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California Creek Placer

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Platinum, Mercury
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10002863
MRDS ID A015346
Record type Site
Current site name California Creek Placer

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.72371, 64.04962 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 250(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Denali(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fairbanks A-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Fairbanks S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Fairbanks C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Comments on the location information

  • USGS MF-410, LOC. 66, 67. MINING 5 MILES ABOVE CONFLUENCE WITH REX CREEK, WHERE CREEK ENTERS CANYON CUT IN SCHIST. COORDINATES GIVEN FOR UPPER PLACER, LOCATION 67. TRIBUTARY OF TOTATLANIKA RIVER. LAND STATUS VALUE CALCULATED 6-94 USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS WITH BLM 1:2,500,000 SCALE OWNERSHIP STATUS MAP (1991).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Platinum Critical Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Cinnabar Unknown

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -148.72371, 64.04962
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • VALLEY COMPRISED OF 3 BASINS SEPERATED BY RIDGES OF SCHIST THROUGH WHICH CREEK HAS CUT CANYONS HUNDREDS OF FEET DEEP. NUMEROUS QUARTZ VEINS IN SCHIST. ; MAJOR.UNITS: BEDROCK IN TWO CANYONS IS SCHIST; REST OF COURSE IN GRAVEL, SAND, AND LIGNITE. ; REG.COM: QUARTZ VEINS IN SCHIST AT HEAD OF CREEK MAY HAVE BEEN SOURCE OF GOLD.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of first production 1910

Mining district

District name Bonnifield

Comments on development

  • HAND MINING REPORTED IN 1910, BUT MAY HAVE BEEN CARRIED ON IN OTHER YEARS AS WELL. MINED IN 1975 BY 6" SUCTION DREDGE JIG, PANNER, AND D-8 BULLDOZER.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit GOLD IN STREAM GRAVELS ON SCHIST BEDROCK. PAY SPOTTY AND DISCONTINUOUS. GRAVEL ABOUT 6 FT. DEEP. DEPOSITS SAID TO BE TOO LEAN FOR HAND MINING. PLATINUM FOUND IN PLACERS. PLACERS WHERE CREEK ENTERS CANYON BETWEEN MIDDLE AND LOWER BASINS. COLORS FOUND IN MANY PARTS OF BASIN.
Deposit STREAM GRADIENT IN BASINS UNDER 100 FT. PER MILE; GRADIENT IN CANYONS ABOUT 200 FT. PER MILE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit THIS SITE NAME WAS CREATED BY THE REPORTER OR OTHER USGS EMPLOYEE BASED ON PROXIMITY TO SOME MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1987 Powers, M.T. (Huber, D.F.) U.S. Geological Survey

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.