The Pioneer Gulch is a gold and silver 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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Pioneer Gulch MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Pioneer Gulch
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
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: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:
Physiography
Not available
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Placer Au-PGE
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Moffit, 1913
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Alluvial placer Au, in part residual, and low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 39a and 36a).
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = A partly residual alluvial gold placer was mined in Pioneer Gulch as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908). Its discovery must have occurred early in the history of the Nome District because a 4.5 mile-long ditch had been constructed from Last Chance Creek to Pioneer Gulch by September of 1903 (Collier and others, 1908, p. 183). The placer gold was coarse and angular, and some had attached quartz fragments (Moffit, 1913). Prospecting for lode deposits, including at least one shaft, identified narrow limonitic calcite-quartz veins containing pyrite, arsenopyrite, and free gold (Cathcart, 1922). Gold-bearing quartz veins were exposed on the property in 1992. The veins cut graphitic schist that probably has an early Paleozoic protolith age (Hummel, 1962 [MF 247]; Sainsbury, Hummel, and Hudson, 1972 [OFR 72-326]; Till and Dumoulin, 1994; Bundtzen and others, 1994).
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; veins are mid-Cretaceous or younger because they cut schist metamorphosed in the mid-Cretaceous.
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Surface mining of alluvial placer deposits commenced in 1903, and a residual placer deposit was mined by 1913. Hard rock exploration, including at least one shaft, was reported by Cathcart (1922).
References
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): 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): Till, A.B., and Dumoulin, J.A, 1994, Geology of Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H.C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, DNAG, v. G-1, p. 141-152.
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): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.
Reference (Deposit): Hummel, C.L., 1962, Preliminary geologic map of the Nome C-1 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-247, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.
Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hummel, C.L., and Hudson, Travis, 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Nome quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-326, 28 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.
Reference (Deposit): Collier, A. J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p.
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