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Coal Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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 10002775
MRDS ID A015237
Record type Site
Current site name Coal Creek
Alternate or previous names Adamic, Coal Creek Hydraulic Mining Association, Emily Association, Forrest Association, Golden Eagle Bench Association, Gold Placers, Inc., Malstrom Association, Slaven Association, McDonald
Related records 10233412

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -143.17591, 65.29282 (WGS84)
Relative position Coal Creek is a north-flowing tributary of the Yukon River. The coordinates given are for the approximate midpoint of placer tailings along the creek, in the SW1/4 section 35, T. 6 N., R. 22 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. There are many historic placer mines all along the river; placer tailings mapped on the Charley River B-5 U.S. Geological Survey topographic sheet (1956 edition, revised in 1974) indicate approximately 4 miles of worked ground. It is location 5 of Cobb (1972 [MF-390]). The location is accurate.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Charley River SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charley River(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Yukon-Charley Rivers 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

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Silver 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 Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Conglomerate
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert

Nearby scientific data

(1) -143.17591, 65.29282
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The head of Coal Creek crosses metamorphic rocks and greenstone of Paleozoic age, and as the river flows northward, it crosses a belt of Upper Cretaceous to Tertiary conglomerate and other sedimentary rocks (Brabb and Churkin, 1969; Dover and Miyaoka, 1988). Placers are not found south of the conglomerate belt, and placer grounds drop sharply in value at the north edge. The placers were largely derived from the conglomerate, which was derived in turn, from the older metamorphic rocks. This interpretation is supported by the presence of garnets and garnetiferous schist in the gravels (Prindle and Mertie, 1912; Cobb, 1973 (B 1374)). Monazite has also been reported in concentrates (Bates and Wedow, 1953). Mean fineness values from 16 assays were 897 parts Au per thousand and 96 parts Ag per thousand (Mertie, 1942). ? Active mining and prospecting took place intermittently between 1902 and 1986. In 1986, the land was donated to the National Park Service (National Park Service, 1990). Large-scale placer mining along Coal Creek and its tributaries began in 1934. In 1934, placer claims along Coal Creek extended for 7 miles, reaching to Colorado Creek. A bucket-line floating dredge began operation along the creek in 1935, and a tractor-haul road was constructed to the Yukon River. Between 1936 and 1957 92,385 ounces of placer gold were recovered from Coal Creek by the owners of the dredge, Gold Placers, Inc. (National Park Service, 1990). Mining along Coal Creek continued in 1962-1964 and 1973-1986 (National Park Service, 1990).
  • Age = Tertiary to Quaternary.

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 = The owners of the dredge, Gold Placers, Inc., recovered 92,385 ounces of placer gold between 1936 and 1957 (National Park Service, 1990).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Active mining and prospecting took place intermittently between 1902 and 1986. In 1986, the land was donated to the National Park Service (National Park Service, 1990). Large-scale placer mining along Coal Creek and its tributaries began in 1934. In 1934, placer claims along Coal Creek extended for 7 miles, reaching to Colorado Creek. A bucket-line floating dredge began operation along the creek in 1935, and a tractor-haul road was constructed to the Yukon River (National Park Service, 1990).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1942

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = This site is within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-APR-00 Cameron, C.E. Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

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.