Boulder Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Molybdenum
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 10308524
Record type Site
Current site name Boulder Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -144.13278, 64.36972 (WGS84)
Relative position The Boulder Creek prospect is situated on a north facing ridge of Black Mountain that separates Summit Creek and Boulder Creek, a tributary of the Goodpaster River (Doyon Limited, 1998). The prospect is located at SW1/4 section 26, T. 6 S., R. 18 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian, approximately 54 miles east-northeast of Delta Junction, Alaska. A winter trail from the South Fork of the Goodpaster River provides access up Divide Creek to the immediate vicinity of the prospect. There are numerous surface workings at and surrounding the site. It is locality 7 of Cobb and Eberlein (1980), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Boulder Creek'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Southeast Fairbanks(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta B-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Big Delta SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Big Delta(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Molybdenum Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Molybdenite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 80
USGS model code 21b
Deposit model name Porphyry Mo, low-F

Nearby scientific data

(1) -144.13278, 64.36972

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The area is characterized by rounded hills and flat-topped ridges (Thomas, 1970). The most prominent ridge is Black Mountain, which trends about 12 miles in a northerly direction and is underlain by Cretaceous granodiorite (Weber and others, 1978). A combination of augen gneiss, gneissic schist, and schist borders Black Mountain to the west. There is intense shearing and faulting in the contact between the metamorphic and intrusive rocks. Although most of the veining occurs in the shear zone, some is found in the intrusive rocks. This shear zone trends roughly N15E and dips 65 degrees NW. Veins are commonly 2 to 3 feet in width; some are as wide as 8 feet (Thomas, 1970). Molybdenite was observed sparingly in quartz veins in the granitic rock (Joesting, 1942). Doyon Limited (1998) documents the site as a Mo lode deposit. The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the nearby upper Tibbs Creek area. From 1936 to 1941, the Blue Lead (BD003), Gray Lead (BD017), and Grizzly Bear (BD018) in the nearby Tibbs Creek area were mined for lode gold. The original base camp was on Summit Creek, a tributary of Boulder Creek (Joesting, 1938) . Information regarding production or workings on Boulder Creek is not available.
  • Age = Veins cut Cretaceous intrusion

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Goodpaster

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Information regarding production on Boulder Creek is not available.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek area. From 1936 to 1941, the Blue Lead (BD003), Gray Lead (BD017), and Grizzly Bear (BD018) in the nearby Tibbs Creek area were mined for lode gold. The original base camp was on Summit Creek (Joesting, 1938).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Joesting, 1942

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Porphyry Mo? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 21b)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 26-APR-1999 Cameron S. Rombach Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

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.