Olympic Creek

The Olympic Creek is a gold mine located in Alaska.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Olympic Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Platinum

Location

State: Alaska
District: Goodnews Bay

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Granite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold mining was reported on Olympic Creek from 1926 to 1931 (Hoare and Cobb, 1977). Fechner (1988, fig. 5) showed the location of a 0.4-mile-long mining cut along the west side of the creek that appears to be in a bench setting. The mined area includes about 10,000 square feet in an upper pit and about 4,000 square feet in a lower pit; the total mined volume is estimated to have been 100,000 cubic yards (Fechner, 1988). As the average grade of the mined material was reported to be 0.04 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Reed, 1931), total production could have been about 4,000 ounces of gold, much more than the 169 ounces that Fechner (1988, p. 50) identified as reported production. The coarse, angular gravel contains granitic cobbles up to 2 feet across; it is 6 feet thick in the creek and about 20 feet thick on the bench. Fechner (1988) collected six, 0.1 cubic yard sediment samples along 3 miles of the Olympic Creek dainage. These samples contained a trace to 0.0045 ounce of gold per cubic yard; one of these samples from along the lower part of the creek, contained 600 ppb platinum. Bedrock in the area includes Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks locally intruded by Upper Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary granitic rocks and Jurassic mafic/ultramafic plutonic rocks (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Fechner, 1988

Comment (Production): Production Notes = The total mined volume is estimated to have been 100,000 cubic yards (Fechner, 1988). As the average grade of the mined material was reported to be 0.04 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Reed, 1931), total production could have been about 4,000 ounces of gold. This is considered a maximum estimate. It is much more than the 169 ounces that Fechner (1988, p. 50) identified as reported production.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Fechner (1988, fig. 5) showed the location of a 0.4-mile-long mining cut along the west side of the creek that appears to be in a bench setting. The mined area includes about 10,000 square feet in an upper pit and about 4,000 square feet in a lower pit; the total mined volume is estimated to have been 100,000 cubic yards (Fechner, 1988).

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Condon, W.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Goodnews quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-447, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J.M., and Cobb, E.H., 1977, Mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bethel, Goodnews, and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-156, 98 p.

Reference (Deposit): Fechner, S.A., 1988, Bureau of Mines mineral investigation of the Goodnews Bay mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-88, 230 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J.M., and Coonrad, W.L., 1978, Geologic map of the Goodnews and Hagemeister Island quadrangles region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-9-B, two sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, I.M., 1931, Notes on the creeks in the Goodnews River gold area: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines, 3 p.

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