Peters Creek

Site Name

Primary: Peters Creek
Secondary: Peters Creek Mining Corporation Property
Secondary: Cottonwood Creek

---

Commodity

Primary: Gold

---

Location

State: Alaska
District: Yentna

---

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: Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Gold

---

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = According to C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) the Peters Creek placer gold deposits are generally too low grade for anything but a large-scale hydraulic or dredging operation to be successful;. Drainages secondary to Peters Creek that also contain gold deposits are Bird Creek (TL040), Willow Creek (TL042), Poorman Creek (TL043), and their headwater tributaries.

Comment (Geology): Age = Pleistocene.

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

Comment (Workings): 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. Hydraulic and hand-mining operations were conducted in the past. Placer mining on Peters Creek was reported in 1927 on Cottonwood Creek by Smith (1930, B 810). The placer deposits have been mined from 1905 into the 1970s (Cobb and Reed, 1980) at various places over ten miles along Peters and Cottonwood Creeks. Large scale production in about 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956 (C.C. Hawley and Associates Inc., 1978) from drag-line dredge operations covered an area 1200 feet wide and a mile long on Peters Creek.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Table 4.2-B(3)-B) report probable reserves in the Peters Creek Mining Corporation are to be 3,467,000 cubic yards. They suggest that most of the gold in Peters Creek drainage system is unmined.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Gold-bearing Pleistocene stream and bench gravel in the Peters Creek drainage basin occurs near the bedrock contact between Mesozoic marine sedimentary rocks (KJs) and continentally derived sedimentary strata of the Tertiary Kenai Group (Cobb and Reed, 1980; Reed and Nelson, 1980). The KJs unit is cut by Tertiary (?) diabase and other dikes (Hawley and Clark, 1973; C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978; Cobb and Reed, 1980). C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe the base of the Tertiary strata in the headwaters of Peters Creek as an argillaceous white quartz conglomerate containing angular gold. Capps (1925) describes this 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. ? In Peters Creek stream gravel averages 6 feet in depth; bench gravel is generally thinner, about 3 to 4 feet thick. Boulders are abundant in the stream gravel and the benches. The placer deposits have been mined from 1905 into the 1970s (Cobb and Reed, 1980) at various places over ten miles along Peters and Cottonwood Creeks. Large scale production in about 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956 (C.C. Hawley and Associates Inc., 1978) from drag-line dredge operations covered an area 1200 feet wide and a mile long on Peters Creek. ? the fineness of the gold ranges from 865 1/4 to 870 3/4; averaging: 868 (Clark and Hawley, 1968). C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Table 4.2-B(3)-B) report probable reserves of the Peters Creek Mining Corporation to be 3,467,000 cubic yards from the combined areas of Cottonwood, Big Willow and Peters Creek. They suggest that most of the gold in Peters Creek drainage system is unmined. ? According to C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) the Peters Creek placer gold deposits are generally too low grade for anything but a large-scale hydraulic or dredging operation to be successful. Drainages secondary to Peters Creek that also contain gold deposits are: Bird Creek (TL040); Willow Creek (TL042); Poorman Creek (TL043); and their headwater tributaries.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = The placer deposits have been mined from 1905 into the 1970s (Cobb and Reed, 1980) at various places over ten miles along Peters and Cottonwood Creeks. Large scale production in about 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956 (C.C. Hawley and Associates Inc., 1978) from drag-line dredge operations covered an area 1200 feet wide and a mile long on Peters Creek.

---

References

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1919, Platinum-bearing gold placers of the Kahiltna Valley: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-D, p. 233-264.

Reference (Deposit): Joesting, H.R., 1942, Strategic mineral occurences in interior Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 1, 46 p.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Clark, A.L., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-369, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1911, The mining industry in 1910, in Brooks, A.K., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1910: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-B p. 21-43.

Reference (Deposit): Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., White, M.G. and Moxham, R.M., 1952, Interim report on an appraisal of the uranium possibilities of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 51, 123 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1911, The Mount McKinley region, Alaska, with descriptions of the igneous rocks and of the Bonnifield and Kantishna districts by L.M. Prindle: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 70, 234 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1913, The Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 534, 75 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1910, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1909: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1906, The mining industry in 1905: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 284, p. 4-9.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1924, Geology and mineral resources of the region traversed by the Alaska Railroad: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755-C, p. 73-150.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797, p. 1-50.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692, p. 11-42

Reference (Deposit): Garrett, D. R., 1998, The Blue Ribbon Mine, Yentna Mining District, Alaska: Worldwide Web URL http://www.alaska.net/~freegold/brm.html.
URL: http://www.alaska.net/~freegold/brm.html

Reference (Deposit): C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p., 7 plates.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1908, The mining industry in 1907: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 345, 294 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of reference to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-884, 106 p.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., and Nelson, S.W., 1980, Geologic map of the Talkeetna quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-1174, scale 1:250,000.

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

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Koschmann, A.H. and Bergendahl, M.H., 1968, Principal gold producing districts of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 610, 283 p.

Reference (Deposit): Clark, A.L., and Hawley, C.C., 1968, Reconnaissance geology, mineral occurrences, and geochemical anomalies of the Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 68-35, 64 p.

Reference (Deposit): Robinson, G. D., Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., and Lyon, J. B., 1955, Radioactivity investigations in the Cache Creek area, Yentna district, Alaska 1945: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-A, p. 1-23.

---

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.