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Cripple Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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 10308975
MRDS ID A015006
Record type Site
Current site name Cripple Creek
Alternate or previous names Fox Gulch, Slug Gulch
Related records 10002571

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -156.05781, 63.54756 (WGS84)
Relative position Cripple Creek is a northwest-flowing headwater tributary of Graham Creek. Mining took place for approximately 3 1/2 miles of Cripple Creek; on a bench between Cripple Creek and Bear Creek (OP003); and near its junction with Graham Creek. The coordinates are for the approximate midpoint of 3 miles of tailings on Cripple Creek marked on the U.S. Geological Survey Ophir C-1 topographic map. This location is accurate. Cripple Creek corresponds to localities 6 and 8 of Cobb (1972 [MF 367]. Fox Gulch is at the head of Cripple Creek.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ophir C-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Ophir NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ophir(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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold 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) -156.05781, 63.54756
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The bedrock at the head of Cripple Creek consists of sandstone and shale; the lower portion of Cripple Creek is underlain by serpentinized greenstone in fault contact with the sandstone and shale (White and Killeen, 1953; Chapman and others, 1985). Cretaceous or Tertiary monzonite intrusions occur at the head of Cripple Creek (Chapman and others, 1985), and may be the source of placer gold in Cripple Creek (Bundtzen and others, 1987). The gravel in Cripple Creek includes chert, greenstone, andesite, basalt porphyry, sandstone, slate, and granitic rocks (White and Killeen, 1953). Placer gold was mined for 3.3 miles along Cripple Creek; on a bench between Cripple and Bear creeks (OP003); and near the mouth of Cripple Creek just upstream from its junction with Graham Creek. Both creek and bench placers were mined (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). Near the mouth, 5-6 feet of gravel were under 2-12 feet of muck (Mertie, 1936). The average gold fineness at Cripple Creek is 908 (Smith, 1941). Holzheimer (1926) reports stibnite at the head of Cripple Creek. Mining of stream and bench placers at Cripple Creek began in 1913 and continued until 1947; additional mining occurred in 1967, and intermittently from 1978(?) until the present (2001) (Eakin, 1914; Brooks, 1915; Smith, 1926; Smith, 1930; Smith, 1932; Smith, 1933 [B 836]; Smith, 1933 [B 834-A]; Smith, 1934 [B 857-A]; Smith, 1934 [B 864-A]; Mertie, 1936; Smith, 1936; Smith, 1937; Smith, 1938; Smith, 1939 [B 910-A]; Smith, 1939 [B 917-A]; Smith, 1941; Smith, 1942; White and Killeen, 1953; Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]; Bundtzen and others, 1987; Bundtzen and others, 1992). In 1933, Cripple Creek was the largest non-dredge operation in the district (Smith, 1934 [B 864-A]). In 1936, drag-line mining began along Cripple Creek. A conservative estimate of production from Cripple Creek is 38,542 ounces of gold and 401 ounces of silver; these totals do not include modern production (Bundtzen and others, 1987). A small, northwest-flowing headwater tributary to Cripple Creek, called Slug Gulch was also mined during the 1970's by Steve Nerod (Ron Rosander, oral commun., 2001). Slug Gluch is a small valley immediately south of the Porphyry Knob prospect (OP031).
  • Age = Quaternary. The source of the gold at Cripple Creek may be the meta-aluminous alkali-calcic to quartz-alkalic monzonite plutons at the head of the creek (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Innoko

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = A conservative estimate of production from Cripple Creek is 38,542 ounces of gold and 401 ounces of silver; these totals do not include modern production (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Mining of stream and bench placers at Cripple Creek began in 1913 and continued until 1947; additional mining occurred in 1967, and intermittently from 1978(?) until the present (2001) (Eakin, 1914; Brooks, 1915; Smith, 1926; Smith, 1930 [B 810]; Smith, 1932; Smith, 1933 [B 836]; Smith, 1933 [B 834-A]; Smith, 1934 [B 857-A]; Smith, 1934 [B 864-A]; Mertie, 1936; Smith, 1936; Smith, 1937; Smith, 1938; Smith, 1939 [B 910-A]; Smith, 1939 [917-A]; Smith, 1941; Smith, 1942; White and Killeen, 1953; Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]; Bundtzen and others, 1987; Bundtzen and others, 1992). In 1914 there were 5 underground placer mines, and about $15,000 worth of gold was produced (Brooks, 1915). In 1933, Cripple Creek was the largest non-dredge operation in the district (Smith, 1934 [B 864-A]). In 1936, drag-line mining began along Cripple Creek. By 1937, Cripple Creek had a post office, a 2200-foot landing field, and a radio station (Roehm, 1937). More recent production has occurred in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1976 (OFR 76-576)

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 07-AUG-01 Cameron, C.E. Northern Associates Inc.

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.