Goo Goo

The Goo Goo 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: Goo Goo
Secondary: Golden Dream
Secondary: Mountain

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Lead

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: Past Producer
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: The Goo Goo vein, like most of the other principal veins in the Sea Level mine area, is bordered by a hydrothermally altered zone up to three feet thick, characterized by generally fine-grain, light-gray to bluish-gray, massive, carbonate- and sericite-bearing rock that commonly contains cubic pyrite crystals up to an inch across (Maas and others, 1995, p. 215). Maas and others (1995) interpret this zone as hydrothermally altered mafic metavolcanic rock. Early miners called this altered rock 'blue porphyry,' which they interpreted as crosscutting altered dikes that predate the quartz veins, but are closely associated with some of the orebodies (Brooks, 1902, p. 65; Wright and Wright, 1908, p. 143). Gold content of these pyritic altered zones is high adjacent to the quartz veins and diminishes away from them. Weathered altered rocks have a reddish-brown, oxidized rind up to three inches thick.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in this part of Revillagigedo Island are marine, interbedded, andesitic and basaltic metavolcanic rocks and subordinate pelitic metasedimentary rocks that are intruded by stocks, sills, and dikes of Cretaceous feldspar-porphyritic granodiorite (Berg and others, 1988). The strata and some of the granodiorite were regionally metamorphosed to greenschist grade in Late Cretaceous time. These regionally metamorphosed rocks subsequently were locally remetamorphosed to hornblende hornfels near the contacts of Cretaceous granodiorite plutons that were emplaced after the regional metamorphism. The premetamorphic age of the strata is uncertain. Berg and others (1988) assign them a Mesozoic or (late) Paleozoic age. Berg (1982) and Crawford and others (in press) assign them to the Gravina belt, of Late Jurassic or Cretaceous age, or to the Taku terrane, of late Paleozoic to Late Triassic age. The metamorphic and intrusive rocks locally are overlain by basalt and andesite lava flows of Quaternary or Tertiary age.? According to Wright and Wright (1908, p. 147), the Goo Goo deposit is a quartz fissure vein that contains pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and free gold. The vein reportedly included pockets of ore containing considerable free gold. The Wrights do not describe the country rocks or the geologic setting of the vein. The Goo Goo vein was located in 1905 and developed in the early 1900s by a 20-foot shaft and 15-foot tunnel. Brooks (1902, p. 67) reported gold assay values up to $4.00/ton (Au at $20.67/ounce). Maas and others (1995, p. 217) report a mean value of 760 ppb Au in 7 samples of the Goo Goo vein.? Maas and others (1995, p. 216) provide the following combined description of an auriferous quartz fissure vein more than 4900 feet long on the Goo Goo claim and its continuation southwestward onto the adjoining Goo Goo Extension claim (KC097). The vein, which strikes NE and dips steeply SE, is in mafic metavolcanic rocks and contains, in addition to free gold, pyrite, sphalerite, and galena. Hydrothermally altered metavolcanic rock adjacent to the vein contains disseminated pyrite and accompanying gold values (see Alteration). The best results of sampling in 1946 (Maas and others, 1995, p. 217) included: 5.8 ppm Au in a section of vein 7.5 feet thick and 79 feet long; and 7.1 ppm Ag in a section of vein 4.6 feet thick and 25 feet long. Thirty-one samples of the vein collected by Maas and others (1995) contained an average of 1.1 ppm Au. Workings, dating from the early 1900s, included 2 adits, one 1800 feet long and one caved; one flooded shaft; and several surface trenches and pits. Combined recorded production from the claims, probably all in the early 1900s, was 1.4 kg of gold. Maas and others' description of the Goo Goo and Goo Goo Extension vein indicates that its character and setting are virtually identical to the main vein on the Sea Level claim (KC095).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Wright and Wright, 1908; Maas and others, 1995

Comment (Geology): Age = Maas and others (1995, p. 215) note that the quartz in the veins in the Sea Level mine area is not recrystallized; the veins thus are probably younger than most or all of the Late Cretaceous regional metamorphism.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Some early reports apparently refer to this property as the Golden Dream claim, or Mountain claim (Cobb and Elliott, 1980, p. 145).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Goo Goo vein was located in 1905 and developed in the early 1900s by a 20-foot shaft and 15-foot tunnel. Brooks (1902, p. 67) reported gold assay values up to $4.00/ton (Au at $20.67/ounce). Maas and others (1995, p. 217) report a mean value of 760 ppb Au in 7 samples of the Goo Goo vein.? According to Maas and others (1995, p. 217), the best results of sampling in 1946 included: 5.8 ppm Au in a section of vein 7.5 feet thick and 79 feet long; and 7.1 ppm Ag in a section of vein 4.6 feet thick and 25 feet long. Thirty-one samples of the vein collected by Maas and others (1995) contained an average of 1.1 ppm Au. Workings, dating from the early 1900s, included 2 adits, one 1800 feet long and one caved; one flooded shaft; and several surface trenches and pits.

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

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Combined recorded production from the Goo Goo and Goo Goo Extension claims, probably all in the early 1900s, was 1.4 kg of gold (Maas and others, 1995, p. 218).

References

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., 1982, The Alaska Mineral Resource Assessment Program; guide to information about the geology and mineral resources of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 855, 24 p.

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.

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): Crawford, M.L., Crawford, W.A., and Gehrels, G.E., 2000, Terrane assembly and structural relationships in the eastern Prince Rupert quadrangle, British Columbia, in H.H. Stowell and W.C.McClelland, eds., Tectonics of the Coast Mountains, southeastern Alaska and British Columbia: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 343, p. 1-21.?

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Elliott, R.L., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1053, 154 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1902, Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of the geology of southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1, 120 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wright, F.E., and Wright, C.W., 1908, The Ketchikan and Wrangell mining districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 347, 210 p.

Reference (Deposit): Elliott, R.L., Berg, H.C., and Karl, Susan, 1978, map and table describing metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report, 78-73-B,17 p., scale 1:250,000.

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