Hunter Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Mercury, Lead, Tin
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 10002972
MRDS ID A015470
Record type Site
Current site name Hunter Creek
Related records 10208686

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.98808, 65.47158 (WGS84)
Relative position Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc. 57; SE1/4SE1/4 sec. 34, T. 8 N., R. 12 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The coordinates given are for the eastern end of the placer mine tailings along Hunter Creek. The placer ground continues downstream into the Tanana Quadrangle.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Livengood S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Livengood(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Copper Secondary
Mercury Secondary
Lead Secondary
Tin Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = Copper (native)

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Cinnabar Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Copper 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 Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Slate
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
    Rock unit name Rampart Group
    Rock description Rampart Group
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert

Nearby scientific data

(1) -149.98808, 65.47158

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Except near the mouth and the extreme headwaters of this placer-mined creek, the bedrock is shale, tuff and diabase of the Rampart series (Spurr, 1898). Prindle and Hess (1906) describe the bedrock as slate near the head, quartzite with tuffaceous greenstone in the lower part of the valley, and Kenai (Tertiary) sandstone and conglomerate near the mouth. More recent geologic mapping of the area indicates that most of the Hunter Creek drainage is underlain by mafic igneous rocks with a few interlayered sedimentary rocks (Weber and others, 1992). Prospectors found gold through the entire length of the creek (Spurr, 1898).? Gravels are 2 to 12 feet thick and overlain by as much as 40 feet of frozen muck (Prindle and Hess, 1906). Much of the gold was found in bedrock cracks along with considerable barite and some hematite in the concentrates (Prindle and Hess, 1906). Eakin (1912) reported that there was very little production from stream gravels and that most gold came from the bench 15 to 20 feet above the stream. The bedrock surface was noted to be uneven with overburden thickening toward the valley wall (Eakin, 1912). The gravel and the top 4 feet of shattered greenstone bedrock were mined (Mertie, 1934). Heavy mineral in concentrates include magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, barite, pyrite, picotite, cinnabar, galena, cassiterite, and native copper (Mertie, 1934). Waters (1934) reported that concentrate samples also contained garnet, zircon, limonite, quartz, diopside, and epidote. ? Mining began in 1896 and continued with few interruptions to as recently as 1940 (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 100). The ground was apparently mined out with little gold being found upstream from Dawson Creek (Eberlein, 1977, p. 66).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Rampart

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Mining began in 1896 and continued with few interruptions to as recently as 1940 (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 100).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Mining began in 1896 and continued with few interruptions to as recently as 1940 (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 100).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1976 (OFR 76-633)

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAY-99 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 04-MAY-99 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.