Unnamed (near headwaters of Midnight Creek)

The Unnamed (near headwaters of Midnight Creek) is a silver, gold, and lead 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: Unnamed (near headwaters of Midnight Creek)

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Primary: Lead
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Zinc

Location

State: Alaska
District: Kougarok

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: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Quartz veining and iron-oxide fracture fillings and staining are common. There may have been some clay development. Unoxidized mineralization probably contains pyrite and base metal sulfides.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = Iron-oxides

Comment (Geology): Age = Probably Late Cretaceous; this occurrence may be associated with emplacement and crystallization of the Oonatut Granite Complex. K/Ar ages for the Oonatut Granite Complex are about 70 my (Hudson, 1979).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Sainsbury and others, 1970

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Shallow hand-dug prospect pits may be present.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = A linear altered zone in polydeformed metapelitic schist of possible Precambrian age (Till and others, 1986) trends about N 55 W across this spur. Sainsbury and others (1970) indicate that rusty graphitic schist and quartz vein fragments are present over a length of 2,000 feet. A sample of iron-stained fracture fillings contained 0.8 ppm Au, 700 ppm Ag, 10,000 ppm As, 1,500 ppm Cu, greater than 10,000 ppm Pb, 150 ppm Sb, and 5,000 ppm Zn. A composite grab sample of surface float collected along 300 feet of the altered zone contained 0.02 ppm gold, 3 ppm Ag, 300 ppm As, 150 ppm Cu, 1,500 ppm Pb, and 500 ppm Zn (Sainsbury and others, 1970, Table 2). The altered zone is probably developed along a high-angle fault. This occurrence, and other nearby occurrences in the headwaters of Humbolt and Ferndale Creeks to the north (BN049-BN052), are interpreted to be structurally above subsurface extensions of the Oonatut Granite Complex (Hudson, 1979). The Oonatut Granite outcrops 2.5 miles to the northwest of this occurrence. This large exposed granite complex is part of the western Seward Peninsula tin-granite suite (Hudson and Arth, 1983). Sainsbury and others (1970, p. H8) suggest that the polymetallic character of the mineralization in this altered zone is similar to what is found in the peripheral silver zone of tin deposit systems. However, only pan concentrate samples from this occurrence had anomalous tin values (to 200 ppm, Sainsbury and others, 1970, Table 2).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic veins developed peripheral to tin deposits

References

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., 1979, Igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Serpentine Hot Springs area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional paper 1079, 27 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., and Arth, J. G., 1983, Tin-granites of Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, p. 768-790.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Kachadoorian, Reuben, Smith, T.E., Richards, T.R., and Todd, W.C., 1970, Geology, mineral deposits, and geochemical and radiometric anomalies, Serpentine Hot Springs area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1312-H, p. H1-H19.

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.

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.