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Cache Creek Area, including Spruce Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Arsenic, Platinum, Tin, Thorium, Uranium, 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 10309026
MRDS ID A011580
Record type Site
Current site name Cache Creek Area, including Spruce Creek
Alternate or previous names Short Creek, Rambler Creek, Lucky Creek, Pineo Bar, Bradley, Cache Creek Dredging Company, Cache Creek Mining Company, Erickson, Gold, Ltd., Morgan, Murray, Murray And Harper, Obermiller And Eaglehorn, Peterson, Taraski, Tesmer And Beidermann, Wetherall, Yenta Dredging Co.
Related records 10000916

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -150.98679, 62.48954 (WGS84)
Relative position The Cache Creek area, in the Yentna District, is a productive placer area covering approximately 50 square miles, including streams draining the northwest flank of Peters Hills and the southeast flank of Dutch Hills, as well as tributaries to Cache Creek. Reference coordinates are the approximate center of the most productive area on Cache Creek in the northwest quarter of Section 29, T. 28 N., R. 9 W., of the Seward Meridian. Dredging operations mined stream placers from Windy Creek to Nugget Creek, tributaries to Cache Creek. Mining claims extend, or have extended, from the headwaters to below Spruce Creek (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3)).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Talkeetna B-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Talkeetna SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Yentna River(hydrologic unit)

Susitna River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Platinum Critical Secondary
Tin Critical Secondary
Thorium Secondary
Uranium Secondary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = uranothorianite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Cassiterite Ore
Copper Ore
Gold Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Platinum Ore
Pyrite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Garnet Gangue
Monazite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Rutile Gangue
Zircon Gangue

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) -150.98679, 62.48954
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Cache Creek area is a productive placer area in the Yentna District encompassing approximately 50 square miles including streams draining the northwest flank of Peters Hills and the southeast flank of Dutch Hills, as well as tributaries to Cache Creek. Dredging operations mined stream placers from Windy Creek to Nugget Creek, tributaries to Cache Creek. Mining claims extend, or have extended, from the headwaters to below Spruce Creek (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3)). Collectively the placer mines in the Yentna district have produced over 3.58 million grams of gold from 1906 to the present (Cobb and Reed, 1980; Nokelberg and others, 1994) with most of the area's production from dredging on Cache and Peters Creeks. The largest operation used two floating dredges supported by three backhoes. This huge region contains many placer prospects and mines in Pleistocene stream and bench deposits of well-washed gravels derived from glacial debris, transitional with deposits of glaciofluvial origin (Clark and Hawley, 1968). Pleistocene sediments are deposited on Mesozoic marine slates and graywackes (KJs), although areas underlain by continentally derived Tertiary sediments of the Kenai group also occur (Reed and Nelson, 1980). Mesozoic rocks are cut by small granite bodies, diabase, and felsic dikes presumed to be early Tertiary in age (Clark and Hawley, 1968; Reed and Nelson, 1980). C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe shallow stream gravels, 3 to 10 feet deep, average 4.5 feet, with well-defined, discontinuous pay streaks 150 to 300 feet wide and bench placers 7 to 35 feet deep with gold throughout, but mostly concentrated on bedrock of Mesozoic graywacke and argillite. Cobb and Reed (1980) report arsenopyrite, cassiterite, copper, ilmenite, magnetite, unknown platinoids, platinum, pyrite, scheelite, uranothorianite, garnet, monazite, rutile, quartz, and zircon in the concentrates. Grades in the more productive parts of pay streaks mined during productive periods were $2 to $3 per bedrock foot or $1.50 per cubic yard when gold was valued at $20.67 an ounce (Capps, 1913, p. 57). In 1919 Martin (p. 247) reported platinum contents equal to about 0.003% of gold by weight. Concentrate samples contain 0.07% U and 0.035% ThO2 with eU content of 0.19% (Robinson and others, 1955, p.2). The average fineness of the gold from Cache Creek is 866, with a range of 850.75 to 871 (Smith, 1941; Clark and Hawley ,1968). In their 1978 report C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. indicate that probably more than half of the gold in Cache Creek has been mined. Ground down to about 10 cents per bedrock foot has been mined profitably in both Cache and lower Falls Creek in the 1970s. This record refers to the Cache Creek region generally, and encompasses many specific occurrences and former producers. Mining claims on Cache Creek extend, or have extended, from its headwaters to below Spruce Creek. Placer mining took place on the following secondary drainages to Cache Creek: Spruce Creek, Dollar Creek, Windy Creek, Short Creek, Cheechako Gulch, Falls Creek, Thunder Creek, Rambler Creek, Lucky Creek, Nugget Creek, and Gold Creek (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3)).
  • Age = Pleistocene and Tertiary (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Large volume, low grade and the overall coarseness of the gold favor large-scale, high capacity operations such as dredging. Most of area's production from dredging on Cache & Peters Creeks. Ground down to about 10 cents per bedrock foot has been mined profitably in both Cache and lower Falls Creek in the 1970s (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978. Grades in the more productive parts of pay streaks mined during productive periods were $2 to $3 per bedrock foot or $1.50 per cubic yard when gold was valued at $20.67 an ounce (Capps, 1913, p. 57). Platinum content is equal to about 0.003% of gold by weight (Martin, 1919, p. 247). Concentrate sample contained 0.07% U and 0.035% ThO2 with eU content of 0.119% (Robinson and others, 1955, p.2). Clark and Hawley (1968) report the average fineness of the gold from Cache Creek is 866, with a range of 850.75 to 871.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) indicate that probably more than half of the gold in Cache Creek has been mined.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Sluice box-CAT or dredge methods for almost 10 miles. Large volume, low grade and the overall coarseness of the gold favor large-scale, high capacity operations such as dredging (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = This record refers to the Cache Creek region generally, and encompasses many specific occurrences and former producers.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

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.