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Cleary Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Antimony, 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 10308907
MRDS ID A015505
Record type Site
Current site name Cleary Creek
Related records 10257709, 10107556

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.41696, 65.08568 (WGS84)
Relative position Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc. 88; sec. 18, T. 3 N., R. 2 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The coordinates given are on the mining tailings at the confluence of Wolf Creek and Cleary Creek. Cleary Creek has been mined over most of its extent for 6 miles from the headwaters near Willow Creek to its mouth at the Chatanika River. Cleary Creek runs along the Steese Highway from Cleary Summit to near the village of Chatanika.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Livengood A-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Circle SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Livengood(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary
Tin Critical Secondary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
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) -147.41696, 65.08568
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Cleary Creek is a highly productive placer gold creek that has been mined over its entire length of over 5 miles. Gold production began as early as 1903 and production continues today from fresh placer cuts near the mouth of Chatham Creek. In the early 1900's, reports about Cleary Creek describe the depth to bedrock schist as being from 14 to more than 135 feet (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p. 107). Gravel is a variety of schist, some hornblende-garnet rock and boulders of vein quartz. These early reports also describe the gold occurring in the basal 1 to 7 feet of gravel and the top 1.5 to 4 feet of bedrock, with a paystreak of 35 to 150 feet wide; the average value of the paystreak was 0.566 ounces of gold per cubic yard (Prindle, 1905). Concentrates contained gold, stibnite, cassiterite, scheelite, pyrite, garnet, and rutile (Prindle, 1905). From 1903 through 1924 production was about 1,129,650 fine ounces (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633). The largest nugget reported weighed 13.51 ounces. Most production was from drift mines working a pay streak 150 feet wide with an average thickness of 5 feet. In 1915, most mining in the Chatanika flats was on benches on the south side of the Chatanika valley (Eakin, 1915). U.S.S.R. & M. Dredge no. 3 worked on lower Cleary Creek and near Chatanika from 1928 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1963. Dredge no. 5 worked on upper Cleary Creek from 1929 to 1942 (R.M. Chapman, 1978, U.S.G.S. memorandum). In 1996 and 1997, Alf Hopen leased placer ground from the Alaska Gold Co. on Upper Cleary Creek (Swainbank and others, 1997). In 1999, fresh placer cuts on Cleary Creek were observed at the mouth of Chatham Creek (J. Schaefer, field observation, 1999).

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 = From 1903 through 1924 production was about 1,129,650 fine ounces (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633). Production amounts have not been reported for recent mining activites.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = In 1915, most mining in the Chatanika flats was on benches on the south side of the Chatanika valley (Eakin, 1915). U.S.S.R. & M. Dredge no. 3 worked on lower Cleary Creek and near Chatanika from 1928 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1963. Dredge no. 5 worked on upper Cleary Creek from 1929 to 1942 (R.M. Chapman, 1978, U.S.G.S. memorandum). In 1996 and 1997, Alf Hopen leased placer ground from the Alaska Gold Co. on Upper Cleary Creek (Swainbank and others, 1997). In 1999, fresh placer cuts on Cleary Creek were observed at the mouth of Chatham Creek (J. Schaefer, field observation, 1999).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Prindle, 1905

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 C.J. Freeman, J.R. Guidetti Schaefer 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.