1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Ester Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Antimony, Tungsten
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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 10308825
MRDS ID A015317
Record type Site
Current site name Ester Creek
Related records 10136431, 10002842

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.03195, 64.84566 (WGS84)
Relative position Extensive placer mining took place on Ester Creek in the northern portions of sections 7 and 8, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., and section 12, T. 1 S., R. 3 W., Fairbanks Meridian. The coordinates given are for the approximate center of placered ground that is shown on the Fairbanks D-2 and D-3 topographic maps. Ester Creek is just south of the town of Ester, and the creek has been mined for at least 3 miles by drift mining, surface open pits, and dredge from 1905 well into the 1990's. This mine is included in locality 44 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Fairbanks N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Fairbanks C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Antimony Critical Secondary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Scheelite Ore
Stibnite 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) -148.03195, 64.84566
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Ester Creek produced placer gold almost continuously from 1905 well into the 1990's. The Ester Creek placer gold is deeply buried; the depth to bedrock was originally nearly 170 feet near its mouth, although much of the material over bedrock has since been stripped away (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p.110). Productive gravels average 300 feet wide and 8 feet thick (Prindle and Katz, 1913). United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. Dredge no. 6 worked on Ester Creek from 1929 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1950 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). Early in 1951, the dredge moved from near the mouth of Eva Creek to Gold Hill (FB155) through a canal. Prior to dredging, most work on the creek was by drift mines through deep shafts in the frozen, reworked loess or the co-called muck that blanketed the gravel, or from surface workings after stipping away the muck with hydraulic monitors (Wimmler, 1922, p. 20; Wimmler,1924, p. 67-68; Wimmler, 1925, p. 46; Wimmler, 1926 [ATDM MR 195-11, p. 58]; Wimmler, 1929, p. 191). In addition to gold, scheelite and stibnite were found in placer concentrates (Brooks, 1907; Joesting, 1942 [ATDM Pamph. 1]). Mining, prior to 1961, produced more than $4,000,000 worth of gold (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). Also see the Yellow Eagle mine (FB152) that recently worked on ground south of Eva Creek that may in part be in the Ester Creek drainage.
  • Age = Quaternary placer.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Prior to 1961, Ester Creek produced more than $4,000,000 worth of gold (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). Placer operations were active through the 1990's; however, the amount 0f gold produced in recent years has not been reported (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Ester Creek produced placer gold almost continuously from 1905 well into the 1990's. The Ester Creek placer gold is deeply buried; the depth to bedrock was originally nearly 170 feet near its mouth, although much of the material over bedrock has since been stripped away (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p.110). Productive gravels average 300 feet wide and 8 feet thick (Prindle and Katz, 1913). United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. Dredge no. 6 worked on Ester Creek from 1929 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1950 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). Early in 1951, the dredge moved from near the mouth of Eva Creek to Gold Hill (FB155) through a manmade canal. Prior to dredging, most work on the creek was by drift mines through deep shafts in the frozen, reworked loess or so-called muck that blanketed the gravel, or from surface workings after stipping away the muck with hydraulic monitors (Wimmler, 1922, p. 20; Wimmler,1924, p. 67-68; Wimmler, 1925, p. 46; Wimmler, 1926 [ATDM MR 195-11, p. 58]; Wimmler, 1929, p. 191). In addition to gold, scheelite and stibnite were found in placer concentrates (Brooks, 1907; Joesting, 1942 [ATDM Pamph. 1]). Mining, prior to 1961, produced more than $4,000,000 worth of gold (Cobb, 1973, B 1374). Also see the Yellow Eagle mine (FB152) that recently worked on ground south of Eva Creek that may in part be in the Ester Creek drainage.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1976 (B 1374)

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 31-JUL-2001 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer and C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation

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.