Goodwin Gulch

The Goodwin Gulch is a tin 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: Goodwin Gulch

Commodity

Primary: Tin

Location

State: Alaska
District: Port Clarence

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: Alluvial placer Sn

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Cassiterite

Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Between 132 and 656 short tons of tin; primarily during the period 1924 to 1940 (Mulligan, 1966, p. 8).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Alluvial tin placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39e)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The headwaters of Goodwin Gulch are in the contact zone of the Late Cretaceous Cape Mountain biotite granite (Hudson and Arth, 1983) with Mississippian marble (Sainsbury, 1972). The active drainage of Goodwin Gulch contained an alluvial placer deposit of cassiterite. Early mining was by hand and sluice boxes suggesting that overburden was minimal for at least part of the deposit. Later mining apparently used hydraulic methods and some pay was transported to lower parts of Goodwin Creek or the Bering Sea coast for processing because of lack of water. Average tin grades were esitmated by Mulligan (1966, p. 19) to be about 2.5 pounds of tin per cubic yard. The deposit has apparently been mined out although abundant and coarse cassiterite has been traced from the area of previous mining upslope to lode sources above the south headwater fork (Mulligan, 1966, p. 23).

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = the lower 4,500 feet of the 1.25 mile-long active drainage of Goodwin Gulch has been mined; the volume of material remaining upstream is small.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Hand, hydraulic, and power shovel operations have been conducted along the lower 4,500 feet of the active drainage. Premining exploration data have not been recorded. Mulligan (1966) traced detrital cassiterite from areas of previous mining to upstream/upslope lode sources. A proposed churn-drilling program to explore for a deeper channel along the south side of the drainage was not carried out at the time (Mulligan, 1966, p. 67-68).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Mulligan and Thorne, 1959; Mulligan, 1966

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary

References

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., and Thorne, R.L., 1959, Tin-placer sampling methods and results, Cape Mountain district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7878, 69 p.

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., 1966, Tin-lode investigations, Cape Mountain area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska; with a section on petrography by W. L. Gnagy: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 6737, 43 p.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., 1972, Geologic map of the Teller quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Map I-685, 4 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Sainsbury, C.L., 1972, Metallic mineral resource map of the Teller quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-426, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Teller quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-587, 130 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.

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