Arch

The Arch is a gold 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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Site Name

Primary: Arch
Secondary: Fern, Taulman & Goodell
Secondary: Sidney Ridge property

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Willow 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: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

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).

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Unknown production.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Capps, 1915

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = minor sulfides

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

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = minor sulfides

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Quartz vein 12 to 20 inches thick occurs in a gouge zone which cuts the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The overall thickness of the quartz and gouge measures as much as 40 inches. The quartz, as seen in the dump, is banded and consists of interlocking quartz crystals surrounding pieces of altered country rock. Minor sulfide minerals present. Assays show about 1.45 oz/ton Au (Capps, 1915). ? 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. 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).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Developed by two adits and some drifts of which the total length is unknown. Assays show about 1.45 oz/ton Au; reported as $32/ton Au, with Au at $20.67 per fine oz in 1915 (Capps, 1915). Two small hydropowered mills were being planned in the summer of 1914. Stoll (1997) indicated that the mills were never delivered, possibly due to the onset of WWI. By 1919, the old workings had mostly caved. Sampling conducted in the mid-1940's turned up promising gold values, hinting that the prospect was a 'sleeper' (Stoll and McDonald, 1946). In 1984, miners were reopening a caved area to access old stopes which reportedly still contained ore.? In 1984, the U.S. Bureau of Mines collected a 100 pound bulk sample from the surface ore dump. The +1/2 inch fraction contained 0.013 oz/ton Au and 0.2 oz/ton Ag; the -1/2 inch fraction contained 0.03 oz/ton Au and 0.003 oz/ton Ag (Kurtak, 1986).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

References

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.

Reference (Deposit): Stoll, W.M., 1997, Hunting for gold in Alaska's Talkeetna Mountains 1897-1951: Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Henry Printing, 301 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): Capps, S.R., 1915, The Willow Creek District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 607, 86 p.

Reference (Deposit): Stoll, W.M. and McDonald, J.M., 1946, Field notes of a survey of gold prospects in the eastern Willow Creek district, Alaska: W.M. and J.A. Stoll collection, Archives and Manuscripts department, University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska.

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