Gold Nugget

The Gold Nugget is a silver and 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: Gold Nugget
Secondary: South quarry

Commodity

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

Location

State: Alaska
District: Ketchikan

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
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

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c)

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Small amounts of gold probably were recovered in the early 1900s, but there is no public record of any production.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The country rocks in this part of Revillagigedo Island are mainly marine, andesitic or basaltic metavolcanic rocks and interbedded pelitic sedimentary rocks that are intruded by Cretaceous stocks, sills, and dikes of feldspar-porphyritic granodiorite, and by a stock and probably related plugs of Tertiary gabbro (Berg and others, 1988). The strata and some of the granodiorite were regionally metamorphosed to greenschist grade in Late Cretaceous time. These rocks subsequently were contact metamorphosed to hornblende hornfels: locally, near some of the Cretaceous granodiorite contacts, and, more widely, peripheral to the Tertiary gabbro. The premetamorphic age of the strata is uncertain. Berg and others (1988) note that they closely resemble Upper Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous flysch and volcanic rocks nearby on Gravina Island. The country rocks are cut by a high-angle fault along Tongass Narrows that displays about 4 miles of right-lateral offset. Maas and others (1995, p. 194, 197) describe the Gold Nugget deposit as irregular quartz ladder veins hosted in a 30-foot-thick porphyritic dike that cuts the foliation of slate country rock. The veins carry lenses and disseminations of pyrite, sphalerite, and galena. The dike is exposed for a length of 150 feet. Samples of the deposit assayed as high as 14.05 ppm Au, 7.9 ppm Ag, 829 ppm Pb, and 1585 ppm Zn, but most samples were much lower in grade. The Gold Nugget prospect was developed in the early 1900s by opencuts and two shafts that subsequently were covered or plugged during housing development. Small amounts of gold probably were recovered early in the century, but there is no public record of any production. At the South quarry occurrence, a small rock sample of unspecified type contained 8.1 ppm Au, 31.5 ppm Ag, 1.04% Pb, and 2.08% Zn (Maas and others, 1995, p. 201).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maas and others, 1995

Comment (Geology): Age = Cretaceous or younger.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Gold Nugget prospect was developed in the early 1900s by opencuts and two shafts that subsequently were covered or plugged during housing development. Samples of the deposit assayed as high as 14.05 ppm Au, 7.9 ppm Ag, 829 ppm Pb, and 1585 ppm Zn, but most samples were much lower in grade (Maas and others, 1995, p. 197, 201). At the South quarry occurrence, a small rock sample of unspecified type contained 8.1 ppm Au, 31.5 ppm Ag, 1.04% Pb, and 2.08% Zn (Maas and others, 1995, p. 201).

References

Reference (Deposit): Elliott, R.L., Berg, H.C., and Karl, Susan, 1978, map and table describing metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report, 78-73-B,17 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., Elliott, R.L., and Koch, R.D., 1988, Geologic map of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Series Map MF-1807,27 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Maas, K.M., Bittenbender, P E., and Still, J.C., 1995, Mineral investigations in the Ketchikan mining district, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 11-95, 606 p.

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