Gold Cord

Site Name

Primary: Gold Cord
Secondary: Gold Cord Mining, Milling, and Power Co.
Secondary: Golden Bear Mining Co.

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Tungsten
Secondary: Copper

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Willow Creek

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Text: Wall-rock alteration is intense and consists of replacement by the usual hydrothermal minerals in the district - chlorite, pyrite, sericite, ankerite, and a little calcite (Ray, 1933).

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = From discovery through 1949, mainly between 1931 and 1938, the Gold Cord lode produced around 16,000 ounces of gold (Stoll, 1997).

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = The site has also been referenced in the literature as Golden Bear Mining Co. and (Gold Cord) Mining, Milling, and Power Co.

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Ray, 1954

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = First staked in 1915 by Byron and Charles Bartholf. Development work appears to have been sporatic for many years, records indicate 'real' activity began around 1931 (Ray, 1954). By 1933 the camp consisted of a mill (crusher, 10-ton Denver mill, amalgamating plates, and a small concentration table), shops, and living quarters(Ray, 1933). The bulk of the gold produced from the mine was during the six year period from the winter of 1931 through 1937 (Stoll, 1997). Ray (1954) reports that the mine was developed by at least 2,500 ft of workings on several levels over a vertical distance of 200 ft. In 1947 and 1948 two veins near the top of the mountain above the Gold Cord mine were explored by drifting, but no significant amount of gold was found. The property has been drilled in attempts to locate faulted-out sections of vein and prospect adits driven on other veins have not been particularly successful. The property north of Gold Cord Fault may prove favorable due to the absence of any major faults. Ore grade ranged from about 0.1 to 9 oz/ton Au. Most assay values between 0.75 and 4 oz/ton Au (assay converted from dollar values reported by Ray (1933)). One batch of 11 tons of ore contained 10.9 oz (1 oz/ton) of gold (Brooks, 1925). During a 1984 U.S. Bureau of Mines investigation (Kurtak, 1986), a 1.8-ft-wide sample across a quartz vein in the 4,900 ft adit (late 1940s workings) contained 13 ppm gold (0.38 oz/ton). In 1998, Dan Renshaw continued driving a new adit in search of favorable ore at the Gold Cord mine.

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The principal vein mined is in a shear zone as much as 25 ft wide in Late Cretaceous quartz diorite of the 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. Quartz is present along the foot wall and hanging wall which are separated by sheared quartz diorite, some of which is essentially unaltered. The vein strikes about N 10 W, and dips 30 to 42 W (Ray, 1933). Numerous other shear zones are present and are generally about 3 to 4 ft wide. These contain reticulating quartz veins and mineralized, altered quartz diorite (Chapin, 1920). Wall-rock alteration is intense and consists of replacement by the usual hydrothermal minerals in the district - chlorite, pyrite, sericite, ankerite, and a little calcite (Ray, 1933). Workings in the Gold Cord mine are probably the most difficult in the mining district. Due to the relatively greater number and arrangement of post-mineralization faults. The most important of the faults is the Gold Cord Fault, a major transverse fault striking N 65 W, and dipping 80 to 85 SW. This fault system is about 40 feet wide on the 100 and 400 levels but is 120 feet wide on the 200 level of the mine. The fault material is mostly comminuted, strongly altered quartz diorite. A number of minor transverse faults also cut the vein. These normal faults trend northwesterly and dip steeply to the northeast; displacements are generally less than 15 feet. The geology is further complicated by several normal and reverse faults (Ray, 1954). The property north of the Gold Cord Fault may prove favorable due to the absence of any major faults. Ore grade ranged from about 0.1 to 9 oz/ton Au. Most assay values were between 0.75 and 4 oz/ton Au (converted from dollar values given in Ray (1933)). During a 1984 U.S. Bureau of Mines investigation (Kurtak, 1986), a 1.8-ft-wide sample across a quartz vein in the 4,900 ft adit (late 1940's workings) contained 13 ppm gold (0.38 oz/ton).

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References

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

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Gilbert, W.G., 1991, Geology and geochemistry of the Gagaryah barite deposit, western Alaska Range, Alaska, in Reger, R. D., ed., Short notes on Alaskan geology 1991: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 111, p. 9-20.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

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

Reference (Deposit): Moxham, R.M., and Nelson, A.E., 1952, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in south-central Alaska, 1947-1949: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 184, 14 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692, p. 11-42

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

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., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

Reference (Deposit): Thorne, R.L., Muir, N.M., Erickson, A.W., Thomas, B. I., Hedie, H. E., and Wright, W. S., 1948, Tungsten deposits of Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 4174, 51 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1919, Gold lode mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-D, p. 177-186.

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

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., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72.

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1940: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

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): 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., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Tungsten occurrences in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Resource Map MR-66, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

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

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