Boulder Creek

The Boulder Creek is a arsenic and antimony 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: Boulder Creek
Secondary: Claus Rodine

Commodity

Primary: Arsenic
Primary: Antimony
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Tungsten

Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Text: Sulfidation of schist and ankeritization of marble.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Stibnite
Gangue: Ankerite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = This report

Comment (Geology): Age = Mid-Cretaceous; postdates regional metmorphism and is probably similar in age to other low-sulfide Au-quartz veins of the Nome district (see, for example, the Divide prospect, NM058).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Boulder Creek or Claus Rodine prospect is a complex deposit related generally to the Rodine fault (Bundtzen and others, 1994). The prospect was first reported by Mertie (1918 [B 662-I, p. 427-429]), who noted that a 50-pound pod of stibnite had been mined from a pit near the adit and that quartz in the adit locally contained crystalline scheelite. Cathcart (1922, p. 252) also visited the prospect and reported quartz veins with pyrite and arsenopyrite associated with extensive sulfidation of schist. The deposit was relocated by Kennecott Exploration Company in about 1991, and although the adit was reopened, it was too dangerous for underground work. The prospect was within the area of a large Kennecott soil geochemistry survey, and two trenches were cut above and parallel to a placer ditch, at right angles to the Rodine fault. The soil geochemistry survey shows that the Boulder Creek area is highly anomalous in arsenic and antimony, but only moderately anomalous in gold. Values in soil approaching the Rodine fault are as much as 3,100 ppm arsenic and 190 ppm antimony. The maximum amount of gold in a soil was 76 ppb. Rock samples collected along the trench system locally exceed 10,000 ppm arsenic and contain as much as 0.03 ounce of gold per ton. At the prospect, the Rodine fault juxtaposes marble to the west against mica-schist; most of the mineralization, extending for as much as 100 feet east of the fault, is in schist. Rubble above the prospect is locally composed of ankeritic marble with some quartz. The country rock schist on the east side of the Rodine fault was mapped by Bundtzen and others (1994) as calcareous metaturbidite schist, a unit inferred to be relatively old and to lie near the base of the section along the Twin Mountain antiform.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = An adit had been driven about 87 feet when the prospect was visited by Mertie in 1916; it was subsequently extended a few more feet. The prospect had power from a small Pelton wheel that was still at the site in 1995. A large soil geochemistry survey was completed and about 600 feet of trenches were cut in 1992 or 1993 by Kennecott Exploration Company.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = A small amout of high-grade stibnite ore may have been mined.

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.

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