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

Regional Level Types
Yellow Jacket 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 Yellow Jacket adit is at an elevation of about 2,300 feet, about 1.3 miles east-southeast of the mouth of Spruce Creek at the head of Windham Bay. It is about 0.2 mile southeast of the center of section 25, T. 49 S., R. 75 E.
Geology: The Yellow Jacket 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 (SD042); the Yellow Jacket prospect; 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-foot 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 in 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 only describes the Yellow Jacket prospect. The deposit consists of irregular quartz veins and stringers that strike and dip approximately parallel to the foliation. There are two sets of veins; one is N15W-70SW and the other N55W-55NE. The only workings are 25-foot and 15-foot adits, a 15-foot crosscut, and a 15-foot trench. The only activity on the prospect was in 1917 and there has apparently been no production. Most recently, the workings have been mapped by Kimble and others (1984, figure 41). 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 only workings are 25-foot and 15-foot adits, a 15-foot crosscut, and a 15-foot trench. Most recently, the workings have been mapped by Kimble and others (1984, figure 41).
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: The only activity on the prospect was in 1917 and there has apparently been no production.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SD043

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References