Blue Lead

Site Name

Primary: Blue Lead
Secondary: Blue Lead Extension

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Antimony

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Goodpaster

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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

Not available

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Name: Granite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Digenite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Jamesonite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Stibnite
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Thomas, 1970

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek area. By the winter of 1936, the first underground workings were being installed. The original base camp was on Summit Creek. A 450 foot tunnel was driven following a small vein, termed the Blue Lead Extension. After disappointing results, the work was stopped. In the summer of 1936, five men drove a 300-foot tunnel at the outcrop of the Blue Lead vein (Reed, 1937). During the winter of 1937, a 300-foot tunnel was driven at the Grizzly Bear mine (BD018) and a 50-ton mill was constructed. In the summer of 1938, the mill was moved to the Blue Lead mine and operated for a year and a half until the fall of 1939 (Joesting, 1938). The Blue Lead and Blue Lead Extension have approximately 775 feet of underground workings. There was limited exploration in the 1970's. The mill was still on site and the mine shaft openings were accessible in 1970, but blocked by ice (Thomas, 1970).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The area is characterized by rounded hills and flat topped ridges (Thomas, 1970). The most prominent ridge is Black Mountain, which trends about 12 miles in a northerly direction and is underlain by Cretaceous granodiorite (Weber and others, 1978). Several creeks flow westward from Black Mountain in steep, parallel, v-shaped valleys to form the headwaters of Tibbs Creek. Bordering Black Mountain to the west is a combination of augen gneiss, gneissic schist, and schist. There is intense shearing and faulting in the contact between the metamorphic and intrusive rocks. This shearing is observed in the underground workings, and at the surface as pronounced saddle-like depressions across the spurs separating the westward-flowing tributaries of Tibbs Creek. This shear zone trends roughly N15E and dips 65 degrees NW. ? the lode deposits in the area are gold-bearing quartz veins in the shear zone. Most of the veining occurs in the shear zone, although some is found in the intrusive rocks. The quartz veins contain gold and a variable combination of sulfides, including arsenopyrite, covellite, digenite, jamesonite, pyrite, and stibnite. Typically, gold content decreases as sulfides increase. Veins are commonly 2 to 3 feet in width; some are as wide as 8 feet (Thomas, 1970). When gold is present, it is usually extremely fine grained. However, veins at the Grizzly Bear mine (BD018) contain relatively coarse gold, which is easily visible in hand specimen. The Blue Lead mine is centered on a 2.5 foot wide quartz vein containing jamesonite and minor pyrite (Menzie and Foster, 1979). Based on underground workings, the vein is relatively flat lying or dips to the north (Reed, 1937). Thomas (1970) assayed a grab sample from the mill concentration plates that contained 4.58 ounces/ton Au, and 6.50 ounces/ton Ag. Foster and others (1978) recorded an emmision spectroscopy analysis from the Blue Lead Mine: sample 74WR-186b contained 10,000 ppm As, 10 ppm B, 50 ppm Ba, 1 ppm Cr, 100 ppm Se, 5 ppm Sr, 15 ppm Zr, and 1 ppm Au. Glover (1920?) reported a range in gold fineness of 724.4 to 773.7 for the Blue Lead mine.? the Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek area. By the winter of 1936, the first underground workings were being installed. The original base camp was on Summit Creek. A 450-foot tunnel was driven following a small vein, termed the Blue Lead Extension. After disappointing results, the work was stopped. In the summer of 1936, five men drove a 300-foot tunnel at the outcrop of the Blue Lead vein (Reed, 1937). During the winter of 1937, a 300-foot tunnel was driven at the Grizzly Bear mine (BD018) and a 50-ton mill was constructed. In the summer of 1938, the mill was moved to the Blue Lead mine and operated for a year and a half until the fall of 1939 (Joesting, 1938). The Blue Lead and Blue Lead Extension have approximately 775 feet of underground workings. There was limited exploration in the 1970's. The mill was still on site and the mine shaft openings were accessible in 1970, but blocked by ice (Thomas, 1970). It is reported that the Blue Lead mine produced 132 ounces of gold and 25 ounces of silver from approximately 150 tons of ore (Thomas, 1970). Gold recovery from the Blue Lead Extension was negligible (Reed, 1937).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = It is reported that the Blue Lead mine produced 132 ounces of gold and 25 ounces of silver from approximately 150 tons of ore (Thomas, 1970). Gold recovery from the Blue Lead Extension was negligible (Reed, 1937).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Postdates Cretaceous intrusion

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Shear-hosted, magmatic-hydrothermal vein

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References

Reference (Deposit): Glover, A.E., 1950, Placer gold fineness: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-1, 38 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-388, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Thomas, B.I., 1970, Reconnaissance of the gold-bearing quartz veins in the Tibbs Creek area, Goodpaster River, Big Delta quadrangle, central Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 14-70, 12 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Saunders, R.H., 1967, Mineral occurences in the Yukon-Tanana region, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Special Report 2, 58 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, I.M., 1937, Brief report on Goodpaster quartz lode mining at the head of Johnson and Boulder Creeks: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines , 1 p.

Reference (Deposit): Joesting, H.R., 1938, Mining and prospecting in the Goodpaster region: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines , 2 p.

Reference (Deposit): Menzie, W.D., and Foster, H.L., 1979, Metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral resource potential in the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529D, 61 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Foster, H.L., Albert, N.R.D., Griscom, Andrew, Hessin, T.D., Menzie, W.D., Turner, D.L, and Wilson, F.H., 1979, The Alaskan Mineral Resource Assessment Program: Background information to accompany folio of geologic and mineral resource maps of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 783, 19 p.

Reference (Deposit): Eberlein, G.D., Chapman, R.M., Foster, H.L., and Gassaway, J.S., 1977, Map and table describing known metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits in central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168-D, 132 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Eberlein, G.D., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Big Delta and Tanacross quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1086, 77 p.

Reference (Deposit): Foster, H.L., O'Leary, R.M., McDanal, S.K., and Clark, A.L., 1978, Analyses of rock samples from the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-469, 125 p.

Reference (Deposit): Weber, F.R., Foster, H.L., Keith, T.E.C., Dusel-Bacon, C., 1978, Preliminary geologic map of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529A, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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