Mulchatna

The Mulchatna 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: Mulchatna

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Bristol Bay

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Occurrence
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

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Not applicable

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Cobb and Reed (1981) mention gold in most river bars of the Mulchatna River, with most prospecting occurring around the late 1890's or early 1900's.

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

Comment (Production): Production Notes = No production

Comment (Geology): Age = The placer gold is Quaternary, the source of gold could come from a variety of rocks with diverse ages.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = No reserves

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Three placer gold claims noted in 1973 by the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Spurr (1900) reported placer gold, too flaky and fine to save, 200 miles from mouth of river as early as 1890. Brooks (1904) reported gold has long been known in the upper reaches of the river. Placer said to yield $4-5 per day per man in 1903, but area too remote for mining. Cobb (1976) indicated he thought Brooks (in 1904 report) may have been discussing placers of Bonanza Creek.? the most abundant bedrock in the areas upstream of the claims is unit KJs (Nelson and others, 1983). Unit KJs is described as interbedded lithic graywacke, silty sandstone, black shale , and local conglomerate. Irregular quartz segregations and veinlets are locally present. Scattered stocks and locally abundant dikes of intermediate to felsic composition intrude these sedimentary rocks. Adjacent to some of the larger igneous bodies are narrow contact aureoles of pelitic hornfels. Unit KJs is intruded (locally) by various Cretaceous to Tertiary plutons. The plutons include quartz monzonite, grano-diorite, diorite, and rhyolite dikes. Also present is Unit Tv of Nelson and others (1983) which includes rhyolitic breccia, ash-flow tuff, flows, and intrusive rocks and subordinate mafic to intermediate flows. Potassium-argon ages for unit Tv range from 56.2 to 62.7 m.y. (Eakins and others, 1978).

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-485, 101 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1917, The Lake Clark-central Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 655, 162 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1915, Mineral resources of the Lake Clark-Iditarod region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-H, p. 247-271.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska - Supplement to Open-File Report 76-485: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-1343-A, 25 p.

Reference (Deposit): Eakins, G.R., Gilbert W.G., and Buntzen, T.K., 1978, Preliminary bedrock geology and mineral resource potential of west-central Lake Clark quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 118, 15 p.

Reference (Deposit): Katz, F.J., 1910, Gold placers of the Mulchatna: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., and Katz, F.J., 1910, Outline of geology and mineral resources of the Iliamna and Clark lakes region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p.

Reference (Deposit): U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973, Alaska 1:250,000-scale quadrangle map overlays showing mineral deposit locations, principal minerals, and number and type of claims: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 20-73, 95 overlays (updated in 1986, 1987).

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1904, Placer mining in Alaska in 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p. 43-59.

Reference (Deposit): Spurr, J.E., 1900, A reconnaissance in southwestern Alaska in 1898: U.S. Geological Survey 20th Annual Report, part 7, p. 31-264.?

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