in quartz veins (Ray, 1933). Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Ankerite
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = The thickest quartz stringer, up to 12 inches thick, produced a few tons of low-grade ore. One vein netted more than $1,200 (gold at $20.67/oz) from a one-ton ore shipment in 1930 (Ray, 1933). Only assessment work and a little development work was done since 1930 (Ray, 1954). May also have been production in 1932, 1934, and 1935; data inconsistent (Cobb, 1979).

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous or younger; veins cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Discovered by Heinrich Snider and Herman Kloss in the late 1920's (Stoll, 1997). Developed by about 1,000 ft of underground workings, all on one level (Ray, 1954). One vein netted more than $1,200 (58 oz/ton with gold at gold at $20.67/oz) from a one-ton ore shipment in 1930 (Ray, 1933).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Three quartz veins in parallel shear zones cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The Willow Creek Pluton is a zoned pluton: the outer part consists of hornblende quartz diorite and lesser hornblende tonalite; the core consists of hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and lesser hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite and biotite quartz monzonite. Shear zones all strike N 10 to 20 W, and dip about 40 SW. Numerous slickensides indicate a steep reverse movement which caused the hanging wall of the shear zone to move upward and to the south (Ray, 1954). Ankerite noted in wall rock and as inclusions in quartz veins (Ray, 1933). Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954). The thickest quartz stringer, up to 12 inches thick, produced a few tons of low-grade ore. One vein netted more than $1,200 (gold at $20.67/oz) from a one-ton ore shipment in 1930 (Ray, 1933).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Ray, 1954

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References

Reference (Deposit): Ray, R.G., 1954, Geology and ore deposits of the Willow Creek Mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1004, 86 p.

Reference (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.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials in the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1095, 184 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-409, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Stoll, W.M., 1997, Hunting for gold in Alaska's Talkeetna Mountains 1897-1951: Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Henry Printing, 301 p.

Reference (Deposit): Ray, J.C., 1933, The Willow Creek gold-lode district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849-C, p. 165-229.

Reference (Deposit): Kurtak, J.M., 1986, Results of the 1984 Bureau of Mines site specific field studies within the Willow Creek mining district: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 17-86, 17 p.

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