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Caribou Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Bismuth, Tin, Tungsten
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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 10308782
MRDS ID A012484
Record type Site
Current site name Caribou Creek
Related records 10160424, 10001702

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -145.71686, 64.6867 (WGS84)
Relative position Caribou Creek drains south to southwest into the Salcha River. The creek is roughly 6 miles long and has several small tributaries. Mining occurred on the lower 4.5 miles of the creek. The approximate center of the mining activity is in NE1/4NW1/4 section 3, T. 3 S., R. 10 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. Several trails and a landing strip provide access to the Caribou Creek drainage. It is locality 16 of Cobb and Eberlein (1980), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Caribou Creek'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta C-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

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

Big Delta C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Bismuth Critical Secondary
Tin Critical Secondary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bismuth Ore
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore
Scheelite 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) -145.71686, 64.6867
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The bedrock in the region comprises schist, gneiss, some granite, and minor amounts of serpentinite and marble. The schist is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, with localized garnetiferous and marble zones. The gneiss is coarse to fine grained with various amounts of quartz, feldspar, hornblende, and biotite. The schist and gneiss have suspected protoliths of Precambrian and Paleozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks. The intrusive bodies in the area range in composition from granodiorite to quartz monzonite, and have Cretaceous to Tertiary K-Ar ages (Weber and others, 1978). The gravels in the region average 18 to 20 feet in thickness and contain a variety of schist, gneiss, granite, and vein quartz (Prindle, 1906; B 284). Brooks (1908) reported the fineness of the gold in the area to be higher than that mined in the Richardson district. It is reported that coarse gold, native bismuth, and minor scheelite were found in quartz veins in the Caribou Creek drainage (Menzie and Foster, 1979). Joesting (1942) noted the occurrence of scheelite and cassiterite in stream concentrates. Hasler and others (1973) report igneous and metamorphic-hosted quartz veins containing variable amounts of native bismuth, bismuthinite, gold, graphite, and scheelite at an unknown location in the Caribou Creek drainage. Nuggets of native bismuth, up to 3 inches in diameter were found during placer mining (D.L. Grybeck, oral communication, 1999). Glover (1920?) reported a range in gold fineness of 884 to 899 for Caribou Creek. Placer gold was first discovered in the area in 1905. Prospecting initially occurred on Butte Creek (BD006) and expanded to Caribou Creek, and Gold Run Creek (BD016) and associated tributaries. Live water and thawed ground presented the biggest obstacles during prospecting (Prindle, 1906). Initially, only a few holes were sunk to bedrock in gravel deposits 24 to 36 feet thick (Prindle, 1906; B 284). In 1909, Caribou Creek became a major producer in the Salcha-Tenderfoot area. Due to thawed ground, drift mining proved difficult. As a result, machinery for ditching and open-cut methods was installed (Ellsworth, 1910). Smith (1939; B 910-A) reports that drilling programs were carried out in 1937 to justify the installation of a dredge equipped with 6-cubic-foot buckets. Additional drilling and evaluation was continued in 1938 and 1939 (Smith, 1941). A dredge was installed in the 1940's and worked most of the stream length (Eberlein and others, 1977). The dredge is still located approximately 4.5 miles up the stream bed (M.B. Werdon, oral communication, 1998). Historically, Caribou Creek has been grouped with the mines and prospects of the Richardson district. From 1905 through 1921, production from the Richardson district was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, the district has produced approximately 10,000 additional ounces of gold from intermittent mining (Olson and others, 1985). Individual gold production for Caribou Creek has not been reported separately. Exploration to determine the lode source for the placer gold is currently (1998) being conducted in the Caribou Creek drainage (R. Van Nieuwenhuyse, oral communication, 1998).
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Historically, Caribou Creek has been grouped with the mines and prospects of the Richardson area. From 1905 through 1921, production for the Richardson area was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, the district has produced approximately 10,000 additional ounces of gold from intermittent mining (Olson and others, 1985). Individual gold production for Caribou Creek has not been reported separately.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer gold was first discovered in the area in 1905. Prospecting initially occurred on Butte Creek (BD006) and expanded to nearby Caribou Creek (BD008), and Gold Run Creek (BD016) and associated tributaries. Live water and thawed ground presented the biggest obstacles during prospecting (Prindle, 1906). Initially, only a few holes were sunk to bedrock in gravel deposits ranging from 24 to 36 feet thick (Prindle, 1906; B 284). In 1909, Caribou Creek became a major producer in the Salcha-Tenderfoot area. Due to thawed ground, drift mining proved difficult. As a result, machinery for ditching and open-cut methods was installed (Ellsworth, 1910). Smith (1939; B 910-A) reports that drilling programs were carried out in 1937 to justify the installation of a dredge equipped with 6-cubic-foot buckets. Additional drilling and evaluation was continued in 1938 and 1939 (Smith, 1941). The dredge was installed in the 1940's and worked most of the stream length (Eberlein and others, 1977). The gold dredging operation was completed in 1952 (Saunders, 1954). The dredge is still located approximately 4.5 miles up the stream bed (M. Werdon, oral communication, 1998). Exploration to determine the lode source for the placer gold is currently (1998) being conducted in the Caribou Creek drainage (R. Van Nieuwenhuyse, oral communication, 1998).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Eberlein and others, 1977

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 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.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

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