Grubstake Gulch and Willow Creek area

Site Name

Primary: Grubstake Gulch and Willow Creek area

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
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: Past 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: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Scheelite

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Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Cobb (1973) reported that Grubstake Gulch and the part of Willow Creek immediately below mouth of gulch probably account for considerably more than half the placer gold mined in the Willow Creek district.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1973, B 1374

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Creek gravels mined for 900 ft along Grubstake Creek in 1904-1906, reportedly 200 ft wide and 2.5 to 3 feet deep (Paige and Knopf, 1907). Gravels mined in 1960 were 12-20 ft deep and exploratory drill holes that were sunk 85-105 ft did not all reach bedrock. Hydraulic and small scale methods used. Bench gravels contain pannable gold, but large boulders make mining difficult (Ray, 1954).

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Both creek and bench gravels near confluence of Grubstake Gulch and Willow Creek have been mined for placer gold intermittently since 1897. Gold probably is from small quartz veins found in mica-schist bedrock (Cobb, 1973). The bedrock in the Grubstake Gulch drainage is Jurassic (?) quartz-albite-chlorite (+/- garnet-biotite) pelitic schist; minor Eocene hypabyssal mafic intrusions and serpentinized Cretaceous ultramafic rocks. Gold has been found in gravels up to 70 ft deep in the area (Green and others, 1989).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary

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References

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-E, p. 147-200.

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): Brooks, A.H., 1911, The Mount McKinley region, Alaska, with descriptions of the igneous rocks and of the Bonnifield and Kantishna districts by L.M. Prindle: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 70, 234 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): 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): Paige, Sidney, and Knopf, Adolph, 1907, Reconnaissance in the Matanuska and Talkeetna basins, Alaska, with notes on the placers of the adjacent regions: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314-F, p. 104-125.

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1916, Gold mining in the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642-G, p. 147-194, 195-200.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1915, The Willow Creek District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 607, 86 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1914, Gold lodes and placers of the Willow Creek district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 245-272.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1915, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1914: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622, 238 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.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1912, The Alaska mining industry in 1911, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1911: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 17-44.

Reference (Deposit): Paige, Sidney, and Knopf, Adolph, 1907, Geologic reconnaissance in the Matanuska and Talkeetna basins, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 327, 71 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1910, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1909: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1911, The Mount McKinley region, Alaska, with descriptions of the igneous rocks and of the Bonnifield and Kantishna districts, by L.M. Prindle: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 70, 234 p.

Reference (Deposit): Katz, F.J., 1911, A reconnaissance of Willow Creek gold region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-G, p. 139-152.

Reference (Deposit): Paige, Sidney and Knopf, Adolph, 1907, Reconnaissance in the Matanuska and Talkeetna basins, Alaska, with notes on the placers of the adjacent regions: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314, p. 104-125.

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): Green, C.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Peterson, R.J., Seward, A.F., Deagan, J.R., and Burton, J.E., 1989, Alaska's Mineral Industry, 1988, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 43, 79 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1906, The mining industry in 1905: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 284, p. 4-9.

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

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): Jasper, M.W., 1962, Willow Creek gold district activity, Anchorage quadrangle: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals report for the year 1962, p. 75-84.

Reference (Deposit): Jasper, M.W., 1966, Geochemical investigations of selected areas in southcentral Alaska, 1965: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geochemical Report 7, 60 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., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

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

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

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): Brooks, A.H., 1922, The Alaska mining industry in 1920: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722-A, p. 1-74.

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.

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