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Faith 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 10001458
MRDS ID A012207
Record type Site
Current site name Faith Creek
Alternate or previous names Deep Creek
Related records 10232991

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -146.28185, 65.36777 (WGS84)
Relative position The location is the confluence of Deep Creek and Faith Creek. Deep Creek is a tributary to Faith Creek. Most mining was near the mouth of Deep Creek, along the lower part of Deep Creek, and near the mouth of Faith Creek. Faith Creek is approximately 75 road miles northeast of Fairbanks, accessible via the Steese Highway.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Circle SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Circle(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) -146.28185, 65.36777
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The following is a summary extracted from a report by Freeman and Adams (1988):? the Faith Creek area is situated within a northeast-trending belt of polymetamorphic rocks of probable Proterozoic to early Paleozoic age. The belt is characterized by regional-scale open folds which trend plus or minus 20 degree from east-west. These regional structures often postdate earlier north-south trending structures. Within the Fairbanks and Circle mining districts, a distinctive metamorphic package of sedimentary and bimodal volcanic rocks can be correlated with most placer gold-producing creeks as well as known lode occurrences. This belt of rocks, known as the Cleary Sequence is present in several outcrops in the Faith Creek area and forms the bedrock for most of the claims on the property. These rocks have undergone regional metamorphism to the lower and middle greenschist facies. On the Faith Creek property the Cleary Sequence is exposed in a northeast-trending antiform whose axis trends through the property from the left limit of Deep Creek through the uplands to the south of Homestake Creek. In this area, the Cleary Sequence is characterized by a lower member consisting of massive gray quartzite with interbedded calcareous graphitic pelitic schist. This member is over 450 feet thick in the Faith Creek area. The base of the middle member of the Cleary Sequence on Faith Creek is marked by a 50 foot thick sequence of black fissile calcareous graphitic schist overlain by nearly 200 feet of quartz-eye lapilli tuff of volcaniclastic origin. The remainder of the measured section on Faith Creek (250 feet) is predominantly gray quartzite and interbedded calcareous graphitic schist. Detailed petrographic studies of the Cleary Sequence in the Fairbanks and Circle districts indicate that lithologic units which have been mapped as 'quartzite' commonly contain a significant volcaniclastic component. Sulfide content of the Cleary Sequence is highest in the calcareous graphitic quartzites of the lower member. Sulfide mineralogy is predominantly pyrite and arsenopyrite with lesser galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, stibnite, jamesonite, boulangerite and possible tetrahedrite.? There is very little specific information on the placer mining on Faith Creek other than placer gold mining reported as early as 1937 (Smith, 1939, p. 48). Deep Creek, the right limit tributary to Faith Creek, was reported to have a small placer mine as early as 1946 (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 8). There is no information on production during these early years of mining but production was likely small judging from the workings (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 8). Continuous operations occurred from 1964 through 1988 on Faith, Hope, Deep, Charity and Homestake Creeks.? In 1986 and 1987 the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys conducted a mapping and mineral evaluation study which covered the Faith Creek area north of Deep Creek. Results indicated the possible presence of a bedrock source for the placer deposits in the Faith Creek drainage (Smith, 1987). In 1993, A-J Mining spent part of the summer mapping and sampling on Faith Creek (Bundtzen and others, 1993). Sam Koppenberg reported production on Faith Creek in 1994 (Swainbank and others, 1994). KMM Mining successfully mined Faith Creek from 1986 to 1996 (Swainbank and others, 1996).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Circle

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = There is very little specific information on the placer mining on Faith Creek other than placer gold mining reported as early as 1937 (Smith, 1939, p. 48). Deep Creek, the right limit tributary to Faith Creek, was reported to have a small placer mine as early as 1946 (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 8). There is no information on production during these early years of mining but production was likely small judging from the workings (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 8). Continuous operations occurred from 1964 through 1988 on Faith, Hope, Deep, Charity and Homestake Creeks. In 1988, placer mining on Faith Creek below the mouth of Hope Creek recovered approximately 476 fine troy ounces. Bullion fineness averaged 879 with a range of 851 to 927. Approximately 150 troy ounces of bullion in nugget form were retained by the owners as jewelry grade gold (Freeman and Adams, 1988). Unknown quantities were producted by KMM Mining from 1986 to 1996, and by Sam Koppenberg in 1994.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer gold mining was reported as early as 1937 (Smith, 1939, p. 48). Little information is available concerning mining activities in the Faith Creek area between 1945 and 1964. A small placer operation on Deep Creek in 1946 was reported by Wedow (1954, p. 8). Continuous operations occurred from 1964 through 1988 on Faith, Hope, Deep, Charity and Homestake Creeks.? In 1986 and 1987 the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys conducted a mapping and mineral evaluation study which covered the Faith Creek area north of Deep Creek. Results indicated the possible presence of a bedrock source for the placer deposits in the Faith Creek drainage (Smith, 1987). In 1993, A-J Mining spent part of the summer mapping and sampling on Faith Creek (Bundtzen and others, 1993). Sam Koppenberg reported production on Faith Creek in 1994 (Swainbank and others, 1994). KMM Mining successfully mined Faith Creek from 1986 to 1996 (Swainbank and others, 1996).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Smith, 1939, B 917-A; Wedow and others, 1954; Freeman and Adams, 1988.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 09-SEP-98 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 09-SEP-98 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 09-SEP-98 Clements, A.S. Avalon Development Corporation

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.