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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

California Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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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 10000557
MRDS ID A011001
Record type Site
Current site name California Creek
Related records 10233072

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.49332, 67.46971 (WGS84)
Relative position The reference point for this occurrence is at the confluence of California Creek with Jim Pup (sec. 35, T. 31 N., R. 9 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian); it is approximately 2 1/4 miles southwest of Bob Johnson Lake (formerly Big Lake). Mining was reported to be at and below the confluence with Jim Pup. The location is accurate within a 1/2-mile radius.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chandalar B-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Chandalar S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chandalar(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold 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) -149.49332, 67.46971
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Mining on California Creek was reported to be principally from the area below its confluence with Jim Pup (Reed, 1938). Although the evidence is inconclusive, most mining probably was within 3/4 mile of the confluence. Mining in the present creek channel was in gravels 2 to 5 ft thick. Efforts to explore what was probably a deeper channel, about 15 to 20 feet deep, met with little success. The close spatial relationship among California, Jim Pup (CH024), and Wakeup Creek (CH025) suggests that California Creek may have the same complex of present, deep, and high channels as the other two producing creeks in this area, but there is no description of any mining of high channels. Reed (1938) suggested that the lower reaches of California Creek deserve more prospecting, but there is no record of any further effort along the lower creek.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Not determined

Mining district

District name Koyukuk

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Gold was discovered in 1901 and reportedly $4,000 worth was mined from 1901 to 1909 (Maddren, 1913). Although mining and/or prospecting probably continued intermittently until around 1931, there were no reports of mining and prospecting until Swainbank and others (1991) reported production from Jim Pup and California Creek in 1990. From this report it can be inferred that there has been other unreported mining activity on the creek since the increase in the price of gold in the early 1970s.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = As of the 1930s there had been open-cut workings in the present channel and a number of shafts about 18 ft deep exploring a deeper channel (Reed, 1938).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Maddren, 1913

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = See also Jim Pup (Jim Pup Creek, Jim Gulch, Jim Creek) (CH024) and Wakeup Creek (CH025).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 17-NOV-1999 J.M. Britton U.S. Geological Survey

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.