Chatanika River

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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 10002996
MRDS ID A015503
Record type Site
Current site name Chatanika River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.4949, 65.11162 (WGS84)
Relative position Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc. 88; SW1/4 sec. 2, T. 3 N., R. 2 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. This location is on the tailings along the bench gravels on the west side of the Steese Highway, opposite the village of Chatanika. This location is the approximate center of several miles of placer mined ground along the Chatanika River.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Livengood A-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Circle SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Livengood(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

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -147.4949, 65.11162

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Bedrock is schist and the gravel is largely quartzite, igneous rocks and vein quartz. Depth to bedrock (measured on 5 claims) was from 75 to 125 feet (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p. 107). Most mining was at and below the mouth of Cleary Creek and near the mouths of Dome and Vault Creeks. Placers are about 65 to 200 feet deep at the mouths of Dome and Vault Creeks (Mulligan, 1974, p. 11). From 1911 to 1927 all mining was from drift mines, and dredging began near the mouth of Cleary Creek in 1928. USSR"&"M dredge no. 3 worked on the Chatanika from 1928 to 1942, and from 1946 to 1963 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). Production from 1907 to 1910 was 70,658 ounces of gold (Prindle and Katz, 1913). Gold assayed at 852 fine.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Surface and underground; ground 65-200 feet deep.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Prindle and Katz, 1913

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 04-MAY-1999 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.