War Baby

Site Name

Primary: War Baby
Secondary: Willow Creek Mines Inc.

---

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Copper

---

Location

State: Alaska
District: Willow Creek

---

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: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

---

Orebody

Not available

---

Structure

Not available

---

Alterations

Alteration Text: Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).

---

Rocks

Not available

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Quartz

---

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Chapin (1920) reported that four or five parallal quartz veins cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton. The Willow Creek Pluton is a zoned pluton: the outer part consists of hornblende quartz diorite and lesser hornblende tonalite; the core consists of hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and lesser hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite and biotite quartz monzonite. Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954). Veins generally strike N 80 E, and dip 17 to 62 NW, are found in a 33 ft wide zone, and range in thickness from 1 to 15 inches. Veins appear to belong to a single system that locally branches in the hanging wall. The footwall is marked by slickensides that separate the lode from fresh country rock. The lode is a continuation of the lode at Lucky Shot (ARDF number AN002) that is offset by 600 to 700 ft. The ore mined through 1927 averaged 2.18 oz/ton Au (Ray, 1933).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Chapin, 1920

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Production records were combined for the War Baby and the Lucky Shot mine (ARDF number AN002). Both mines were simultaneously operated by Willow Creek Mines. Stoll (1997) estimated the total amount of gold recovered from the Lucky Shot - War Baby vein on the northwest wall of Craigie Creek valley to be 252,000 ounces.

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous or younger; veins cut the Late Cretaceous Willow Creek Pluton.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Located in 1918, development began almost immediately with the erection of a small mill. The first production from the mine occurred in 1919 after two short tunnels and a crosscut were driven. Willow Creek Mines took over the property in 1921. War Baby was mined, with interruptions, from 1919 until 1940. There were over 2,000 ft of underground workings on 3 levels. Ray (1933) reported that production from 1922 through 1927 was from a single stope measuring 175 by 250 ft with a maximum width of 10 to 12 ft. The ore mined through 1927 averaged 2.18 oz/ton Au (Ray, 1933). There may have been some copper production, however concentrates that were shipped may have come from War Baby or Lucky Shot (ARDF number AN002) (Smith, 1930). By 1950, the mine was long closed and workings were inaccessible (Ray, 1954).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

---

References

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1927, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1925: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 792-A, p. 1-39.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials in the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1095, 184 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Ray, R.G., 1954, Geology and ore deposits of the Willow Creek Mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1004, 86 p.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-409, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S. 1939, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Stoll, W.M., 1997, Hunting for gold in Alaska's Talkeetna Mountains 1897-1951: Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Henry Printing, 301 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1940, Geology of the Alaska Railroad region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 907, 201 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797, p. 1-50.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81.

Reference (Deposit): Ray, J.C., 1933, The Willow Creek gold-lode district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849-C, p. 165-229.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1926, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1924: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783-A, p. 1-39.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.

Reference (Deposit): Chapin, Theodore, 1921, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-E, p. 201-206.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., and Martin, G. C. 1921, The Alaska mining industry in 1919: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 59-95.

Reference (Deposit): Chapin, Theodore, 1920, Lode developments in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-F, p. 169-176.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52.

---

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.