Cunningham Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead
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 10100982
MRDS ID A012726
Record type Site
Current site name Cunningham Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -163.33453, 65.92825 (WGS84)
Relative position Cunningham Creek is a west headwater tributary to Hannum Creek (BN057). Hannum Creek is a west tributary to Inmachuk River. Herried (1966) shows placer mine workings to be present 500 feet downstream of the mouth of Harrys Creek but other workings may be present between here and the confluence with Hannum Creek (Cobb, 1975). This is locality 75 of Cobb (1972; MF 417; 1975; OFR 75-429).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Northwest Arctic(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bendeleben D-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Bendeleben NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bendeleben C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Goodhope-Spafarief Bay(hydrologic unit)

Northern Seward Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Lead Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = lead carbonates

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyromorphite Ore
Pyrite Gangue

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 Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -163.33453, 65.92825

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Placer gold mining took place as early as 1901 on Cunningham Creek when $1,200 (about 70 ounces) was said to have been recovered near its mouth (Moffit, 1905). Herried (1966) shows placer mine workings to be present 500 feet downstream of the mouth of Harrys Creek but other workings may be present between here and the confluence with Hannum Creek (Cobb, 1975, OFR 75-429). Anderson (1947) reports that a placer concentrate produced by drift mining in 1942 contained lead carbonates, pyromorphite, and galena and assayed 50 % Pb and 5.7 ounces/ton Ag. Mining from near Harrys Creek produced coarse gold and abundant galena and pyrite (Mulligan, 1965). Sulfides are also apparently present in colluvial materials along stream. Galena- and sphalerite-bearing lode deposits are present on Harrys Creek (BN055) and Hannum Creek (BN056). Bedrock of the area is a metasedimentary schist and marble sequence of Lower Paleozoic age (Till and others, 1986). Quaternary/Teritiary basalt flows locally cap ridges along stream valleys.
  • 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 Fairhaven

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Open-cut surface placer mine workings are locally present between the confluence with Hannum Creek and the mouth of Harrys Creek.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1975 (OFR 75-429)

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 15-MAR-1999 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.