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Redmond Creek

Prospect 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 10001711
MRDS ID A012495
Record type Site
Current site name Redmond Creek
Alternate or previous names Mosquito Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -146.6148, 64.36578 (WGS84)
Relative position The confluence of Junction Creek (BD021) and Mosquito Creek produces Redmond Creek. Redmond Creek flows north towards the Salcha River, approximately 5 miles north of Birch Lake on the Richardson Highway. The creek is approximately 11 miles long and has several tributaries. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system reports placer mining on Redmond Creek near the confluence of Junction Creek and Mosquito Creek. The approximate center of the mining activity is in SW1/4NW1/4 section 29, T. 6 S., R. 6 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. There are references to additional placer mining along Redmond Creek, but it is unclear where. An unimproved road provides access to the Redmond Creek and Junction Creek drainages. It is locality 33 of Menzie and Foster (1979), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Redmond Creek'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta B-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Big Delta SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Big Delta(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

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) -146.6148, 64.36578
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Richardson area is characterized by gentle slopes and broad, alluvium-filled valleys (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p. 140). The area is unglaciated and largely overlain by windblown silt, sand, and loess, locally up to 50 meters thick (Foster and others, 1979). The bedrock in the region comprises greenschist to amphibolite facies schist, marble, and gneiss that have been intruded by various igneous bodies (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977, p. 29). The schist and marble are probably Paleozoic, and the gneiss has a probable protolith of Precambrian and Paleozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks (Weber and others, 1978). The intrusive bodies in the area range in composition from rhyolite to andesite. The most commonly observed igneous rock in the area is fine-grained rhyolite containing quartz and feldspar phenocrysts (Olson and others, 1985). At the nearby Democrat Lode (BD014), the rhyolite contains arsenopyrite, gold, and pyrite, and is albitic, clay, and sericite altered (R.J. Newberry, oral communication, 1998). Structurally, the Richardson region is cut by a northwest-trending fracture system termed the Richardson Lineament. However, in the Redmond Creek and Junction Creek area, the structures tend to bend more to the west (Swainbank and others, 1984). The lineament appears to correspond to the distribution of the rhyolite and other intrusive bodies and placer gold deposits (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977, p. 29). Also, the lineament tends to separate gneissic rocks to the northeast from schistose rocks to the southwest (Swainbank and others, 1984). At the confluence of Mosquito Creek and Junction Creek, the depth to bedrock is reported to be 40 to 50 feet (Ellsworth, 1910). The placer gold mined from the Redmond Creek area ranged from 639.5 to 785 in fineness (Menzie and Foster, 1979).? Placer gold was first discovered in the Richardson district in 1905. Mining initially occurred on Tenderfoot Creek and soon expanded to nearby creeks and associated tributaries. After peak gold production in 1908, mining in the area declined (Olson and others, 1985). The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Redmond Creek as recent as 1980. From 1905 through 1921, production for the Richardson district was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, the district has produced approximately 10,000 additional ounces of gold from intermittent mining (Olson and others, 1985). It is unclear how much gold was produced from Redmond Creek.
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = From 1905 through 1921, production for the Richardson district was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, the district has produced approximately 10,000 additional ounces of gold from intermittent mining (Olson and others, 1985). It is unclear how much gold was produced from Redmond Creek.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer gold was first discovered in the Richardson district in 1905. Mining initially occurred on Tenderfoot Creek and soon extended to nearby creeks and associated tributaries. After peak gold production in 1908, mining in the area declined (Olson and others, 1985). The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Redmond Creek as recent as 1980.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Ellsworth, 1910

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 26-APR-1999 Cameron S. Rombach Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

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.