Middleton Island

The Middleton Island 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.

Site Name

Primary: Middleton Island

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Prince William Sound

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
Gangue: Garnet

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Storm waves concentrate garnet-rich heavy mineral sands that contain small amounts of placer gold along the southwest headland of Middleton Island (Brooks, 1913; Reimnitz and Plafker, 1976). Other beaches around the island may also contain small amounts of placer gold. Some mining occurred as early as 1901, and by 1913, about 400 ounces of gold were estimated to have been produced (Brooks, 1913). The recovered gold was fine and flat; the coarsest grain weighed about 0.05 ounce (Brooks, 1913). Later residents of the Middleton Island military facilities conducted recreational placer gold mining on the island beaches (George Plafker, oral commun., 2001). The gold is derived from the reworking of the marine glacial deposits of the upper Cenozoic Yakataga Formation. These rocks make up the bedrock of Middleton Island and much of the surrounding continental shelf (Reimnitz and Plafker, 1976).

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Very small scale hand mining recovered a few hundred ounces of gold.

Comment (Geology): Age = Holocene.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Brooks, 1913

Comment (Production): Production Notes = About 400 hundred ounces of gold were estimated to have been recovered between 1901 and 1913 (Brooks, 1913).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

References

Reference (Deposit): Reimnitz, Erk, and Plafker, George, 1976, Marine gold placers along the Gulf of Alaska margin: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1415, 16 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Middleton Island quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-380, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bering Glacier, Icy Bay, Middleton Island, and Yakutat quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1246, 41 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1913, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1912: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542, 308 p.

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.