Accident Occurrence, Valdez Creek Mining District, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Accident Occurrence	Occurrence
Valdez Creek Mining District	Mining District
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

A rocker set up in a gulch 300 to 400 feet above Accident lode was reported to have obtained good gold values from stream gravel.
Location: This occurrence is at an elevation of about 4,800 feet, just west of the summit of Gold Hill between Lucky Gulch and White Creek. The map site is on the boundary of secs. 7 and 18, T. 20 S., R. 3 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is shown as site 18a in Smith (1981). This position is accurate to within 200 feet.
Geology: The Accident prospect explores one of several mineral deposits in a belt south of Valdez Creek. The Valdez Creek area is underlain by pre-Upper Triassic pelitic clastic rocks, minor tuff, limestone lenses, and conglomerate. The rocks apparently vary abruptly in regional metamorphosed grade, from prehnite-pumpellyite through greenschist and amphibolite, to granulite. These rocks are intruded by Upper Jurassic alkali gabbro and by dioritic intrusions of Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary age (Smith, 1981). The bedding and foliation of the strata strike about N 75 E and dip steeply northwest. Strike-slip faults having a similar orientation are also present, particularly on the south side of Valdez Creek (Smith, 1981). On the north side of the creek, a northwest-dipping thrust fault in part explains an apparent 'telescoping' of the metamorphic rocks. The Accident occurrence consists of a quartz vein on the same lode system(?) as the Yellowhorn prospect (HE208). Decomposed slates are intruded by siliceous, fine-grained leucocratic rock containing abundant pyrite. The gold vein contains galena and sphalerite.
Workings: Surface sampling and trenching.
Alteration: Quartz, sericite, and pyrite alteration of host phyllite and small silicic dike.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Pb, Zn
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	HE209

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References