The Snowstorm 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
Satelite View
MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.
Snowstorm MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Snowstorm
Secondary: Last Chance (Helm Bay)
Secondary: Beulah
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Location
State: Alaska
District: Ketchikan
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: Locally, the wallrocks adjacent to the veins are bleached and pyritized.
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Auriferous pyrite
Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Auriferous pyrite
Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous.
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks near this site are marine, andesitic and basaltic metavolcanic rocks that are gradationally interbedded with flyschlike metasedimentary rocks (Berg and others, 1988, p. 18). The strata were regionally metamorphosed to greenschist-grade phyllite and semischist in Late Cretaceous time (Brew, 1996, p. 27). The depositional age of the strata is uncertain. Berg and others (1998, p. 17) report that they closely resemble Upper Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous marine strata nearby on Gravina Island. ? According to Maas and others (1995, p. 183-184 and fig. 46), the deposits at the Snowstorm, Beulah, and, presumably, the Last Chance (Helm Bay) prospects consist of quartz vein swarms or stringer lodes in hornblende metadiorite. The veins carry auriferous pyrite, which in places is also disseminated in bleached wallrock adjacent to the veins. Maas and others (1995, table 25) report the following average metal contents in their samples from these deposits. Snowstorm: 1.20 ppm Au, 0.06 ppm Ag, 33 ppm Cu, 3.1 ppm Pb, and 9 ppm Zn. Beulah: 0.62 ppm Au, 0.16 ppm Ag, 30 ppm Cu, 6.3 ppm Pb, and 25 ppm Zn. Au and Cu values at the last Chance respectively were up to 16 ppb and 101 ppm. ? Fluid inclusion studies of quartz vein material from several of the Helm Bay lodes suggest that the veins formed at temperatures and pressures consistent with conditions during the Late Cretaceous greenschist-grade regional metamorphism (Maas and others, 1995, p. 184).
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maas and others, 1995
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide gold-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = There are two adits, six feet long and three feet long, on the Snowstorm prospect; a 63-foot adit on the Last Chance prospect; and a 63-foot adit in the Beulah prospect (Maas and others, 1995, table 26). All of the workings date from the early 1900s.
References
Reference (Deposit): Maas, K.M., Bittenbender, P E., and Still, J.C., 1995, Mineral investigations in the Ketchikan mining district, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 11-95, 606 p.
Reference (Deposit): Brew, D.A., 1996, Geologic map of the Craig, Dixon Entrance, and parts of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2319, 53 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1988, Geologic map of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Series Map MF-1807,27 p., scale 1:250,000.
The Top Ten Gold Producing States
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.
