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Junction Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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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. 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 10307228
Record type Site
Current site name Junction Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -146.40685, 64.33268 (WGS84)
Relative position Junction Creek, approximately 3.5 miles north of the town of Richardson on the Richardson Highway, is a tributary of Redmond Creek (BD035) that drains to the north into the Salcha River. The creek is approximately 10 miles long and has several tributaries. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system reports placer mining along Junction Creek. The approximate center of the mining activity is in SE1/4SW1/4 section 5, T. 7 S., R. 7 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The headwaters of the creek are within 0.5 mile of the Democrat Lode (BD014). Numerous unimproved roads provide access to the Junction and Redmond Creek drainage. It is locality 19 of Menzie and Foster (1979), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Junction Creek'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta B-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Big Delta SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Big Delta(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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -146.40685, 64.33268
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Richardson area is characterized by gentle slopes and broad, alluvium-filled valleys (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p. 140). The area is unglaciated and largely overlain by windblown silt, sand, and loess, locally up to 50 meters thick (Foster and others, 1979). The bedrock in the region comprises greenschist to amphibolite facies schist, marble, and gneiss that have been intruded by various igneous bodies (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977, p. 29). The schist and marble are probably Paleozoic, and the gneiss has a probable protolith of Precambrian and Paleozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks (Weber and others, 1978). The intrusive bodies in the area range in composition from rhyolite to andesite. Fine-grained rhyolite containing quartz and feldspar phenocrysts is common throughout the area (Olson and others, 1985). At the nearby Democrat Lode (BD014), the rhyolite contains arsenopyrite, gold, and pyrite, and is albitic, clay, and sericite altered (R.J. Newberry, oral communication, 1998). Structurally, the Richardson region is cut by a northwest-trending fracture system termed the Richardson Lineament. The lineament appears to correspond to the distribution of the rhyolite and other intrusive bodies and placer gold deposits (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977, p. 29). Also, the lineament tends to separate gneissic rocks to the northeast from schistose rocks to the southwest (Swainbank and others, 1984). Placer gold was first discovered in the Richardson district in 1905. Mining initially occurred on the nearby Tenderfoot Creek (BD039) and soon expanded to nearby creeks. After peak gold production in 1908, mining in the area declined (Olson and others, 1985). The placer gold mined from the Richardson area ranged from 639.5 to 785 in fineness (Menzie and Foster, 1979). Metz (1991) described early drift mine and surface tailings in the Junction Creek drainage. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Junction Creek as recent as 1984. From 1905 through 1921, production for the Richardson district was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, the district has produced approximately 10,000 additional ounces of gold from intermittent mining (Olson and others, 1985). Gold production for Junction Creek has not been reported separately.
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = From 1905 through 1921, production for the Richardson district was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, the district has produced approximately 10,000 additional ounces of gold from intermittent mining (Olson and others, 1985). Gold production for Junction Creek has not been reported separately.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer gold was first discovered in the Richardson district in 1905. Mining initially occurred on the nearby Tenderfoot Creek and soon expanded to nearby creeks. After peak gold production in 1908, mining in the area declined (Olson and others, 1985). Metz (1991) described early drift mine and surface tailings in the Junction Creek drainage. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Junction Creek as recent as 1984.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Menzie and Foster, 1979

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 26-APR-99 Cameron S. Rombach 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.