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Humboldt Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tin
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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 10308789
MRDS ID A012729
Record type Site
Current site name Humboldt Creek
Related records 10001901

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.42342, 65.83934 (WGS84)
Relative position About 5,000 feet of placer gold mine workings are present along the main channel of upper Humbolt Creek. Humbolt Creek is a northeast-flowing tributary to Goodhope River. The placer mine workings begin about 6 miles upstream of the mouth of Ballard Creek, a southeast tributary to Humbolt Creek. This is locality 20 of Cobb (1972; MF 417; 1975; OFR 75-429).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bendeleben D-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Bendeleben NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bendeleben(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)

Federal lands

Bering Land Bridge 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
Tin Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = pyrite (abundant)

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore
Hematite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue

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) -164.42342, 65.83934
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The headwaters of Humbolt Creek are in an area southeast of the Oonatut Granite Complex (Hudson, 1979; Hudson and Arth, 1983). This area, consists of a Lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage and a polydeformed, metapelitic schist of possible Precambrian age (Till and others, 1986); it is interpreted to be over buried extensions of the Oonatut Granite (Barnes and Hudson, 1977; Hudson, 1979). Cassiterite-rich mineralized zones have not been identified in the headwater bedrock but several high angle fault zones with polymetallic veins (BN048, BN 049, BN050, BN051, BN052) are probably part of tin metallizing systems. The alluvial gravels of Humbolt Creek carry significant gold, for which they have been placer mined, and abundant cassiterite. As early as 1908, gold-bearing concentrate with abundant pyrite and cassiterite was reported (Knopf, 1908). Hydraulic mining and dozer/sluice operations along 5,000 feet of the stream channel took place primarily before WW II (Cobb, 1975). The abundance of cassiterite was a handicap to gold mining; as much as 30 tons of tin concentrate (containing 36,000 pounds of metallic tin) were produced in 1919 (Brooks and Martin, 1921). Most of the cassiterite that was recovered by placer mining was not marketed; oil drums containing cassiterite-rich concentrate (60 % tin) were still stored at this location in the 1960's (Sainsbury and others, 1968). The recovered cassiterite included nuggets up to 4 inches across, some show crystal faces, some are brecciated, and some iare ntergrown with quartz (Sainsbury and others, 1968). Gold and cassiterite can be panned from the surface down through several feet of unmined gravel near the headwater fork of the creek. The gravels here are not mined out (Cobb, 1975, OFR 75-429). The cassiterite-bearing placer deposits are the best indication that significant tin metallization has occurred in the headwaters of the drainage.
  • 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 production information

  • Production Notes = The abundance of cassiterite was a handicap to gold mining; as much as 30 tons of tin concentrate (containing 36,000 pounds of metallic tin) were produced in 1919 (Brooks and Martin, 1921). Most of the cassiterite that was recovered by placer mining was not marketed; oil drums containing cassiterite-rich concentrate (60 % tin) were still stored at this location in the 1960's (Sainsbury and others, 1968).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = About 5,000 feet of placer gold mine workings are present along the main channel of Humbolt Creek. Some test pits and shafts are present in unmined areas.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Sainsbury and others, 1968

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.

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.