Stipek and Kotovic

The Stipek and Kotovic is a gold 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: Stipek and Kotovic
Secondary: Bergstrom (Rock Creek)

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: 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: 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: Albitization; extensive sulfidization especially introduction of arsenopyrite.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Ilmenite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Albite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Mid-Cretaceous; veins cross cut regionally metamorphosed schist; see NM207.

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = This report

Comment (Production): Production Notes = There possibly was production of minor free gold during milling tests of the ore.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = This prospect was one of two known as Stipek and Kotovic; the second, on the divide between Rock Creek and Glacier Creek, is NM235. The east side of Rock Creek was evidently being prospected by W. Stipek and J. Kotovic in 1916, when it was visited by Mertie (1918 [B 662-I, p. 432-33]). Workings at that time consisted of a 70-foot shaft and 70 feet of crosscuts. The collar of the shaft was at an elevation of about 200 feet. A mineralized zone found in the crosscut was rich in sulfides and reported to strike N 5 E. Dump material contained 0.4 ounce of gold per ton; stringer sulfide zones without quartz reportedly contained about 7 ounces of gold per ton. A 120-foot-long adit, apparently examined by Mertie (1918), was driven from near the elevation of Rock Creek through the lode. Mertie (1918) reported that a 12-foot vein of shattered white quartz yielded about 250 pounds of concentrate to the ton. Sulfides, especially arsenopyrite, were abundant from the near the vein to the face of the adit. Another adit, 40 feet long, was driven into the lode about 75 feet to the south and apparently encountered the same vein and sulfide zone as the longer adit. The prospect was inactive when visited by Cathcart in 1920 (Cathcart, 1922, p. 244-245). He reported that tunnels were driven S 75 E and S 25 E and that the quartz-albite vein had a strike of N 65 E and dipped 50 south. Ilmenite occurrs on fracture surfaces in the quartz. Wallrock was reported as chlorite-quartz schist, in general agreement with the findings of Bundtzen and others (1994), who mapped the bedrock on Rock Creek as chlorite-rich metaturbidite schist. The prospect was explored between about 1985 and 1995 by R.V. Bailey, BHP (?), Newmont Mining Company, and Kennecott Exploration Company. This exploration included northwest-trending trenches that exposed stratiform, as well as crosscutting quartz and sulfides and a fault that may cut off the deposit. The trench and drill results show that the deposit is semi-continuous over a northeasterly strike length of about 500 feet, but the grade is low and individual mineral zones are discontinuous. In general, this deposit is similar to those at Reinisch (NM213), Walsh Cut (NM214), and Goodluck Gulch (NM202).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Stipek and Kotovic prospect on Rock Creek was explored by a 70-foot shaft and about 230 feet of level adit or crosscut workings before 1920. It appears to have been active when visited by Mertie in 1916 (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]). It was inactive in 1920. The prospect was again active between about 1985 and 1995. It was drilled and trenched by several companies including BHP(?) in 1990, Newmont in 1992, and Kennecott Exploration Company in 1994. Both core and reverse circulation holes were drilled in the appraisal of the prospect.

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): 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): 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.

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