Grass Gulch

The Grass 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: Grass Gulch

Commodity

Primary: Gold

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: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A 150-foot by 300- or 400-foot pit removed the main deposit by 1903 and most of the rest of the deposit was mined out by 1909 (Collier and others, 1908; Henshaw, 1910).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Grass Gulch is one of several small headwater tributaries of Dexter Creek (NM303) that head in areas where high-level auriferous gravels have been mined (for example, NM246 and NM247). The Grass Gulch placer was small but very rich, and the entire 15 feet of rounded-pebble gravel and some clay was gold-bearing. The deposit apparently was worked out by 1903 from a 150-foot by 300- or 400-foot pit (Collier and others, 1908). Gold was also recovered from fractured and creviced marble bedrock. Overburden was only 2 feet of moss and soil, some of the gravel was frozen, and granite clasts were uncommon in the gravel (Collier and others, 1908; Moffit, 1913). Much of the placer gold in the headwaters of Dexter Creek, including Grass Gulch, is probably derived from reworking of the high-level gravels.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Alluvial placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Collier and others, 1908

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

References

Reference (Deposit): Henshaw, F.F., 1910, Mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, p. 353-371.

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): Collier, A. J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p.

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): 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.

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