Road cuts along the Seward Highway show the white quartz veins common in gold country. This is particularly evident 2.7 miles north of Turnagain Pass. A product of magma, quartz began as hot silica-rich solutions that moved along faults and crystallized into veins as they cooled. During the cooling process, gold and associated minerals crystallized in the bedrock to form mineral lodes, which were later broken down by weathering processes, and the liberated gold was washed into streams to form gold placers. Although the Kenai Corridor was a promising place to look for gold, most early prospectors had little knowledge of geology, and often found gold simply by trial and error.
