Gulch Creek No. 3 Occurrence, Hope Mining District, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Gulch Creek No. 3 Occurrence	Occurrence
Hope Mining District	Mining District
Kenai Peninsula Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

More than 8,000 ounces of placer gold have been recovered from Gulch Creek downstream from this occurrence.
Location: This occurrence is located in the SW1/4 section 16, T. 8 N., R. 1 E., of the Seward Meridian, at elevations between 3,900 and 4,000 feet. It is situated on the divide between the south and middle headwater tributaries to Gulch Creek. This is location S-284 of Jansons and others (1984). The location is accurate to within a quarter of a mile.
Geology: The Gulch Creek No. 3 occurrence consists of two quartz veins as much as 2 feet thick that occur along a well-developed shear zone that averages 4 feet wide. The shear zone strikes roughly northeast and dips vertically and is only one of numerous faults in the area. The larger vein, exposed along strike for about 100 feet, strikes N65W and dips vertically. The vein is offset in at least three places by northeast-trending faults that dip 65SE. The apparent motion of these faults is right lateral, and the displacement is about 5 feet (Hoekzema and Sherman, 1983). The shear zone and quartz veins are hosted by slate and metasiltstone of the Upper Cretaceous Valdez Group (Hoekzema and Sherman, 1983). The quartz is iron-stained and vuggy and contains arsenopyrite. Four chip samples collected in 1981 by the U.S. Bureau of Mines contained less than 0.03 ppm gold and less than 1 ppm silver (Hoekzema and Sherman, 1983).
Workings: No workings or improvements are present. The occurrence was discovered, mapped and sampled by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1981 (Hoekzema and Sherman, 1983). Five samples assayed traces of gold and a trace to 0.01 ounce of silver per ton (Jansons and others, 1984). The Bureau considered that the occurrence has a low potential for mineral development.
Age: Cretaceous or younger; the veins cut Late Cretaceous Valdez Group rocks.

Commodities (Major) - Ag?, Au
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SR034

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References