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Boulder Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tin
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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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001477
MRDS ID A012224
Record type Site
Current site name Boulder Creek
Related records 10160749

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -145.07293, 65.46973 (WGS84)
Relative position The site of the 1929 mining is in sec. 34, T. 8 N., R. 13 E, of the Fairbanks Meridian. Access is poor with no summer roads and only a winter tractor trail.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Circle B-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Circle SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Circle C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tin Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -145.07293, 65.46973
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Boulder Creek, a tributary of Crooked Creek, is about 21 km long, and cuts quartzite schist and Tertiary granite before crossing the Hot Springs fault and entering the Tintina fault trench. The Tertiary granite is a light gray biotite monzogranite to syenogranite. Heavy-mineral concentrates from the granite contain 45% allanite, 15% chalcopyrite and smaller amounts of other minerals (Nelson and others, 1954). Fluorimetric tests on several other granite minerals indicated the presence of uranium (Nelson and others, 1954).? A pebble count of the creek gravel north of the Hot Springs fault indicates a composition of 50 percent quartzite, 27 percent quartz-mica schist, 17 percent quartz, and 6 percent granite (Yeend, 1991). Quartz and schist boulders in the creek are generally about 0.5 meters in diameter, and occasional boulders are up to 1 meter (Yeend, 1991). Gold is generally found in the lower 3.5 feet of the 8 feet of bench gravel (Mertie, 1932, p. 250). The valley near past mining operations is about 70 to 100 meters wide, with fan gravel common at the mouths of small side gulches. Miners have reported two types of gold in the gravel: fine, flaky gold and coarse, rough gold with adhering quartz (Yeend, 1991). Mining on the creek was restricted to the 2-km stretch downstream from Greenhorn Gulch (Yeend, 1991). Operations in 1975 closed down due to excessive amounts of cassiterite in sluice boxes (Menzie, 1983, p. 40).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Circle

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Mining has been reported (see workings/exploration); however, amount of production is unknown.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = It is uncertain when mining began on Boulder Creek. Hydraulic mining of the bench gravel occurred in the early 1930's with gold being found in the lower 3.5 feet of the 8 feet of bench gravel (Mertie, 1932). Mining on the creek was restricted to the 2-km stretch downstream from Greenhorn Gulch (Yeend, 1991). Operations in 1975 closed down due to excessive amounts of cassiterite in sluice boxes (Menzie, 1983, p. 40).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Yeend, 1991.

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 08-SEP-98 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 08-SEP-98 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 08-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.