Linda Creek

Site Name

Primary: Linda Creek

---

Commodity

Primary: Gold

---

Location

State: Alaska
District: Koyukuk

---

Land Status

Not available

---

Holdings

Not available

---

Workings

Not available

---

Ownership

Not available

---

Production

Not available

---

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: 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

Not available

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Gold

---

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Linda Creek appears to have been a fairly consistent placer producer from the early 1900s until the present (Cobb, 1976, OFR 76-340; Bundtzen and others, 1996). Most workers believe that the gold in Linda Creek was derived from a source other than the current Linda Creek drainage and that it most likely was the high channel on Gold Creek (Maddren, 1913). The high channel of Gold Creek probably originally drained into the Middle Fork along what is now lower Linda Creek before the current lower Gold Creek captured the drainage. The upper part of Linda Creek (above the map site where the creek abruptly turns to the west) runs in a wide, flat valley over glacial outwash material. Reed (1938) noted that no prospects had ever been found in that part of the drainage. The lower part of the creek (below where it turns to the west) has cut through the glacial fill and runs in a shallow cut in the underlying schist. Reed (1938) also noted that about 1/4 mile below where Linda Creek intersects the old Gold Creek channel the bedrock pitches off steeply to an unknown depth and that no values have been found below this point. In 1937 a small piece of the old channel that had not been found in the early days was being worked. This occurrence was described as 8 feet of gravel over a hard schist bedrock. The gravel was waterworn, fine material with few boulders but much heavy sediment in the sand. The gold occurred in the lower 3 feet of the gravel and upper 2 feet of the bedrock. The gold was said to be fairly fine. Maddren (1913) noted that the character of the gold was similar to that in Gold Creek. The fineness of the gold averaged about 945.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Reed, 1938

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Gold was discovered on Linda Creek in 1901, and sporadic small-scale mining has been reported since then. Production through 1909 was estimated to have been approximately $20,000 (Maddren, 1913); almost all of it was in 1902. The ground in a portion of the old channel was reported to run $0.95 per square foot of bedrock (Reed, 1938).

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

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = the channel containing the placer deposit formerly was the lower part of Gold Creek.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = There is little description of the early mining except that nearly all the gold was mined from the Discovery claim about 1/2 mile above the mouth, but only the lower half of this claim was very productive. Reed (1938) described a 'shoveling in' surface mining operation. Hand and hydraulic mining was reported in 1974, and in 1993 and 1996 underground drift mining was continuing 'as it has for many years' (Bundtzen and others, 1994; Bundtzen and others, 1996).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

---

References

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Clough, A.H., Henning, M.W., and Hansen, E.W., 1994, Alaska's mineral industry, 1993: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 48, 84 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Clough, A.H., Henning, M.W., and Charlie, K.M., 1996, Alaska's mineral industry, 1995: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 50, 72 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S. 1939, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1915, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1914: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622, 238 p.

Reference (Deposit): Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska, Report 16, 306 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Green, C.B., Deagen, J., and Daniels, C.L., 1987, Alaska's mineral industry, 1986: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 40, 68 p.

Reference (Deposit): Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T. K., Clough A.H., and Henning, M.W., 1997, Alaska's mineral industry 1996: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 51, 68 p.

Reference (Deposit): Maddren, A.G., 1913, The Koyukuk-Chandalar region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 532, 119 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., Green, C.B. and Lueck, L.L., 1986, Alaska's mineral industry in 1985: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 39, 68 p.

Reference (Deposit): Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Lueck, L.L. Green, C.B., Gallagher, J.L., and Robinson, M.S., 1985, Alaska mineral industry, 1984: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 38, 57p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., Clough, J.G., Lueck, L.L., Green, C.B., Robinson, M.S., and Coleman, D.A., 1984, Alaska's Mineral Industry, 1983: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 33, 56 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

Reference (Deposit): Carnes, D.R., 1976, Active Alaskan placer operations, 1975: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 98-76, 90 p., 40 maps.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Chandalar and Wiseman quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-340, 205 p.

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., 1974, Mineral resources of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline corridor: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8626, 24 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): DeYoung, J.H., Jr., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-878-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Robinson, M.S., Clough, J.G., Green, C.B., Clautice, K.H., and Albanese M.A., 1983, Alaska's mineral industry, 1982, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 31, 63 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-457, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

---

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.