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Alder Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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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. 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 10308560
Record type Site
Current site name Alder Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -143.70286, 65.24975 (WGS84)
Relative position Alder Creek is a northwest-flowing tributary of Webber Creek, which drains into the Yukon River. Alder Creek is approximately 6 miles long. The exact location of placer mining on Alder Creek is unknown. The latitude and longitude coordinates correspond to an arbitrarily chosen point near the midpoint of the creek, in section 19, T. 5 N., R. 20 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate to within 3 miles.

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 A-6(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

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) -143.70286, 65.24975
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = There has been historic placer gold mining on Alder Creek, and the creek shows evidence of worked ground (Mertie, 1942). The headwaters and upper portion of Alder Creek are underlain by Cretaceous to Tertiary conglomerate and other sedimentary rocks, but the creek then crosses a high-angle normal fault, and its lower half is underlain by Paleozoic to Precambrian metamorphic rocks (Dover and Miyaoka, 1988). The gold-bearing gravels at other placer mines within the quadrangle appear to be derived from the Cretaceous to Tertiary sedimentary rocks, and this may be the case with Alder Creek. This interpretation seems especially likely since Webber Creek, which Alder Creek joins, does not contain much, if any, gold (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-632]).
  • 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 = There has not been much, if any, placer gold produced from Alder Creek (Mertie, 1942).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Alder Creek is a site of historic placer exploration with possible minor production.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • 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.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1942

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = See also Webber Creek (CY037). This site lies 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.