Slope Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Bismuth, Copper
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 10001152
MRDS ID A011848
Record type Site
Current site name Slope Creek
Related records 10283144

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -144.00262, 62.79079 (WGS84)
Relative position Slope Creek (Cobb, 1979, p. 26-27; OF 79-1247), which is unnamed on the Gulkana D-1 topographic map, is a tributary to Porcupine Creek in the SE1/4NE1/4, section 25, T. 12 N., R. 7 E., Copper River Meridian. The creek has been placer mined into the Nabesna D-6 quadrangle and the coordinates above are of the boundary between the two quadrangles. The mine is locality 18 of Richter and Matson (1972) and locality 17 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977). The location is accurate within 500 feet.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valdez-Cordova(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Gulkana D-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Gulkana NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Gulkana(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Copper River(hydrologic unit)

Copper River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Bismuth Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bismuth Ore
Copper Ore
Gold Ore
Silver Ore
Barite Gangue
Magnetite 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) -144.00262, 62.79079

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Slope Creek has produced a small amount of placer gold that probably was derived from low-grade porphyry and vein deposits in upper Slope Creek (GU 020). The placer gold is accompanied by magnetite, native silver, native bismuth, native copper, and possibly barite (Moffit, 1944; Richter, 1966). As in Grubstake Creek (GU017) which is over the divide to the west, the gold is fine-grained and wiry, which suggests a short distance of transport (Richter and Matson, 1968).
  • Age = Holocene placer.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Chistochina

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Placer deposits in Slope and Grubstake Creeks (GU017) have been mined intermittently since 1934. Total production from both is probably less than $30,000 (about 857 ounces) (Richter and Matson, 1968).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Small-scale placer mining took place from about 1934 to the 1950's, and possibly more recently.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., 1944, Mining in the northern Copper River region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 943, p. 25-47.

  • Deposit

    Richter, D.H., 1966, Geology of the Slana district on south-central Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 2l, 36b p., 3 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Richter, D.H., and Matson, N.A., 1968, Distribution of gold and some base metals in the Slana area, eastern Alaska Range, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 593, 20 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Gulkana quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1247, 36 p.

  • Deposit

    WGM Inc., 1980, 1979 Summary report of gold potential, Slana District, Ahtna project: WGM Inc., 10 p., 1:63,360-scale map. (Report held by Ahtna Mineral Co., Anchorage, Alaska).

  • Deposit

    Nokleberg, W.J., and others, 1994, Metallogeny and major mineral deposits of Alaska and Metallogenic map of significant metalliferous lode deposits and placer districts of Alaska, in Plafker, G. and Berg, H.C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America: The Geology of North America, v. G1, p. 855-904 and v. G1, Plate 11, scale 1:2,500,000.

  • Deposit

    Richter, D.H., and Matson, N.A., Jr., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Gulkana quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-419, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Richter, 1966; Richter and Matson, 1968

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = See also Grubstake Creek (GU017) and Boulder Creek (GU016).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 30-NOV-00 W.T. Ellis Alaska Earth Sciences
Reporter 30-NOV-00 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 30-NOV-00 W.J. Nokleberg U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.