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Mineral Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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 10002774
MRDS ID A015236
Record type Site
Current site name Mineral Creek
Related records 10185161

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -143.18285, 65.28976 (WGS84)
Relative position Mineral Creek is location 4 of Cobb (1972 [MF-390]). It is a northwest-flowing tributary of Woodchopper Creek located about 4 miles from the Yukon River. Coordinates are for claims on Mineral Creek near the mouth of Alice Gulch (CY002), in section 2, T. 5 N., R. 21 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate to within half a mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Charley River B-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Charley River SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charley River(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve(National Preserve)

National Preserve NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Conglomerate Bedrock Iron Stained

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -143.18285, 65.28976
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Mineral Creek is underlain primarily by Cretaceous to Tertiary sedimentary rocks (Dover and Miyaoka, 1988). The gold is found in gravels and in weathered conglomerate bedrock (Brooks, 1907).? Claims were staked on Mineral Creek in 1898, but mining did not take place until later. Early mining occurred near the mouth of Alice Gulch. Gold assayed 925 parts Au per thousand, and 072 parts Ag per thousand (Mertie, 1938). By 1906, eighteen men were mining 7 claims, mostly by shoveling. One small hydraulic plant was also used for stripping, and three steam hoists were being operated (National Park Service, 1990). In 1906, there were three benches on the south side of the valley, with 2 to 5 feet of gravel beneath as much as 30 feet of muck. The pay streaks were in parallel channels 12 to 14 feet wide. The gold was also in weathered, iron-stained conglomerate bedrock (Brooks, 1907).? Much of the mining was done in winter, with gravel stockpiled for sluicing in the spring. By 1935, 12,000 ounces of gold had been recovered from Mineral Creek (National Park Service, 1990).? A dredge was installed on Woodchopper Creek (CY038) in 1937, and mining on Mineral Creek became less active, although Alluvial Gold drilled 92 holes in Mineral Creek gravel in 1938. They reported finding about 1 ounce of gold for every 66 cubic yards of muck and gravel (National Park Service, 1990). Mining and prospecting occurred on Mineral Creek as recently as 1986, and the area may still be active (National Park Service, 1990).
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Circle

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = By 1935, 12,000 ounces of gold had been removed from Mineral Creek.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Claims were staked on Mineral Creek in 1898, but mining did not take place until later. Early mining occurred near the mouth of Alice Gulch. Nuggets assayed 925 parts Au per thousand, and 072 parts Ag per thousand (Mertie, 1938). By 1906, eighteen men were mining 7 claims, mostly by shoveling. One small hydraulic plant was also used for stripping, and three steam hoists were being operated (National Park Service, 1990). Much of the mining was done in winter, with gravel stockpiled for sluicing in the spring (National Park Service, 1990).? A dredge was installed on Woodchopper Creek (CY038) in 1937, and mining on Mineral Creek became less active, although Alluvial Gold drilled 92 holes in Mineral Creek gravel in 1938. They reported finding about 1 ounce of gold for every 66 cubic yards of muck and gravel (National Park Service, 1990). Mining and prospecting occurred on Mineral Creek as recently as 1986, and the area may still be active (National Park Service, 1990).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1907, The Alaskan mining industry in 1906: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314, p. 19-39.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1930, Geology of the Eagle-Circle district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 816, 168 p.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1942, Tertiary deposits of the Eagle-Circle district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-D, p. 213-264.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Charley River quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-390, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Charley River and Coleen quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-632, 45 p.

  • Deposit

    Dover, J.A., and Miyaoka, R.T., 1988, Reinterpreted geologic map and fossil data, Charley River quadrangle, east-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2004, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    National Park Service, 1990, Final environmental impact statement, volume 1, Mining in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska: National Park Service, Anchorage, Alaska, p. 36-44.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, Gold placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C, p. 133-261.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = National Park Service, 1990

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = See also Woodchopper Creek (CY038), Dome Creek (CY010), Iron Creek (CY019), and Alice Gulch (CY002). This site is within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-APR-00 Cameron, C.E. 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.