Upper Cache Creek Placers

The Upper Cache Creek Placers 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Upper Cache Creek Placers
Secondary: Spruce Creek
Secondary: Short Creek
Secondary: Rambler Creek
Secondary: Lucky Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Platinum
Tertiary: Tungsten
Tertiary: Thorium
Tertiary: Tin
Tertiary: Uranium

Location

State: Alaska
District: Yentna/Cache Creek

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
Discovery Year: 1906
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Platinum
Ore: Monazite
Gangue: Magnetite
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Quartz
Unknown: Scheelite
Unknown: Cassiterite
Unknown: Zircon

Comments

Comment (Deposit): SECONDARY DRAINAGES ON WHICH MINING HAS BEEN DONE: SPRUCE CR., DOLLAR CR., WINDY CR., SHORT CR., CHEECHAKO GULCH, FALLS CR., THUNDER CR., RAMBLER CR., LUCKY CR., NUGGET CR., AND GOLD CR.; RECENT BENCH AND ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS LIKE THOSE AT CACHE CR. HAVE BEEN THE MAIN PRODUCERS OF PLACER GOLD IN THE YENTHA DISTRICT; LARGE VOLUME, LOW GRADE AND THE OVERALL COARSENESS OF THE GOLD FAVOR LARGE-SCALE, HIGH CAPACITY OPERATIONS SUCH AS DREDGING ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Deposit): THIS SITE NAME WAS CREATED BY THE REPORTER OR OTHER USGS EMPLOYEE BASED ON PROXIMITY TO SOME MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE.

Comment (Location): LOCATION GIVEN IS APPROXIMATE CENTER OF MOST PRODUCTIVE AREA: DREDGE OPERATION MINED STREAM PLACERS FROM JUST ABOVE WINDY CR. TO BELOW NUGGET CR; SEE: GENERAL COMMENTS LAND STATUS VALUE CALCULATED 6-94 USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS WITH BLM 1:2,500,000 SCALE OWNERSHIP STATUS MAP (1991).

Comment (Commodity): RADIOACTIVITY DUE TO U AND TH IN ZIRCON, MONAZITE AND URANOTHORIANITE IN PLACERS

Comment (Production): PRODUCTION, COMBINED FOR CACHE CR., PETERS CR, AND DUTCH CR., IS ESTIMATED AT ABOUT 170,000 OZ BETWEEN 1905 AND 1970, USGS MF-870-D; DOMINANT PRODUCTION BETWEEN 1916 AND 1926 IN YENTNA DISTRICT WAS FROM THE CACHE CR. DREDGE, WHICH WAS PROBABLY LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISTRICT'S PEAK PRODUCTION OF 10,788 OZ IN 1922, USGS OFR 311, P. 3-4

Comment (Development): DREDGE OPERATED FROM 1916 TO 1926 BETWEEN WINDY CR. AND NUGGET CR.; 65 BUCKETS OF 7.5 CF CAPACITY ABLE TO PROCESS 2000 CY OF MATERIAL DAILY; HYDRAULIC MINING ON BENCHES

Comment (Deposit): SHALLOW STREAM GRAVELS 3 TO 7 FT DEEP, AVE: 4.5 FT WITH WELL DEFINED, DISCONTINUOUS PAY STREAK 150 TO 300 FT WIDE; BENCH PLACER 7 TO 35 FT THICK WITH GOLD THROUGHOUT, BUT MOSTLY CONCENTRATED ON BEDROCK

Comment (Workings): PROBABLY MORE THAN HALF OF THE GOLD IN CACHE CREEK HAS BEEN MINED, USBM OFR 24-78, P. 4-114

Comment (Geology): PLACERS OF CACHE CR. ARE HOLOCENE STREAM AND BENCH DEPOSITS OF WELL-WASHED GRAVELS DERIVED FROM GLACIAL DEBRIS; TRANSITIONAL WITH DEPOSITS OF GLACIO-FLUVIAL ORIGIN ; MAJOR.UNITS: MIOCENE COAL-BEARING SEDIMENTS COMPOSED OF SANDSTONES, CONGLOMERATES, CLAY SHALE AND COAL SEAMS; MIDDLE MEMBER OF THE KENAI FORMATION ; REG.COM: PROBABLY FORMED FROM GLACIAL DEBRIS WHICH HAS LOCALLY BEEN SUBJECTED TO STREAM SORTING; THE COARSENESS OF THE GOLD, SUBANGULAR SHAPE AND UNIFORM FINENESS INDICATE CLOSE PROXIMITY TO SOURCE

References

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 534, P. 54-61

Reference (Deposit): USBM BULL 153, P. 38, 42

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 662, P. 48-49

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 692, P. 32-33, 243-248

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 755, P. 129-130

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 1024-A, P. 2, 13, 18

Reference (Deposit): USGS OFR 311, P. 3-4, 25, 30-32, 45

Reference (Deposit): USGS PP 610, P. 13

Reference (Deposit): USBM OFR 24-78, P. 4-110 TO 4-116

Reference (Deposit): USGS MF-870-D, LOC. 78

Reference (Other Database): BAG-MF-870D-78

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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.