Bonanza Hill

The Bonanza Hill 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: Bonanza Hill
Secondary: Gold Bug
Secondary: Golden Eagle

Commodity

Primary: Gold

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

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Limonite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cathcart, 1922

Comment (Geology): Age = Mid-Cretaceous or younger; vein cuts schist metamorphosed during the mid-Cretaceous.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Chapin (1914, p. 401) proposed that the vein exposed on the Gold Bug and Golden Eagle claims is the same as the vein at the New Era tunnel. This assertion is doubtful, because extensive trenching and some drilling indicate that veins in this area are discontinuous.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = An adit, variously reported as 120- or 125-feet long, was reported by Mertie (1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]) and Cathcart (1922); there are two sloughed trenches and a recent drill hole (Newmont Mining Company, unpublished report, 1992) in the area. The area is near the head of Bonanza Gulch, a narrow paystreak, which appears to have supplied placer gold to lower Glacier Creek (NM220).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Mertie (1918, p. 434) reported that country rock schist at the locality strikes N 32 W and dips 25 S. At the time of Mertie's visit, a 125-foot tunnel had been driven on a 6-foot vein of iron-stained quartz that contained iron sulfides. The vein strikes N 70 E and dips 45 S. According to Mertie, the assays taken at the breast indicated rather high-grade ore. Cathcart (1922, p. 241) reported an 8-inch vertical quartz-feldspar vein at the tunnel face in soft, highly altered schist, free gold in hematitic schist, and small amounts of pyrite and arsenopyrite. The location of the tunnel was not found in 1994, but a quartz-rubble field near a sloughed trench is present at this location (C.C. Hawley, unpublished data, 1994). The quartz rubble appears to lie on schist between two horizontal marble layers. Newmont Mining Company drilled one hole in this area (BR92-010) with unknown results. About 800 feet to the west, schist and marble are moderately dipping, possibly dragged by a nearby fault. Bedrock in the general area is mostly graphitic schist, probably of 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 (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

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

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): 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., 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.

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