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Mastodon Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tin
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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 10001462
MRDS ID A012210
Record type Site
Current site name Mastodon Creek
Alternate or previous names Forty Two Gulch, Baker Gulch
Related records 10135699

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -145.301, 65.46973 (WGS84)
Relative position The location is the intersection of Mastodon Creek and Baker Gulch. The placered area extends approximately 2 miles up and downstream, along Mastodon Creek. Mastodon Creek has its headwaters on the northeast flank of Mastodon Dome. It flows in a northeasterly direction for approximately 9.5 km before joining Independence Creek. Below this junction the creek is known as Mammoth Creek. The eastern headwater tributary of Mastodon Creek is known as Forty-Two Gulch. Baker Gulch, about 2.5 km downstream, is the only other tributary of Mastodon Creek.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Circle SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Circle C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tin Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
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) -145.301, 65.46973
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Bedrock of the Mastodon Creek drainage is mostly the Middle Schist and Quartzite unit described by Wiltse and others (1995) as quartz-muscovite schist, porphyroblastic-albite-quartz-chlorite-muscovite schist, with lesser amounts of quartzose porphyroblastic albite-chlorite schist.? Gold is in the basal 6 feet of unfrozen gravel, on bedrock, and in the top 7 feet of bedrock. Average depth to bedrock is 10 to 12 feet (Prindle, 1913, p. 63). Both the stream and bench gravels are auriferous. The paystreak is the richest in the district and is 200 feet wide and 7 to 10 feet thick. Gold is coarsest near the head of the stream and contains abundant quartz. Downstream the gold becomes more flaky, carries less quartz and shows an increase in fineness (.740 to .811 Au) (Mertie, 1938). Cassisterite is reported in concentrates (Cobb, 1973, [B 1374]). The gravel in Mastodon Creek is coarse and consists mainly of boulders with diameters of 10 to 30 cm, but some boulders are as much as 1 m across. Clasts are commonly subangular to rounded (Yeend, 1991, p. 13).? Mining on Mastodon Creek has been nearly continous since gold was discovered. In the early 1900's, most operations consisted of 'shoveling in' gravel to an elevated sluicebox with wood riffles. A steam hoist and a hydraulic plant with a steam scraper were also used (Brooks, 1907). A dredge operated in 1912 to 1913, 1915, and 1918 to 1926. Hydraulic mining was the most favored method on Mastodon Creek for most of its history. In 1937, a dragline excavator began to be used. Baker Gulch was heavily prospected by trenching and panning in 1988 (Yeend, 1991).? Production for Mastodon Creek through 1936 was between 96,758 and 145,137 fine ounces (Cobb, 1976, p. 43 to 45, [OFR 76-633]). The early mining operations recovered 0.1 to 0.15 ounces per cubic yard of gravel, whereas by the 1930's, 0.01 to 0.0125 ounces per cubic yard was a common yield (Yeend, 1991). Mastodon Creek produced an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 ounces of gold (Yeend, 1991). In 1987, an operation in the upper creek valley had to discontinue mining because the gold values were only 0.005 ounces per cubic yard (Yeend, 1991).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Circle

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Production for Mastodon Creek through 1936 was between 96,758 and 145,137 fine ounces (Cobb, 1976, p. 43 to 45, [OFR 76-633]). The early mining operations recovered 0.1 to 0.15 ounces per cubic yard of gravel, whereas by the 1930's, 0.01 to 0.0125 ounces per cubic yard was a common yield (Yeend, 1991). Mastodon Creek produced an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 ounces of gold (Yeend, 1991). In 1987, an operation in the upper creek valley had to discontinue mining because the gold values were only 0.005 ounces per cubic yard (Yeend, 1991).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Mining on Mastodon Creek has been nearly continous since gold was discovered there in the late 1800's. In the early 1900's, most operations consisted of 'shoveling in' gravel to an elevated sluicebox with wood riffles. A steam hoist and a hydraulic plant with a steam scraper were also used (Brooks, 1907). A dredge operated in 1912 to 1913, 1915, and 1918 to 1926. Hydraulic mining was the most favored method on Mastodon Creek for most of its history. In 1937, a dragline excavator began to be used. Baker Gulch was heavily prospected by trenching and panning in 1988 (Yeend, 1991).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Yeend, 1991.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = Mastodon Creek has produced more gold than any other creek in the Circle district and in its early history was known as the 'best creek in Alaska' (Dunham, 1898). See also Mammoth Creek, ARDF no. CI036, Independence Creek, ARDF no. CI029 and Miller Creek, ARDF no. CI039.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 09-SEP-98 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 09-SEP-98 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 09-SEP-98 Clements, A.S. Avalon Development Corporation

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.