Yates Prospect, Petersburg Mining District, Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Yates Prospect	Prospect
Petersburg Mining District	Mining District
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

The prospect is in the Chuck River Wilderness Area and other than a few patented or current claims(?), the area is closed to prospecting and mining.
Location: The Yates adit and another unnamed adit included in this site are at an elevation of about 1,300 feet, about 1.2 miles east of the mouth of Spruce Creek at the head of Windham Bay. They are about 0.3 mile northeast of the center of section 25, T. 49 S., R. 75 E.
Geology: The Yates prospect is part of a group of 35 claims and properties that were consolidated under the name Marty Group in the 1920's and fell under the control of the Alaska Windham Gold Mining Company in 1930 (Kimble and others, 1984). As defined in this data base, the properties in the claim block include the Fries and Falls Quartz prospects (SD040); the Marty adit (SD041); the Yates and nearby unnamed prospect; the Yellow Jacket prospect (SD043); and the Jackson prospect, Keith prospect, and the Jensen Mine (SD044). These properties are often referred to collectively as the Second Zone as defined by Spencer (1906). The early history of these properties is described in detail by Redman (1988). A small stamp mill was erected on on the south side of Spruce Creek in 1900 and fed by a 3,000-foot aerial tram to the Yellow Jacket prospect; in 1927, a Lane mill--the Marty mill-- was erected on the north side of Spruce Creek and tied to the Jensen adit by a 4,400-feet aerial tram. There may have been small test runs of ore through the early stamp mill from one or more of the prospects but the only significant production from the Second Zone is apparently from the Jensen Mine which produced 18 tons of hand-sorted ore in 1927 that contained about 50 ounces of gold. In general, the deposits in the Second Zone are gold-quartz veins with few sulfides; the best values are in veins that crosscut muscovite schist of Cretaceous age that generally trends about N30W (Brew and Grybeck, 1984). Although the mines at the head of Windham Bay have been examined by various companies from the 1930's to the establishment of the Chuck River Wilderness Area, there has been little substantial work and no new underground workings. This record describes only the Yates prospect and a small unnamed adit nearby (Kimble and others, 1984). The Yates prospect consists of 35-foot drift with a 50-foot crosscut. Several veins are cut by the Yates adit. One strikes N45W and dips 75 NE; another strikes N25W and dips 72SW, parallel to the layering in the host rocks. The highest value was 0.05 part per million gold in a 90-foot-long channel sample. The prospect was active from 1917 to 1937; it was restaked in the the early 50's and was active in a minor way for a few years (Williams, 1955 [PE 115-6]). The deposits at the nearby Marty prospect (SD041) and the Sumdum Chief Mine (SD028) have been dated at about 55 million years (Goldfarb and others, 1997). This prospect is geologically similar and probably of the same age. Goldfarb and others (1997) also propose that most gold-quartz vein deposits along the Juneau Gold Belt such as this one were formed from fluids generated by Cretaceous metamorphism and then forced to the site of deposition by the emplacement of the Coast Range Batholith.
Workings: The Yates prospect consists of 35-foot drift with a 50-foot crosscut; there is a short unnamed adit nearby.
Age: The deposits at the nearby Marty prospect (SD041) and the Sumdum Chief Mine (SD028) have been dated at about 55 million years (Goldfarb and others, 1997). This prospect is geologically similar and probably of the same age.
Production: Apparently none.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SD042

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References