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

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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.

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