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Cottonwood Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tungsten
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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 10002188
MRDS ID A013086
Record type Site
Current site name Cottonwood Creek
Related records 10161128

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -136.21212, 59.28974 (WGS84)
Relative position The location is plotted where Cottonwood Creek flattens and forms an alluvial fan on the northern side of the Tsirku River, about 1 mile northeast of the terminus of the Le Blondeau Glacier. It is shown as location 29 by Cobb (1974 [MF 424]).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Haines(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Skagway B-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Skagway SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Skagway C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Chilkat-Skagway Rivers(hydrologic unit)

Northern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

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

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Alluvium

Nearby scientific data

(1) -136.21212, 59.28974
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Placer gold was discovered on Cottonwood Creek in 1899. Although encouraging amounts of gold have been found, none has been produced in significant amounts. Gravel resources in the creek channel are limited due to the steep gradient and narrow bedrock canyon. The average gradient is 750 feet per mile. A significant but untested identified resource exists in the alluvial fan at the mouth of the creek which coalesces with the fan at the mouth of Nugget Creek to the east. Abandoned channels, which may host placer gold have been identified in the fan between Cottonwood and Nugget Creeks. Reconnaissance samples contained up to 0.0005 ounces of gold per cubic yard and pan concentrates contained 10-20% magnetite, up to 10% pyrite, and minor amounts of garnet, zircon, and scheelite. (Hoekzema and others, 1986).? the Cottonwood Creek placer lies within a northwest-trending zone of quartz-sulfide veining in sediments and slates in the Skagway B-4 quadrangle described by Wright (1904 [B 225 and B 236]), Eakin (1918 and 1919), and MacKevett and others (1974) and considered to be the source of placer gold in this area.
  • Age = Quaternary placer.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Juneau (Skagway subdistrict)

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = No significant amount of gold produced.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Hoekzema and others (1986) report that placer gold was discovered on Cottonwood Creek in 1899 but gold was never produced in significant amounts. The alluvial fan extending along the northern edge of the Tsirku River from Cottonwood Creek to below Nugget Creek was prospected with encouraging results prior to 1912 and a company was formed to dredge the alluvial gravels. Fifty claims were staked to cover the fan but the ground was abandoned in 1916. Portions of the Cottonwood-Nugget Creek fan were patented in 1934.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Hoekzema and others, 1986

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer in alluvial fans and paleo-channels (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-FEB-2001 T.C. Crafford T. Crafford & Associates

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.