Olsen (Anvil Creek)

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

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.

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.

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.