Butte Creek

The Butte 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

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Site Name

Primary: Butte Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Circle

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

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The drainage basin of Butte Creek lies within the Upper Schist unit of Wiltse and others (1995), which they describe as a mixed unit of variably garnetiferous, pelitic quartz-muscovite schist, muscovite-quartz schist, chlorite-quartz muscovite schist, and distinct intervals several tens of meters thick of garnetiferous, calcareous albite-porphyroblastic muscovite-chlorite schist containing interlayered, 3 to 5 cm thick impure marble.? A pebble count of gravel in the lower part of Butte Creek reveals a composition of 43 percent quartzite, 26 percent quartz, 18 percent garnet schist, and 13 percent mica schist. The gravel in Butte Creek is coarse and typically contains boulders of quartz and quartzite as much as 0.5 meters in diameter (Yeend, 1991).? A hydraulic plant was installed in 1916 but operated only a short time because of scarcity of water (Brooks, 1918). Placer mining was reported in 1916, 1937 and perhaps 1932 (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 19). A dragline excavating plant was operated on the creek in 1937. Weighted mean of all gold mined through 1937 was 900 parts gold and 88 parts silver per thousand (Mertie, 1938). Extensive mining was done in the lower 3.2 km of the creek in the 1980's (Yeend, 1991). The upper parts of the creek are unmined, have steep gradients, and small volumes of gravel (Yeend, 1991).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Mining has been reported (see workings/exploration); however, amount of production is unknown.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Yeend, 1991.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A hydraulic plant was installed in 1916 but operated only a short time because of scarcity of water (Brooks, 1918). Placer mining was reported in 1916, 1937 and perhaps 1932 (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 19). A dragline excavating plant was operated on the creek in 1937. Weighted mean of all gold mined through 1937 was 900 parts gold and 88 parts silver per thousand (Mertie, 1938). Extensive mining was done in the lower 3.2 km of the creek in the 1980's (Yeend, 1991). The upper parts of the creek are unmined, have steep gradients, and small volumes of gravel (Yeend, 1991).

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

References

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Henning, M.W., 1978, Barite in Alaska: Mines and Geology Bulletin, v. 27, no. 4, p. 1-4.

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

Reference (Deposit): Menzie, W.D., Foster, H.L., Tripp, R.B., and Yeend, W.E., 1983, Mineral resource assessment of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-170-B, 61 p., 1 sheet, 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Eakins, G.R., Jones, B.K. and Forbes, R.B., 1977, Investigation of Alaska's uranium potential: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 109, 213 p., 10 sheets, scale 1:40,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 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): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Misc. Field Studies Map MF-391, 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., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Yeend, W.E., 1991, Gold placers of the Circle district, Alaska - past, present, and future: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1943, 42 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wiltse, M.A., Reger, R.D., Newberry, R.J, Pessel, G.H., Pinney, D.S., Robinson, M.S., and Solie, D.N., 1995, Bedrock geologic map of the Circle mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 95-02b, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, Gold placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C, p. 133-261.

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