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Bonanza Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Mercury, Molybdenum
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10000787
MRDS ID A011432
Record type Site
Current site name Bonanza Creek
Alternate or previous names Little Eldorado Cr., Skookum Cr., Snow Gulch, Coarse Money Cr., Bonanza Creek Area, Includes Bonanza Cr.
Related records 10282978

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -141.82944, 62.10442 (WGS84)
Relative position SEE LOCATION COMMENTS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valdez-Cordova(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Nabesna A-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Nabesna SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nabesna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve(National Preserve)

National Preserve NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Comments on the location information

  • BEST LOCATION: RICHTER AND JONES, 1973, I-749. AREA CONTAINS PRODUCTIVE PLACERS AT THE HEADWATERS OF BONANZA CR. DRAINING THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF GOLD HILL. ACCURATE WITHIN 1000 FT RADIUS.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Copper Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Silver Ore
Cinnabar Gangue
Galena Gangue
Molybdenite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -141.82944, 62.10442
ListMap

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1913
Discoverer "William James, N.P. Nelson, And A Mrs. Wales," Usgs Bull 933, P. 170
Year of first production 1913

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Chisana

Comments on the production information

  • AU: EST. 50,000 OZ 1913-1959. PRODUCTION IN THE DISTRICT WAS DOMINATED BY BONANZA AND LITTLE ELDORADO CREEKS. PRODUCTION DATA ARE FOR ENTIRE CHISANA DISTRICT. MOST MINING WAS BETWEEN 1913 AND 1915, WHEN ABOUT HALF OF THE DISTRICT'S TOTAL PRODUCTION TOOK PLACE; PRODUCTION SINCE 1940 HAS BEEN MINOR.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SMALL,UNDISCOVERED PLACER DEPOSITS PROBABLY STILL EXIST IN BONANZA CREEK AREA, BUT THESE ARE OF LITTLE RESOURCE VALUE;THE TERTIARY GRAVELS COPPING GOLD HILL MAY BE OF FUTURE ECONOMIC IMPORT SINCE THEY ARE KNOWNTO BE AURIFEROUS, ALBEIT LOW GRADE, AND THEY HAVE AN ESTIMATED VOLUME OF 40 MILLION CUBIC METERS,USGS MF.655K, LOC.65

Comments on the workings information

  • ATTEMPT WAS MADE AT DRIFT MINING ON UPPER BONANZA CREEK. REPORT OF 85 FT SHAFT WITH 25 FT DRIFT DUG INTO OLD CHANNEL WITHOUT DISCOVERING PAYING GROUND. MANY OF THE GRAVELS WERE FROZEN LOCALLY. CURRENT CONDITION UNKNOWN. FINENESS VALUES BETWEEN 791 AND 818, (REPORTED IN MOFFIT (1954, P. 200) AS ASSAY VALUE OF 16.35 TO 16.90 DOLLARS/OZ, WITH AU AT 20.67 DOLLARS/OZ). TYPE OF WORKINGS: CHIEFLY SURFACE. INTERMITTENT MINING SINCE DISCOVERY IN 1913.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    RICHTER, D.H., AND MATSON, N.A., 1972, METALLIC MINERAL RESOURCES MAP OF THE NABESNA QUADRANGLE, ALASKA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISCELLANEOUS FIELD STUDIES MAP MF-422, SCALE 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    RICHTER, D.H., AND OTHERS, 1975, MINERAL RESOURCES MAP OF THE NABESNA QUADRANGLE, ALASKA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISCELLANEOUS FIELD STUDIES MAP MF-655-K, SCALE 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    RICHTER, D.H., AND JONES, D.L., 1973, RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE NABESNA A-2 QUADRANGLE, ALASKA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATIONS SERIES MAP I-749, SCALE 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    MOFFIT, F.H., 1954, GEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN PART OF THE ALASKA RANGE AND ADJACENT AREA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 989-D, P. 65-218.

  • Deposit

    MOFFIT, F.H., 1943, GEOLOGY OF THE NUTZOTIN MOUNTAINS, ALASKA, WITH A SECTION ON THE IGNEOUS ROCKS, BY R. C. WAYLAND, AND GOLD DEPOSITS NEAR NABESNA, BY R. C. WAYLAND, 1943: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 933-B, P. 103-199.

  • Deposit

    BROOKS, 1921, USGS B 714, P.84

  • Deposit

    BROOKS, 1915, USGS B 622, P. 202-204, 208-216, 222

  • Deposit

    RICHTER, D.H., AND MATSON, N.A., 1970, GEOCHEMICAL DATA FROM THE NABESNA A-2 QUADRANGLE, ALASKA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 70-275, 12 P., 1 SHEET, SCALE 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    CAPPS, S.R., 1916, THE CHISANA-WHITE RIVER DISTRICT, ALASKA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 630, 130 P.

  • Deposit

    USGS OFR 397

  • Deposit

    USGS PP 610, P. 25.

  • Other Database

    BAG-MF-655K-65

  • Production

    USGS BULL 714,P84;USGS PP610,P.25

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit HOST MATERIAL IS AURIFEROUS GRAVEL. STREAM, BENCH, AND OLD CHANNEL GRAVELS RANGE FROM 2 TO 12 FT IN DEPTH, AVE. 4 TO 5.5 FT. GOLD IN STREAM PLACERS WAS ON AND IN TOP 1 TO 2.5 FT OF RIPPABLE BEDROCK. GRAVELS ARE THIN, HETEROGENEOUS, AND ANGULAR WITH LOCALLY ABUNDANT BOULDERS.
Deposit SMALL-SCALE PLACER MINING AND PROSPECTING HAS ALSO TAKEN PLACE ON CHATHENDA CREEK AND ITS TRIBUTARIES, INCLUDING AN ATTEMPT AT DRIFT MINING ON DRY GULCH (NOW CALLED SALT CREEK). PRODUCTION, IF ANY, WAS PROBABLY NOT SIGNIFICANT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1985 Leonard, Kenneth R. (Elliott, R. L.) U.S. Geological Survey ARDF AND MRDS MERGED RECORD
Updater 01-JAN-1997 Leonard, Kenneth R. (Elliott, R. L.) U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 06-MAR-1998 Mason, George 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.