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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Garnet Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000564
MRDS ID A011009
Record type Site
Current site name Garnet Creek
Related records 10112278

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.39333, 67.55971 (WGS84)
Relative position Garnet Creek is a north-flowing tributary to the Bettles River. It joins the Bettles River approximately 4 miles north-northeast of Big Lake (site on Bob Johnson Lake). The reference point is at about the midpoint of mining activity that extended from the mouth to the forks (sec. 32, T. 32 N., R. 8 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). The area mined is probably along the creek within about one mile of the reference point. The location is accurate within a 1-mile radius.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chandalar C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Chandalar N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chandalar(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Doyon, Limited(ANCSA Region)

ANCSA Region NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -149.39333, 67.55971
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Garnet Creek is one of several tributaries to the Bettles River in which placer gold has been reported. The gold is in the present channel of the creek from the mouth to the forks, mostly on schist bedrock, but also in the lower few feet of the gravel (Reed, 1938). The gravel is coarse and waterworn, with many large boulders. The gravel is about 8 feet thick near the mouth of the creek and thins to 1 to 3 feet thick 1/2 mile from the mouth. Ground near the mouth of the creek was mined in 1937 and said to run $0.77 per square foot of bedrock (0.022 oz Au) (Reed, 1938). The gold was fairly fine, with a few nuggets. Reed (1938) reported the presence of a high channel, but it had not been prospected to any extent at that time. Reed (1938) described the bedrock in Garnet Creek as schist. Dillon (1996) mapped Ordovician black phyllite and marble near the mouth and Ordovician to Cambrian(?) quartz-feldspar and calcareous schists farther upstream.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Not determined

Mining district

District name Koyukuk

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Production from 1900 to 1909 was reported to yield $7 to $9 per man-day and totaled $1,000 (Maddren, 1913).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Surface mining reported in 1937. Claims were staked in 1959.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Reed, 1938

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = Gold fineness reported to be 872.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 17-NOV-1999 J.M. Britton U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.