Birch Gulch (Creek)

The Birch Gulch (Creek) is a gold and silver 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: Birch Gulch (Creek)
Secondary: Groshong's Mine

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Bismuth

Location

State: Alaska
District: McGrath

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: Shoreline placer Ti

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Bismuth
Ore: Gold
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Magnetite
Gangue: Zircon

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See also Hidden Creek (MDO66), Encio Gulch (MDO63), and Holmes Gulch (MD072) placers.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Mertie, 1936

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Past mine activity utilized hydraulic mine methods, namely a boom dam to remove overburden and a small giant to sluice pay gravels. No mechanized mining was known to take place in Birch Gulch.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model no. 39c)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold in Birch Gulch occurs on bedrock and in lower 3 ft (0.9 m) of alluvial section up to 24 ft (7.3m) thick. Placer mining during 1933 uncovered 3 ft (0.9 m) of angular wash beneath 8 ft (2.4 m) of muck. Paystreak averages 50 ft (15.2 m) wide. Most past mine activities took place near the confluence of Birch Gulch and Hidden Creek in a poorly developed alluvial fan deposit. Mertie (1936) reports a single fineness value of 961.75 Au and 33.00 Ag from a Birch Gulch placer gold sample. Age of mineralization is judged to be Quaternary, based on comparative geomorphology with other dated placer deposit nearby (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = The Birch Gulch placer discovery occurred in 1917. Small scale production commenced in 1922, and took place in 1922-23; 1925-1927; and 1932. From 1922 to 1932, a total of 864.2 ounces (26.8 kg) gold and 50.9 ounces (1.6 kg) silver were produced from Birch Gulch. In 1926, 139.7 ounces (4.3 kg) gold were recovered from 3,300 cubic yards (2,523 cubic meters) of pay, or an average grade of 0.042 oz/cubic yard Au. No further mine activities are known.

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1974, Synopsis of mineral resources and geology of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1307, 53 pages.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Miller, M.L., 1997, Precious metals associated with Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary igneous rocks of southwestern Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Economic Geology Monograph #9, Mineral Deposits of Alaska, p. 242-286.

Reference (Deposit): Herreid, G.H., 1966, Geology and geochemistry of the Nixon Fork area, Medfra quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geologic Report 22, 34 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:40,000.

Reference (Deposit): Brown, J.S., 1926, The Nixon Fork country: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783. p. 97-144.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1936, Mineral deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-C, 115-245.

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