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California Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Mercury, Platinum
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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 10308852
MRDS ID A015346
Record type Site
Current site name California Creek
Related records 10002863

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.72388, 64.04962 (WGS84)
Relative position The California Creek mine is located in sections 16, 9, 10, 3, 4, T. 10 S., R. 6 W. and sections 33 and 28, T. 9 S., R. 6 W., Fairbanks Meridian. The mine is localities 66 and 67 of Cobb (`1972 [MF 410]). The coordinates given are for location 67 of Cobb (1972), which is a placer mine 5 miles above the mouth of Rex Creek, where California creek enters a canyon. Placer mining also occurred at several localities for several miles downstream in recent years. California Creek is a tributary of the Totatlanika River approximately 3.5 miles east of the Liberty Bell mine (FB132).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Denali(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fairbanks A-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Fairbanks S(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
Mercury Secondary
Platinum Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
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) -148.72388, 64.04962
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Prior to 1918, prospecting for placer gold was carried on throughout the 20 miles of California Creek (Maddren, 1918, p. 380). Mining in 1910 was 5 miles above Rex Creek, where gravels are 6 feet deep (Capps, 1912, p. 44). Mining has also taken place at scattered localities in sections 9 and 10, 3 and 4, and 33 and 34, T. 10 S., R. 6 W., at irregular intervals through at least the 1980's (Donald Grybeck, field observations, 1994, and oral commun. from Boyd Blair, 1994). The gold occurs in stream gravels on schist bedrock. Platinum and scarce cinnabar have been found in the placers (Joesting, 1942 [ATDM Pamph. 1]).
  • 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 Bonnifield

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Prior to 1918, prospecting for placer gold was carried on throughout the 20-mile-long length of California Creek (Maddren, 1918, p. 380). Mining in 1910 was 5 miles above Rex Creek, where gravels are 6 feet deep (Capps, 1912, p. 44). Mining has also taken place at scattered localities in sections 9 and 10, 3 and 4, and 33 and 34, T. 10 S., R. 6 W., at irregular intervals through at least the 1980's (Donald Grybeck, field observations, 1994, and oral commun. from Boyd Blair, 1994). An undisclosed amount of gold was produced from California Creek in 1989 from placer mines operated by Jack Lacross and Jack Zupan (Bundtzen and others, 1990, p. 37).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Small-scale placer mining.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1911, Mineral resources of the Bonnifield region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-H, p. 218-235.

  • Deposit

    Maddren, A.G., 1918, Gold placers near the Nenana coal field: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, p. 363-402.

  • Deposit

    Joesting, H.R., 1942, Strategic mineral occurences in interior Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 1, 46 p.

  • Deposit

    Malone, Kevin, 1962, Mercury occurrences in Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Circular 8131, 57 p.

  • Deposit

    Malone, Kevin, 1965, Mercury in Alaska, in Mercury potential of the United States: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8252, p. 31-59.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-410, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-662, 174 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Deagen, J.R. and Moore, J.L., 1990, Alaska's mineral industry 1989: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 44, 100 p.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1912, The Bonnifield region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 501, 64 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1976 (OFR 76-662)

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 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.