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Linda Creek

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 10000585
MRDS ID A011035
Record type Site
Current site name Linda Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.82333, 67.5197 (WGS84)
Relative position Linda Creek is a south- and west-flowing tributary to the Middle Fork Koyukuk River. The mine site is approximately 6 1/4 miles south-southwest of Sukakpak Mountain and 1/2 mile east of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (sec. 17, T. 31 N., R. 10 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). 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 C-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Chandalar N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chandalar(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

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) -149.82333, 67.5197
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Linda Creek appears to have been a fairly consistent placer producer from the early 1900s until the present (Cobb, 1976, OFR 76-340; Bundtzen and others, 1996). Most workers believe that the gold in Linda Creek was derived from a source other than the current Linda Creek drainage and that it most likely was the high channel on Gold Creek (Maddren, 1913). The high channel of Gold Creek probably originally drained into the Middle Fork along what is now lower Linda Creek before the current lower Gold Creek captured the drainage. The upper part of Linda Creek (above the map site where the creek abruptly turns to the west) runs in a wide, flat valley over glacial outwash material. Reed (1938) noted that no prospects had ever been found in that part of the drainage. The lower part of the creek (below where it turns to the west) has cut through the glacial fill and runs in a shallow cut in the underlying schist. Reed (1938) also noted that about 1/4 mile below where Linda Creek intersects the old Gold Creek channel the bedrock pitches off steeply to an unknown depth and that no values have been found below this point. In 1937 a small piece of the old channel that had not been found in the early days was being worked. This occurrence was described as 8 feet of gravel over a hard schist bedrock. The gravel was waterworn, fine material with few boulders but much heavy sediment in the sand. The gold occurred in the lower 3 feet of the gravel and upper 2 feet of the bedrock. The gold was said to be fairly fine. Maddren (1913) noted that the character of the gold was similar to that in Gold Creek. The fineness of the gold averaged about 945.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Koyukuk

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Gold was discovered on Linda Creek in 1901, and sporadic small-scale mining has been reported since then. Production through 1909 was estimated to have been approximately $20,000 (Maddren, 1913); almost all of it was in 1902. The ground in a portion of the old channel was reported to run $0.95 per square foot of bedrock (Reed, 1938).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = There is little description of the early mining except that nearly all the gold was mined from the Discovery claim about 1/2 mile above the mouth, but only the lower half of this claim was very productive. Reed (1938) described a 'shoveling in' surface mining operation. Hand and hydraulic mining was reported in 1974, and in 1993 and 1996 underground drift mining was continuing 'as it has for many years' (Bundtzen and others, 1994; Bundtzen and others, 1996).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Maddren, A.G., 1913, The Koyukuk-Chandalar region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 532, 119 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1915, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1914: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622, 238 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S. 1939, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

  • Deposit

    Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska, Report 16, 306 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-457, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Mulligan, J.J., 1974, Mineral resources of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline corridor: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8626, 24 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Chandalar and Wiseman quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-340, 205 p.

  • Deposit

    Carnes, D.R., 1976, Active Alaskan placer operations, 1975: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 98-76, 90 p., 40 maps.

  • Deposit

    DeYoung, J.H., Jr., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-878-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Robinson, M.S., Clough, J.G., Green, C.B., Clautice, K.H., and Albanese M.A., 1983, Alaska's mineral industry, 1982, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 31, 63 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., Clough, J.G., Lueck, L.L., Green, C.B., Robinson, M.S., and Coleman, D.A., 1984, Alaska's Mineral Industry, 1983: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 33, 56 p.

  • Deposit

    Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Lueck, L.L. Green, C.B., Gallagher, J.L., and Robinson, M.S., 1985, Alaska mineral industry, 1984: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 38, 57p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., Green, C.B. and Lueck, L.L., 1986, Alaska's mineral industry in 1985: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 39, 68 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Green, C.B., Deagen, J., and Daniels, C.L., 1987, Alaska's mineral industry, 1986: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 40, 68 p.

  • Deposit

    Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T. K., Clough A.H., and Henning, M.W., 1997, Alaska's mineral industry 1996: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 51, 68 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Clough, A.H., Henning, M.W., and Hansen, E.W., 1994, Alaska's mineral industry, 1993: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 48, 84 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Clough, A.H., Henning, M.W., and Charlie, K.M., 1996, Alaska's mineral industry, 1995: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 50, 72 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Reed, 1938

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = the channel containing the placer deposit formerly was the lower part of Gold Creek.

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.