Excelsior Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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 10307489
Record type Site
Current site name Excelsior Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -145.05267, 62.85966 (WGS84)
Relative position The location is approximate; it may be on Excelsior Creek about 3.5 miles above its mouth. Cobb (1979 [OF 79-1247]) cites Mulligan (1974, fig. 8) as the source for his location. This location is in the SW1/4, section 33, T. 13 N, R. 2 E., Copper River Meridian. It is possible that the location is farther upstream. The only direct reference to its location is in Mendenhall and Schrader (1903, p.46) who reported that 'further locations have been made in the region between Gakona and Chistochina on Excelsior Creek and the headwaters of the Shnu.' The Shnu is now called Sinona Creek (GU044); it is the next creek east of Excelsior Creek.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valdez-Cordova(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Gulkana NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Gulkana C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Copper River(hydrologic unit)

Copper River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

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) -145.05267, 62.85966

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Country rock in the area is mostly volcanic rocks of the Pennsylvanian to Permian, Tetelna Formation. Placer deposits were found in the region in the early 1900's shortly after the discoveries of gold at Slate Creek, Miller Gulch, and other creeks in the Chistochina placer district. Nothing else is known of the deposits which are probably of the river-bar type.
  • Age = Holocene placer.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Chistochina

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = A small placer operation was noted in this area by Mendenhall and Schrader (1903) but apparently there has been no activity since.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Mulligan, J.J., 1974, Mineral resources of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline corridor: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8626, 24 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Gulkana quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1247, 36 p.

  • Deposit

    Mendenhall, W.C., and Schrader, F.C., 1903, The mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 15, 71 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mendenhall and Schrader, 1903

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 27-NOV-00 W.T. Ellis Alaska Earth Sciences
Reporter 27-NOV-00 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 27-NOV-00 W.J. Nokleberg U.S. Geological Survey

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.