Hopeful Gulch Prospect, Koyuk Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hopeful Gulch Prospect	Prospect
Koyuk Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Hopeful Gulch is a short, west tributary to the Ungalik River that is not named on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps. It is opposite the mouth of Bonanza Creek (NR008). The coordinates are for the abandoned mine camp marked on the Norton River C-4 topographic map (1950). Hopeful Gulch is locality 2 of Cobb (1972 [MF 381]). The location is accurate within 500 feet.
Geology: The country rocks in the vicinity of Hopeful Gulch consist of Cretaceous, medium to fine-grained, mottled, dark gray diorite composed mostly of quartz, feldspar, and biotite. Disseminated pyrite is also present (Anderson, 1944). Anderson (1944) lists the following minerals in concentrates from Hopeful Gulch (in order of abundance): magnetite, epidote, apatite, scheelite, bismuthinite, wolframite, garnet, hornblende, zircon, feldspars, chlorite, augite, gold, amalgam, and calcite. Gold was discovered nearby on Bonanza Creek (NR008) in 1889 and that area was mined until at least 1918. The Ungalik River (NR008) was mined intermittently until 1987 or 1988 (Bundtzen and others, 1992). Although there is no record of mining at Hopeful Gulch, some probably took place in the early 1900s.
Age: Quaternary. The source of the gold, bismuthinite, scheelite, and wolframite in the concentrates may be the contact zone of the diorite (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]).
Production: Although there is no record of mining at Hopeful Gulch, some probably took place in the early 1900s.

Commodities (Major) - Au, Bi, W
Development Status: Undetermined.
Deposit Model: Placer Bi-W-Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	NR010

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References