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Crystal Gulch

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Bismuth, Tin, Uranium
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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 10001652
MRDS ID A012426
Record type Site
Current site name Crystal Gulch
Related records 10282025

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -154.78295, 63.23337 (WGS84)
Relative position The Crystal Gulch placer deposit is in a steep, southerly-facing, first order gulch located at 900 feet (274 m) in Section 13, T. 26 S., R. 21 E., of the Kateel River Meridian. Location is accurate to within 100 feet (30 m).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Medfra S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Medfra C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Stony River(hydrologic unit)

Upper Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Bismuth Critical Secondary
Tin Critical Secondary
Uranium Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = Very abundant magnetite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bismuth Ore
Brookite Ore
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 121
USGS model code 39c
Deposit model name Shoreline placer Ti

Nearby scientific data

(1) -154.78295, 63.23337
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The rich Crystal Gulch placer deposit occurs in a steep first order tributary of Ruby Creek. Stream gradient averages about 500 feet per mile (650 m/km). Most of the values occurred at the intersection of the gulch with Ruby Creek. The Crystal Gulch deposit was exhausted by 1924. The uranium mineral brookite was identified by Mertie (1936). Concentrates averaged 5 percent cassiterite during the life of the operation. (Ted Almasy, personal communication, 1998). Age of mineralization is unknown, but judged to be Quaternary, based on comparative geomorphological features in southwest Alaska (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name McGrath

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Production estimates are lumped with other properties on Ruby Creek, which produced a total of 1,511 ounces (47 kg) of gold prior to 1942.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The placer deposit was mined exclusively by surface-hydraulic methods (Brown, 1926; Mertie, 1936).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1936

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model no. 39c)
Deposit Other Comments = See also Ruby-Strand (MD069), Birch Gulch (MD073), Holmes Gulch (MD0 72), Encio Gulch (MD063) and Upper Ruby Creek (MD068).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-JUN-98 Bundtzen, T.K. Pacific Rim Geological Consulting

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.