Crystal Gulch

The Crystal Gulch is a silver and 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: Crystal Gulch

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Uranium
Secondary: Tin
Secondary: Bismuth

Location

State: Alaska
District: McGrath

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: Shoreline placer Ti

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Bismuth
Ore: Brookite
Ore: Cassiterite
Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Mertie, 1936

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The placer deposit was mined exclusively by surface-hydraulic methods (Brown, 1926; Mertie, 1936).

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See also Ruby-Strand (MD069), Birch Gulch (MD073), Holmes Gulch (MD0 72), Encio Gulch (MD063) and Upper Ruby Creek (MD068).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Production estimates are lumped with other properties on Ruby Creek, which produced a total of 1,511 ounces (47 kg) of gold prior to 1942.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model no. 39c)

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = Very abundant magnetite

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The rich Crystal Gulch placer deposit occurs in a steep first order tributary of Ruby Creek. Stream gradient averages about 500 feet per mile (650 m/km). Most of the values occurred at the intersection of the gulch with Ruby Creek. The Crystal Gulch deposit was exhausted by 1924. The uranium mineral brookite was identified by Mertie (1936). Concentrates averaged 5 percent cassiterite during the life of the operation. (Ted Almasy, personal communication, 1998). Age of mineralization is unknown, but judged to be Quaternary, based on comparative geomorphological features in southwest Alaska (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997).

References

Reference (Deposit): Brown, J.S., 1926, The Nixon Fork country: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783. p. 97-144.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1936, Mineral deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-C, 115-245.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences in the Beaver, Bettles, and Medfra quadrangles: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 78-94, 54 pages.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1974, Synopsis of mineral resources and geology of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1307, 53 pages.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Miller, M.L., 1997, Precious metals associated with Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary igneous rocks of southwestern Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Economic Geology Monograph #9, Mineral Deposits of Alaska, p. 242-286.

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