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Alpha 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 10002051
MRDS ID A012900
Record type Site
Current site name Alpha Creek
Related records 10282045

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.49689, 64.62567 (WGS84)
Relative position This small bench and alluvial placer gold mine is on Alpha Creek, a west tributary to Snake River. Their confluence is 0.9 mile west-northwest of the Snake River road crossing of Lindblom Creek. The main workings are where Alpha Creek enters the Snake River flood plain, at elevations of about 100 to 200 feet. This is locality 99 of Cobb (1972, MF 463; 1978, OFR 78-93). The map location is in the NW1/4 section 16, T. 9 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian; is accurate to within 1,000 feet.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Nome C-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nome(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Sitnasuak Native Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village 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
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) Pzncs
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Alpha Creek placer deposit is on the flood plain of Snake River on the flank of the range of hills that extends from Monument Creek to Sledge Creek. On the basis of the configuration of tailings, the placer deposit was surface mined by scraper and gin pole. Cathcart (1922, p. 249) reported 'considerable' placer gold production from this small placer. Bedrock cleaned in mining was cut by numerous glassy quartz stringers containing sulfides and their alteration products. Cathcart (1922) did not find gold in the quartz samples that he assayed, but he reported that A.C. Stewart had obtained about 0.6 ounce of gold per ton in selected veinlets that he assayed. In addition to a local bedrock source, additional gold could have been derived from the Alpha Ridge lode prospect (NM171) at the head of Alpha Creek. Cathcart (1920) speculated that the gold either was distributed irregularly in the quartz veins or was derived from mineralized schist. The Alpha Creek placer is on schist bedrock on the east flank of the Twin Mountain anticline of Bundtzen and others (1994).
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Alpha placer deposit was worked, probably by scraper and gin pole, before 1920 (Cathcart, 1922). A reverse-circulation drill hole was completed near the ditch line above the placer by Kennecott Exploration Company in about 1994. Samples from this hole contained maximum gold values of a few hundreths of an ounce per ton.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cathcart, 1922

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Alluvial placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a); possibly partly residual.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUL-00 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 10-JUL-00 Travis L. Hudson Hawley Resource Group

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.