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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Spruce Creek

Occurrence 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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001407
MRDS ID A012151
Record type Site
Current site name Spruce Creek
Alternate or previous names Big Spruce Creek
Related records 10282061

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.30333, 67.58971 (WGS84)
Relative position Spruce Creek (named Big spruce Creek on modern topographic maps) is a large, south-flowing tributary to the Bettles River. Its confluence with the Bettles River is approximately 7 miles northeast of Big Lake (site), from which point it extends more than 12 miles to the north. Placer gold prospects on Spruce Creek have been reported near its mouth and further upstream. The ones upstream reportedly were promising; the ones near the mouth were not. Because the upstream locations are not described in any detail, the reference point has been plotted on Spruce Creek near its mouth (sec. 22, T. 32 N., R. 8 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). 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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -149.30333, 67.58971
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = There is little information about this occurrence. Reed (1938) reported little or no gold in two shafts about 45 feet deep along the right limit of the Spruce Creek valley near its mouth. Better prospects farther upstream were reported in the early 1900s (Reed, 1938), but their locations are not known. The creek traverses the Horace Mountain plutons and the Chandalar copper belt.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Koyukuk

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Prospecting in the early 1900s included two shafts about 45 feet deep near the mouth of Spruce Creek, and there were reports of prospecting farther upstream. Some claims reportedly were staked in 1953.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Maddren, A.G., 1913, The Koyukuk-Chandalar region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 532, 119 p.

  • Deposit

    Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska, Report 16, 306 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Chandalar and Wiseman quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-340, 205 p.

  • Deposit

    DeYoung, J.H., Jr., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-878-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Cruz, E.L., 1983, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-278, 91 p.

  • Deposit

    Maas, K.M., 1987, Maps summarizing land availability for mineral exploration and development in northern Alaska, 1986: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 10-87, 33 sheets.

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 = Reed (1938) pointed out that Maddren (1913) incorrectly identified Spruce Creek as Mule Creek and that Mule Creek was unnamed.?Alaska Kardex No. 031-005 (Kardex is a card file mining claim information system located at the State of Alaska DNR Public Information Center in Fairbanks).

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.