West Creek

Site Name

Primary: West Creek

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Commodity

Primary: Gold

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification.

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Rocks

Name: Schist
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Cambrian

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Marcasite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Chlorite

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Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Cretaceous

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = An adit was driven 350 feet on the main vein and a short crosscut was driven on a small stringer; there is a total of about 600 to 700 feet of underground workings (Smith, 1908). About 350 feet further west, a 300- foot-long adit was driven on similar vein.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Smith, 1908

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Quartz veins in schist have been explored by an adit and 600 or 700 feet of underground workings (Smith, 1908). The quartz veins contain chlorite, small stringers and vugs of pyrite and marcasite, and arsenopyrite. Some gold and arsenopyrite is reported to be disseminated in the country rock (Smith, 1908). The adit trends about S 10 E; a zone of quartz-vein float about 50 feet wide trends S 30 W for 250 feet upslope from the adit (Asher, 1969, DGGS R33). Slickensides are present on both hanging and footwalls (Smith, 1910). A grab sample from the adit dump contained 0.04 ounces Au per ton and a composite grab sample of quartz-vein float contained 0.11 ounces Au per ton and 0.01 ounces Ag per ton (Asher, 1969, DGGS R33). Another composite grab sample of quartz on the adit dump contained 0.15 ppm Au, 5,100 ppm As, and 26 ppm Sb (Gamble, 1988). The country rock is described as chloritic schist by Smith (1910) and regional mapping indicates that it is part of a metavolcanic assemblage thought to be Ordovician in age (Till and others, 1986).? These veins are probably the same age as some other gold-quartz veins of southern Seward Peninsula. The southern Seward Peninsula lode gold deposits formed as a result of mid-Cretaceous metamorphism (Apodoca, 1994; Ford, 1993, Ford and Snee, 1996; Goldfarb and others, 1997) that accompanied regional extension (Miller and Hudson, 1991) and crustal melting (Hudson, 1994). This higher temperature metamorphism was superimposed on high pressure/low temperature metamorphic rocks of the region.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Gold-quartz vein in metamorphic rocks; low sulfide-Au quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

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References

Reference (Deposit): Goldfarb, R.J., Miller, L.D., Leach, D.L., and Snee, L.W, 1997, Gold deposits in metamorphic rocks in Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, 482 p.

Reference (Deposit): Ford, R.C., and Snee, L.W., 1996, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of white mica from the Nome district, Alaska: The first ages of lode sources to placer gold deposits in the Seward Peninsula: Economic Geology, v. 91, p. 213-220.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L. 1994, Crustal melting events in Alaska, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H. C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-1, p. 657-670.

Reference (Deposit): Apodoca, L. E., 1994, Genesis of lode gold deposits of the Rock Creek area, Nome mining district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, University of Colorado, Ph.D. dissertation, 208 p.

Reference (Deposit): Miller, E.L., and Hudson, T.L., 1991, Mid-Cretaceous extensional fragmentation of a Jurassic-Early Cretaceous compressional orogen, Alaska: Tectonics, v. 10, p. 781-796.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1910, Geology and mineral resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 433, 234 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1908, Investigations of mineral deposits of Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 345, p. 206-250.

Reference (Deposit): Asher, R.R., 1969, Geologic and geochemical study, Solomon C-5 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Geology Geologic Report 33, 64 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, 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 Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.

Reference (Deposit): Ford, R.C., 1993, Geology, geochemistry, and age of gold lodes at Bluff and Mt. Distin, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Golden, Colorado School of Mines, Ph.D. dissertation, 302 p.

Reference (Deposit): Gamble, B.M., 1988, Non-placer mineral occurrences in the Solomon, Bendeleben, and southern part of the Kotzebue quadrangles, western Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Map MF-1838-B, 13 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

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