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Thunder Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Tin, Tungsten
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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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000917
MRDS ID A011581
Record type Site
Current site name Thunder Creek
Related records 10136979

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -151.00585, 62.49648 (WGS84)
Relative position U. S. Bureau of Mines (1998) locates this mine in the southwest quarter of Section 19, R. 9 W., T. 28 N., of the Seward Meridian. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3)) show an outline of a claim block on Thunder Creek, a tributary to Cache Creek. This locality is upstream about 0.6 miles from TL032. These two occurrences are two separate areas of placer workings, and appropriately assigned their own ARDF numbers, despite the confusing use of the same name twice.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Talkeetna B-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Talkeetna SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Yentna River(hydrologic unit)

Susitna River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Tin Critical Primary
Tungsten Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Cassiterite Ore
Copper Ore
Gold Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Garnet Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Zircon Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Argillic alteration is associated with fault zones (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

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 Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock unit name Kenai Group;;
    Rock description Kenai Group;;
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud

Nearby scientific data

(1) -151.00585, 62.49648
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Clark and Hawley (1968) describe placer gold associated with an auriferous white quartz conglomerate and breccia deposits at Thunder Creek. The conglomerate is composed of angular quartz fragments mixed with a few rounded quartz and lithic pebbles in fine siliceous clay matrix. Thin layers of lignite are present within the conglomerate which indicates a Tertiary age (Clark and Hawley, 1968). ? Capps (1931) reports grades of $2 to $2.50 per cubic yard when gold was at $20.67. The gold fineness ranges from 850.5 to 876.5, averaging 865 (Clark and Hawley, 1968.) Concentrates contain gold, ilmente, magnetite, garnet, zircon, pyrite, arsenopyrite, cassiterite, sheelite and native copper (Cobb and Reed, 1980).? the white quartz conglomerate placers (e.g. Willow Creek (TL042), Thunder Creek (TL032), and Dollar Creek (TL031)) represent the oldest placers in the Cache Creek area (Clark and Hawley, 1968). Capps (1925) describes the white quartz conglomerate as the basal unit of the Tertiary Kenai Formation. However Clark and Hawley (1968) suggest that the white quartz conglomerate is older and that the Kenai Group was deposited on it. They believe the auriferous conglomerate is near its original source in part because the characteristics of the gold show a common source that has not moved far or has not been reworked. Further, they indicate that the conglomerate is a product of shearing and weathering in situ of argillic altered, auriferous Tertiary quartz porphyry intrusive rocks and associated quartz veins that were emplaced along northeast, high angle normal faults. The lineaments in Dutch and Cache Creeks represent two of these faults. From these paleo-channels gold was reconcentrated into Cache Creek in more recent time. (Mertie, 1919; Clark and Hawley, 1968; C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc.,1978). ? Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones similar to those in Thunder Creek are observed along Dollar (TL031) and Thunder Creek (TL032), at the headwaters of Treasure (TL030), Dutch (TL033) and Bear Creeks (TL017) and at an unnamed locality east of McDoel Peak (TL053).
  • Age = Tertiary and Pleistocene (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Undetermined.

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Capps (1931) reports grades of $2 to $2.50 per cubic yard when gold was at $20.67. The gold fineness ranges from 850.5 to 876.5, averaging 865 (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer operations are mapped in Thunder Creek from its confluence with Cache Creek to about a mile and a half upstream (C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). Surface placer operations were probably open-cut, sluice and (or) hydraulic operations.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Clark and Hawley, 1968

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones similar to those in Dollar Creek are observed along Dollar (TL031) and Thunder Creeks (TL032, TL058), at the headwaters of Treasure (TL030), Dutch (TL033) and Bear Creeks (TL017) and at an unnamed locality east of McDoel Peak (TL053).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

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.