The Olsen (Anvil Creek) is a gold and antimony 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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Olsen (Anvil Creek) MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Olsen (Anvil Creek)
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Antimony
Secondary: Copper
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: Simple Sb (veins, pods, etc)
Model Name: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Schist
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Permian
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Talc
Comments
Comment (Deposit): Model Number = 36a, 27d
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Five lode claims aligned about N 25 E were located and prospected by Charles Olsen before 1916 (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]). A 97-foot shaft had a 35-foot drift. Workings in 1920 (Cathcart, 1922) included the 97-foot shaft and a 54-foot shaft.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986, model 36a); simple Sb deposits (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27d).
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Mertie, 1918
Comment (Geology): Age = Probably mid-Cretaceous or younger; see NM207.
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Olsen prospect consists of two long-abandoned shafts sunk on the east side of Anvil Creek. The workings date from the early 1900's (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]; Cathcart, 1922). A 54-foot shaft was sunk on a north-northwest striking, west-dipping quartz vein. According to the owner, Charles Olsen, the shaft struck stibnite ore at 49 feet and was in stibnite-bearing rock to abandonment of the shaft at 54 feet. A 97-foot shaft was sunk nearby. It reportedly encountered stibnite-bearing ore at 60 feet that continued on the hanging wall of a vein to the bottom of the shaft; the shaft was abandoned due to flooding. Material observed on the dump included finely crystalline stibnite with quartz and pyrite. The material reportedly assayed about 1 ounce of gold per ton, 2.05 dollars worth of silver, and some copper (Cathcart, 1922, p. 239-40). The veins reportedly had talc schist hanging walls about 10 feet thick.? Mertie (1918 [B 662-I, p. 431-432]) believed that the veins were in a fault zone. He noted that graphitic schist walls were cut by nearly vertical quartz veins with a strike of N 45 E. The veins probably are in the Anvil fault zone as shown by Hummel (1962 [MF 247]), who mapped a wide graphitic zone between two main faults along this part of Anvil Creek. Where the Anvil fault is exposed in the Snake River road cut (NM234), the graphitic schist is highly sheared and contorted in a zone 100 feet wide and locally contains stibnite.
References
Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1918, Placer mining on Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, p. 451-458.
Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.
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.
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