Dollar Creek

The Dollar 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

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: Dollar Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tin
Secondary: Titanium

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: Capps (1913) describes strongly altered graywacke and slate underlying the white quartz conglomerate. Reed and others (1978) note hydrothermally altered zones similar to 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). Mineralogy of the alteration is not described by either of these authors. However, based on its reported similarity to altered zones at Thunder Creek, it is most likely argillic alteration of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

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

Comments

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

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

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones similar to those at Dollar Creek are observed along 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).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Mertie (1919) reports abundant pyrite in concentrates with 4.03 oz/ton gold and the discovery of a large nugget in the late 1900s worth $90.

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The drainage has been prospected and mined by various small scale surface methods.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = This property lies on Dollar Creek, a tributary to Cache Creek, just below an auriferous quartz-breccia bench deposit (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) , Fig. 4.2-B(3).? At this locality, near the head of the main pay streak of Dollar Creek, Capps (1913) described a basal conglomerate unit of the Tertiary Kenai Group composed of white to dark gray quartz in subangular to angular fragments up to 4 inches in diameter, within a matrix of very fine quartz, white clay and muscovite. Underlying the white quartz conglomerate is a strongly altered graywacke and slate. Clark and Hawley (1968) later suggested that the stream placers and the 60-foot-wide conglomerate probably are derived from hydrothermally altered, gold-bearing, alaskite which intrudes a fault zone and from associated quartz veins. They described the conglomerate as white quartz-breccia. Source of the gold is Dollar Creek is proximal as suggested by Mertie (1919) who reports abundant pyrite in concentrates with 4.03 oz/ton gold and the discovery of a large nugget in the late 1900s worth $90. Clark and Hawley (1968) report the gold fineness ranges from 857 to 871, with an average of 865 with 150 to 500 ppm copper, 100 to 200 ppm lead. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that significant resources remaining in Dollar Creek. ? the Dollar Creek channel probably represents an old southwest flowing drainage similar to those at Thunder (TL032, 058), Falls (TL030), Nugget (TL035) and Willow (TL042) Creeks (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). From these older channels gold was reconcentrated into Cache Creek (TL029). Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones, similar to those at Dollar Creek, are observed along 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).

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report significant resources remaining in Dollar Creek.

References

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 of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

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., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-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): Capps, S.R., 1913, The Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 534, 75 p.

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

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

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): 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): Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.

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): 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): 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): 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): 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 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

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., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-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): 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): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

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.

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.