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Ben 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. 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 10308561
Record type Site
Current site name Ben Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -143.02284, 65.27977 (WGS84)
Relative position Ben Creek is a southeast-flowing tributary of Sam Creek, which flows northeast to join the Yukon River. Ben Creek is approximately 4.5 miles long. The location is arbitrarily placed at the approximate midpoint of the creek, in section 3, T. 5 N., R. 23 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate to within 2.5 miles.

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -143.02284, 65.27977
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The bedrock in the Ben Creek drainage is composed of the Middle Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Glen Shale (Dover and Miyaoka, 1988). Small placer gold deposits have been found along Ben Creek (Mertie, 1942). One assay of the gold from Ben Creek had values of 896 parts Au per thousand and 100 parts Ag per thousand (Mertie, 1938). Mining on the creek began as early as 1921 and continued intermittently until at least 1965. A boomer dam was constructed along Ben Creek to store and control water for sluicing. In 1965, production was reported as 26 troy ounces of gold and 2 troy ounces of silver (National Park Service, 1990).
  • Age = Tertiary-Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Circle

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = In 1965, production was reported as 26 troy ounces of gold and 2 troy ounces of silver (National Park Service, 1990).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Small placer gold deposits have been found in Ben Creek (Mertie, 1942). Mining on the creek began as early as 1921 and continued intermittently until at least 1965. A boomer dam was constructed to control and store water for sluicing (National Park Service, 1990).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1942, Tertiary deposits of the Eagle-Circle district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-D, p. 213-264.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Charley River and Coleen quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-632, 45 p.

  • Deposit

    Dover, J.A., and Miyaoka, R.T., 1988, Reinterpreted geologic map and fossil data, Charley River quadrangle, east-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2004, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    National Park Service, 1990, Final environmental impact statement, volume 1, Mining in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska: National Park Service, Anchorage, Alaska, p. 36-44.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, Gold placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C, p. 133-261.

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 = See also Sam Creek (CY027). 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.