Goodluck Gulch

The Goodluck Gulch 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

Name: Goodluck Gulch

State:  Alaska

County:  na

Elevation:

Commodity: Gold

Lat, Long: 64.64472, -165.45889

Map: View on Google Maps

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.


Satelite image of the Goodluck Gulch

Goodluck Gulch MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Goodluck Gulch


Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tungsten
Secondary: Silver


Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome


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: Albitization and sulfidization, including dissemination of arsenopyrite in schist prior to development of northeast-striking sheeted veins.


Rocks

Not available


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Scheelite
Gangue: Albite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz


Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = This report

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Cathcart (1922) reported that pits and short trenches were present on the property. In 1995, Kennecott Exploration Company explored the area with about 1,000 feet of backhoe trenches and diamond core holes; maximum gold grades were a few hundreths of an ounce per ton.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = A deposit at Goodluck Gulch, approximately located by Hummel (locality 4, 1962 [MF 247]) was relocated by Kennecott Exploration Company in 1995. It apparently was first reported by Moffit (1913, p. 131) who noted: 'A large amount of highly mineralized quartz is present in schist exposures south of Good Luck Gulch . . . Panning shows the presence of gold.' Bedrock was not visible when the prospect was visited by Cathcart (1922, p. 247-248), but he did find scheelite in thin-section examination of dump material. The location is important because Goodluck Gulch is the northernmost significant deposit in a belt of gold lodes east of Snake River that extends northerly from near Bonanza Hill (NM228) and the Anvil fault through Rock Creek (NM207). Surface expression of this deposit includes a large quartz-boulder felsenmeer on the Snake River plain adjacent to the deposit; white vein quartz boulders in the felsenmeer are as much as 3 feet across. Old prospect trenches are on the upland adjacent to the felsenmeer. The quartz vein system in bedrock probably also extends some distance into the Snake River flood plain because large blocks of quartz are visible in the Snake River gravels on a northwesterly projection of the deposit; these boulders are not present north of this projection. The deposit extends uphill nearly to the Snake River road (Hummel's 1962 location) but is best developed near Snake River.? Relocation of the prospect was followed in 1995 by soil geochemical sampling, trenching, and drilling. The deposit consists of schist extensively replaced by arsenopyrite, schist replaced by tabular albite impregnated by arsenopyrite, and veinlets and extensive masses of quartz as much as several feet across. Most of the deposit is crudely stratabound, and some is folded. Drill core in GLC95-2 at a depth of about 140 feet cuts nearly isoclinal folds with saddle-reef type quartz-feldspar veins in small-scale folds and as much as 5 percent arsenopyrite disseminated in the folded schist. Pyrite is less abundant than arsenopyrite, and galena is sparsely disseminated in quartz. Near the surface, the sulfidized schist is mainly weathered to a reddish iron oxide, probably hematite. Late-stage mineralized quartz occupies northeast-striking fissures, the common direction for late sheeted veins in the area. Bedrock in the area is graphitic schist probably of early Paleozoic protolith age (Hummel, 1962 [MF 247]; Sainsbury, Hummel, and Hudson, 1972 [OFR 72-326]; Till and Dumoulin, 1994; Bundtzen and others, 1994).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a); a residual gold placer is also developed on the lode.

Comment (Geology): Age = Probably mid-Cretaceous or younger, the time of regional metamorphism of the enclosing schist. Fold-controlled mineralization at Goodluck Gulch is assumed to be somewhat older than sheeted veins developed at Rock Creek (NM207).

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = There has probably been a very small amount of gold production from the residual placer. Cathcart (1922) reported sacked ore or concentrates on the property.


References

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Hummel, C.L., 1962, Preliminary geologic map of the Nome C-1 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-247, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hummel, C.L., and Hudson, Travis, 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Nome quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-326, 28 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., and Dumoulin, J.A, 1994, Geology of Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H.C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, DNAG, v. G-1, p. 141-152.


The Top Ten Gold Producing States

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.