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Little Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, 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 10308978
MRDS ID A015016
Record type Site
Current site name Little Creek
Alternate or previous names Gold Run, Discovery, Bonanza, No. 6 Pup
Related records 10209157, 10002580

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -156.48206, 63.06684 (WGS84)
Relative position Little Creek is a northeast-flowing tributary to the Innoko River. The confluence of Little Creek and the Innoko River is approximately 7 miles southeast of Ophir. Mining occurred along nearly the entire 5 miles of Little Creek. The coordinates are for the approximate midpoint of mining, in the NE 1/4 sec. 13, T. 28 S., R. 12 E., Kateel River Meridian. The site corresponds to localities 19 to 21 of Cobb (1972 [MF 367]). The location is accurate. This record also includes references to No. 6 Pup, a tributary to Little Creek that was prospected for tungsten (scheelite).

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

Ophir SE(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
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Scheelite 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) Kk
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The rocks in the vicinity of Little Creek are shale and argillite (Maddren, 1911). Little Creek also drains several small, Cretaceous or Tertiary monzonite plutons and rhyolite dikes, which probably are the source of the placer gold (Chapman and others, 1985; Bundtzen and others, 1987). Almost the whole 5-mile length of Little Creek has been mined. Gold was found in cracks in fractured bedrock, on 'benches' beside the stream which were mined using open cut methods, and in Little Creek's floodplain (Maddren, 1911; Eakin, 1914). The upper 6 feet of bedrock were mined for gold; the bedrock was buried under 10 to 25 feet of unconsolidated material (Maddren, 1911). The gold reportedly was coarse with many nuggets (Maddren, 1910), and averaged 830 fine (Smith, 1941). Minerals identified in panned concentrates include magnetite, ilmenite, siderite, monazite, pyrite, edenite, enstatite, and richterite (Bundtzen and others, 1987). No. 6 Pup, a tributary to Little Creek, contains abundant scheelite, probably from an igneous source (Joesting, 1942; Bundtzen and others, 1987). Gold was discovered along Little Creek in 1907. By 1914, there was open- cut mining on the lower portions of Little Creek (Eakin, 1914). In 1925, a dredge was brought to Little Creek and continued to mine fairly steadily until at least 1940 (Moffit, 1927; Smith, 1929; Smith, 1930 [B 810]; Smith, 1930 [B 813]; Smith, 1932; Smith, 1933 [B 836]; Smith, 1933 [B 844-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; Joesting, 1942). After 1940, there was intermittent mining on Little Creek. The estimated production from 1908 through 1986 is 47,600 ounces of gold and 8,092 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and others, 1987).
  • Age = Quaternary. The sources of the gold in Little Creek are probably the Cretaceous or Tertiary rhyolite dikes, possibly along with some contribution from the monzonite plutons (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 = The estimated production from Little Creek from 1908 through 1986 is 47,600 ounces of gold and 8,092 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Gold was discovered along Little Creek in 1907. Early prospecting and mining was conducted by digging shafts and drifts in the upper portions of the creek (Maddren, 1910; Eakin, 1914). By 1914, there was open- cut mining on the lower portions of the creek (Eakin, 1914). In 1925, a dredge was brought to the creek and continued to mine fairly steadily until at least 1940 (Moffit, 1927; Smith, 1929; Smith, 1930 [B 810]; Smith, 1930 [B 813]; Smith, 1932; Smith, 1933 [B 836]; Smith, 1933 [B 844-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; Joesting, 1942). After 1940, there was intermittent mining on Little Creek. In 1950, 3 mines were operating (Williams, 1950), and in 1959, the Little Creek Mining Co. was operating a bulldozer and dragline (Saunders, 1960). Additional sporadic mining has occurred since 1960.

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.