Thunder Creek

Site Name

Primary: Thunder Creek

---

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Copper
Primary: Tin

---

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

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Argillic alteration is associated with fault zones (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

---

Rocks

Name: Siltstone
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Ilmenite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Copper
Ore: Cassiterite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Zircon

---

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Undetermined.

Comment (Geology): Age = Tertiary and Pleistocene (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Capps (1931) reports grades of $2 to $2.50 per cubic yard when gold was at $20.67. The gold fineness ranges from 850.5 to 876.5, averaging 865 (Clark and Hawley, 1968).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Clark and Hawley, 1968

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Placer operations are mapped in Thunder Creek from its confluence with Cache Creek to about a mile and a half upstream (C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). Surface placer operations were probably open-cut, sluice and (or) hydraulic operations.

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Clark and Hawley (1968) describe placer gold associated with an auriferous white quartz conglomerate and breccia deposits at Thunder Creek. The conglomerate is composed of angular quartz fragments mixed with a few rounded quartz and lithic pebbles in fine siliceous clay matrix. Thin layers of lignite are present within the conglomerate which indicates a Tertiary age (Clark and Hawley, 1968). ? Capps (1931) reports grades of $2 to $2.50 per cubic yard when gold was at $20.67. The gold fineness ranges from 850.5 to 876.5, averaging 865 (Clark and Hawley, 1968.) Concentrates contain gold, ilmente, magnetite, garnet, zircon, pyrite, arsenopyrite, cassiterite, sheelite and native copper (Cobb and Reed, 1980).? the white quartz conglomerate placers (e.g. Willow Creek (TL042), Thunder Creek (TL032), and Dollar Creek (TL031)) represent the oldest placers in the Cache Creek area (Clark and Hawley, 1968). Capps (1925) describes the white quartz 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. The lineaments in Dutch and Cache Creeks represent two of these faults. From these paleo-channels gold was reconcentrated into Cache Creek in more recent time. (Mertie, 1919; Clark and Hawley, 1968; C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc.,1978). ? Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones similar to those in Thunder Creek are observed along Dollar (TL031) and Thunder Creek (TL032), at the headwaters of Treasure (TL030), Dutch (TL033) and Bear Creeks (TL017) and at an unnamed locality east of McDoel Peak (TL053).

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones similar to those in Dollar Creek are observed along Dollar (TL031) and Thunder Creeks (TL032, TL058), at the headwaters of Treasure (TL030), Dutch (TL033) and Bear Creeks (TL017) and at an unnamed locality east of McDoel Peak (TL053).

---

References

Reference (Deposit): Paige, Sidney, and Knopf, Adolph, 1907, Reconnaissance in the Matanuska and Talkeetna basins, Alaska, with notes on the placers of the adjacent regions: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314-F, p. 104-125.

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., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

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

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. 1939, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

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., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

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

Reference (Deposit): U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1998, Minerals Availability System/Minerals Industry Location System (MAS/MILS), Talkeetna Quadrangle: Worldwide Web URL http://imcg.wr.usgs.gov/data.html.
URL: http://imcg.wr.usgs.gov/data.html

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1940: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

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

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): 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): Brooks, A.H., 1913, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1912: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542, 308 p.

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

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): 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.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

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., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

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., 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., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

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

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1925, An early Tertiary placer deposit in the Yentna district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 53-61.

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

---

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.