The Kiwalik Flats 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
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.
Kiwalik Flats MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Kiwalik Flats
Secondary: Keewalik Flats
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Location
State: Alaska
District: Fairhaven
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 (Production): Production Notes = Production from 1988 through 1991 was approximately 9,900 ounces of gold (Shaffer, 1997).
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Kiwalik Flats mine area was extensively explored by shafts and churn drill holes in 1935 by Keewalik Mining and in 1940 by Arctic Circle Exploration. A small portion of the deposit was dredged by the mid-1940's. In the early 1980's, the dredge tailings were reworked. In 1984, a program of 5 churn drill holes was completed to verify previous results and recalculate reserves. The 1984 drilling program determined that the upper 7 feet of gravel was mostly barren and that by stripping it as waste the grade of the deposit could be increased from 0.0237 ounces of gold per cubic yard to 0.0463 ounces per cubic yard. The area was mined by drag line from 1988 through 1991 by GHD (Douglas Culp, personal communication, 1998). In 1989, GHD processed 98,000 cubic yards of pay gravel. In 1991, GHD's last year of production, 15,000 cubic yards of overburden were stripped and 70,000 cubic yards of gravel were washed. The pay gravel is below water level so gravel must be removed from the pit for washing.
Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = River gradient under 25 feet per mile.
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Muntzert, 1986; Shaffer, 1997
Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Based on calculations from drilling by Arctic Circle Exploration in 1940, remaining reserves on the Kiwalik Flats were 43,130 ounces of gold in 2.35 million cubic yards of gravel, overlain by with 3.36 million cubic yards of overburden (Shaffer, 1997).
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold occurs in river gravels in buried paleo-channels of the Kiwalik River at the confluence of Candle Creek. The deposit is overlain by an average of 16 feet (range from 0 to 50 feet in thickness) of frozen, organic-rich silt and clay. The pay gravel varies from 5 to 23 feet thick (average of 13 feet). Concentrates contain garnet, pyrite, and magnetite. Bedrock is quartz-mica schist.? the property was extensively explored from 1935 to 1940. A portion of the property was dredged in the mid 1940's. The area was re-evaluated in the mid-1980's and mined with a drag line from 1988 through 1991.
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
References
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Candle, Holy Cross, Norton Bay, Nulato, and Unalakleet quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-866, 102 p.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Candle Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-389, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Gault, H.R., Killeen, P.L., West, W.S. and others, 1953, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in the northwestern part of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska 1945-47 and 1951: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 250, 31 p.
Reference (Deposit): Cass, J.T., 1959, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Candle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-287, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Wood, J.E., Clough, A.H., 1991 (1992), Alaska's Mineral Industry 1991: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 46, 89 p.
Reference (Deposit): Shaffer, W.L., 1997, Memo to Earl Beistline; subject: Kiwalik Flats: Unpublished report dated March 5, 1997, 2 p. (Report held by NANA Regional Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska, and Berg and Wetlesen, Guelph Mills, Pennsylvania).
Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Deagen, J.R. and Moore, J.L., 1990, Alaska's mineral industry 1989: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 44, 100 p.
Reference (Deposit): Muntzert, J.K., 1983, Kiwalik Flats Placer Gold Deposit: unpublished report, 35 p. (Report held by NANA Regional Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska, and Berg and Wetlesen, Guelph Mills, Pennsylvania).
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
Reference (Deposit): Muntzert, J.L., 1986, Kiwalik Flats placer gold deposit, Preliminary report on results of 1984 drilling program: unpublished report, 42 p. (Report held by NANA Regional Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska, and Berg and Wetlesen, Guelph Mills, Pennsylvania).
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.
