Talkeetna

Site Name

Primary: Talkeetna
Secondary: Matanuska Gold Mining Company
Secondary: Talkeetna Mining Company
Secondary: Consolidated Mining Company
Secondary: Fern Gold Mining Co.

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Molybdenum

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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: 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
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

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

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Unknown, mining (and some milling) was reported from 1917-1923.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Capps, 1915

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Explored by small open cuts and several hundred feet of underground workings in several adits. Development began in 1910 with two small open cuts, tunnelling planned for 1910-1911. Mining was reported from 1917-1923 and one tunnel was reported to be 500 ft long in 1923 (Brooks, 1925). A tramway once led from adit portal to a camp and mill below. The mine was inaccessible in 1950 (Ray, 1954). An average grade of 5 oz/ton Au was reported for the veins cross-cutting the dike (Capps, 1915). By 1933, the Talkeetna mine was undercut by, but not connected with, the workings of the Fern mine (ARDF number AN005). The same company, Fern Gold Mining Company, owned both the Talkeetna mine and Fern mine by about 1925.? A surface grab sample of the vein walls, collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, contained 0.57 g/ton Au (0.017 oz/ton Au) (Kurtak, 1986).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Alaskite dikes and younger, irregular quartz veins cut a coarse gray quartz diorite of 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. The dikes have been described as both aplitic and pegmatitic and locally carry a few unnamed black minerals, hornblende, and tourmaline. The veins trend N 75 E and tend to pinch and swell. The veins that follow conjugate fractures in the quartz diorite are 12 to 18 inches thick, with a maximum width of 5 to 8 ft. The veins not following the dike contain considerable gold, averaging nearly 5 oz/ton Au. The pyrite in the veins have mostly been leached, leaving cubical cavities (Capps, 1915). A 30 inch thick vein follows the dike, but no reports of content are available (Brooks, 1925). 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). A surface grab sample of the vein walls, collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, contained 0.57 g/ton Au (0.017 oz/ton Au) (Kurtak, 1986).

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References

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): Moffit, F.H., 1927, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1925: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 792-A, p. 1-39.

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): Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-G, p. 147-194, 195-200.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1919, Gold lode mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-D, p. 177-186.

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): 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): Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-E, p. 147-200.

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): Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692, p. 11-42

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., and Martin, G. C. 1921, The Alaska mining industry in 1919: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 59-95.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Occurrences of molybdenum in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-C, p. 161-210.

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): Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.

Reference (Deposit): Katz, F.J., 1911, A reconnaissance of Willow Creek gold region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-G, p. 139-152.

Reference (Deposit): Chapin, Theodore, 1921, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-E, p. 201-206.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

Reference (Deposit): Chapin, Theodore, 1920, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-F, p. 169-176.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1912, The Alaska mining industry in 1911, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1911: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 17-44.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1915, The Willow Creek District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 607, 86 p.

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.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1914, Gold lodes and placers of the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 245-272.

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