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Willow Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tin, Titanium, Zirconium
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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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  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 10103636
MRDS ID M045407
Record type Site
Current site name Willow Creek
Alternate or previous names Big Willow Creek, Little Willow Creek, Wilson Creek, Hansen, Jennings, Rice, Rocky Gulch, Slate Gulch, Snow Gulch

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -150.83973, 62.57454 (WGS84)
Relative position C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3)) show this locality about one-and- one-half miles upstream north of the confluence of Little Writer Creek with Willow Creek, a tributary to Cottonwood Creek in the northeast quarter of Section 30, T. 29 N., R. 8 W., of the Seward Meridian.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Talkeetna C-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Talkeetna NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Yentna River(hydrologic unit)

Susitna River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tin Critical Primary
Titanium Critical Secondary
Zirconium Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Platinum Ore
Pyrite Ore
Garnet Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Zircon Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Argillic alteration along fault zones (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -150.83973, 62.57454
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Willow Creek drains across the contact between Mesozoic slate and graywacke (KJs) and Tertiary strata of the Sterling (?) (Tcp) and Tyonek (?) (Tts) Formations of the Kenai Group (Reed and Nelson, 1980). The placer gold deposits within Willow Creek are mostly hosted in Pleistocene stream gravels. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe a Tertiary (?) white quartz conglomerate at the head of the main placer pay streak near the contact of the Tertiary strata on the Mesozoic strata. The conglomerate is a limonite- cemented, angular quartz grit consisting of sand- to pebble-size fragments. Hydrothermally altered intrusive rocks with associated quartz veins are found within a fault zone in the Willow Creek drainage and could represent a source for some of the placer gold (Capps, 1925; C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). ? Mertie (1919) reports 20% tin in concentrates, equivalent to 25% cassiterite from Willow Creek. Gold, ilmenite, magnetite, platinum, pyrite, garnet, quartz, and zircon are also reported in the concentrates. He believed that the gold and cassiterite were derived from mineralized bedrock within the drainage. The gold is fine with an average fineness of 870, as reported by Clark and Hawley (1968). ? the white quartz conglomerate placers (e.g. Willow Creek, Thunder Creek, TL032, 058, Dollar Creek, TL031) represent the oldest placers in the Cache Creek area. Capps (1925) describes the white quartz conglomerate as the basal unit of the Tertiary Kenai Formation. However Clark and Hawley (1968) suggest that the white quartz conglomerate is older and that the Kenai Group was deposited on it. They believe the auriferous conglomerate is near its original source in part because the characteristics of the gold show a common source that has not moved far or has not been reworked. Further, they indicate that the conglomerate is a product of shearing and weathering in situ of argillic altered, auriferous Tertiary quartz porphyry intrusive rocks and associated quartz veins that were emplaced along northeast, high angle normal faults. The lineaments in Dutch and Cache Creeks represent two of these faults. ? Tributaries to Willow Creek which have been mined include: Ruby Creek (TL041), Gopher Creek (TL074), Falls Gulch, Rocky Gulch, Slate Gulch, and Snow Gulch. Also see Peters Creek (TL045).
  • Age = Tertiary and Pleistocene (Clark and Hawley,1968).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Undetermined.

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Garrett (1998) reports current placer mining by mechanical cut-and-fill techniques and feed hopper, trommel and sluice processing. Exploration has been conducted by test drilling and pits. ? According to Garrett (1998) Willow Creek and its tributatries were mined as early as 1906. He describes the mining history of the area as follows: In 1911 pick and shovel and hydraulic methods were used. Gold pieces weighing one-half ounce were common. In the mid-30's about 2000 ounces of gold were produced from Little Willow Creek. Owners Frank and Helena Jenkins conducted hydraulic and hand-mining operations until 1939, when they and two other persons were murdered on the property. Exploration and mining was sporadic until 1979, when 4920 ounces of gold were recovered from a bench on the north side of Willow Creek. Mining has continued in this area until the present.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = Similar deposits occur on Thunder Creek (TL032, 058) and Dollar Creek (TL031), both tributaries to Cache Creek. See also Peters Creek (TL045). The structural grain of the area is defined by major northeast-trending, steeply dipping faults (Hawley and Clark , 1968).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & 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.