Banner Creek

Site Name

Primary: Banner Creek

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Antimony
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: REE
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Tungsten
Secondary: Tin

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Fairbanks

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Cassiterite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Monazite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Stibnite

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Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = From 1905 through 1921, gold production for the Richardson area was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, mining in the district has produced an additional 10,000 ounces of gold (Olson and others, 1985). Gold production for individual mines and sections of Banner Creek and its tributaries has not been reported separately.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb and Eberlein, 1980

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Placer gold was first discovered in the Richardson area in 1905. Mining initially occurred on the nearby Tenderfoot Creek (BD039) and expanded to Banner Creek and associated tributaries soon after. Following peak gold production in 1908, mining in the area declined (Olson and others, 1985). Mining along Banner Creek has included open-cut and drifting methods (Ellsworth and Parker, 1911). Bundtzen and Reger (1977) reported 4 churn-drill holes along the creek. Currently (1998), exploration work is being conducted along the Banner Creek drainage (F.L. Blystone, written communication, 1998).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Richardson area is characterized by gentle slopes and broad alluvium filled valleys (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p. 140). The area is unglaciated and largely overlain by windblown silt, sand, and loess, locally up to 50 meters thick (Foster and others, 1979). The bedrock in the region comprises greenschist to amphibolite facies schist, marble, and gneiss that have been intruded by various igneous bodies (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977, p. 29). The schist and marble are probably Paleozoic, and the gneiss has a probable protolith of Precambrian and Paleozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks (Weber and others, 1978). The intrusive bodies in the area range in composition from rhyolite to andesite. Fine-grained rhyolite containing quartz and feldspar phenocrysts is common throughout the area (Olson and others, 1985). At the nearby Democrat Lode (BD014), the rhyolite contains arsenopyrite, gold, and pyrite, and is albitic, clay, and sericite altered (R.J. Newberry, oral communication, 1998). Structurally, the Richardson region is cut by a northwest-trending fracture system termed the Richardson Lineament. The lineament appears to correspond with the distribution of the rhyolite and other intrusive bodies and placer gold deposits (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977, p. 29). Also, the lineament tends to separate gneissic rocks to the northeast from schistose rocks to the southwest (Swainbank and others, 1984). ? the placer gold fineness mined from Banner Creek ranged from 639.5 to 785 (Menzie and Foster, 1979). Metz and Hawkins (1981) reported the average gold fineness to be 737. Glover (1920?) reported a range in gold fineness of 738 to 798 for Banner Creek. Placer and churn-drill hole concentrates contain actinolite, arsenopyrite, biotite, cassiterite, chalcopyrite, dolomite, epidote, feldspar, fluorapatite, galena, garnet, gold, hornblende, ilmenite, magnetite, monazite, muscovite, quartz, pyrite, pyroxene, rutile, scheelite, sphene, stibnite, tourmaline, and zircon (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Mining along Banner Creek has included open-cut and drifting methods (Ellsworth and Parker, 1911). In the Banner Creek drainage, schist and gneiss in contact with the rhyolite dikes is hydrothermally altered (Swainbank and others, 1984). ? Placer gold was first discovered in the Richardson district in 1905. Mining initially occurred on the nearby Tenderfoot Creek (BD039) and expanded to Banner Creek and associated tributaries soon after. Following peak gold production in 1908, mining in the area declined (Olson and others, 1985). From 1905 through 1921, gold production for the Richardson district was approximately 95,000 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and Reger, 1977). Since 1980, mining in the district has produced an additional 10,000 ounces of gold (Olson and others, 1985). Gold production for individual mines and sections of Banner Creek and its tributaries has not been reported separately.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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References

Reference (Deposit): Glover, A.E., 1950, Placer gold fineness: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-1, 38 p.

Reference (Deposit): Ellsworth, C.E., and Parker, G.L., 1911, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480, 325 p.

Reference (Deposit): Weber, F.R., Foster, H.L., Keith, T.E.C., Dusel-Bacon, C., 1978, Preliminary geologic map of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529A, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Olson, B.G., Burton, J., Wolff, E.N., and Swainbank, R.D., 1985, Mining and minerals in the golden heart of Alaska: Fairbanks North Star Borough Publication, 80 p.

Reference (Deposit): Metz, P.A., and Hawkins, D.B., 1981, A summary of gold fineness values from Alaska placer deposits: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report No. 45, 63 p.

Reference (Deposit): Swainbank, R.C., Burton, J.P., and Metz, P.A., 1984, Bedrock geology of the Richardson mining district, Alaska: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Open-File Report 84-2, 60 p., 8 maps, scale 1:40,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Eberlein, G.D., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Big Delta and Tanacross quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1086, 77 p.

Reference (Deposit): Eberlein, G.D., Chapman, R.M., Foster, H.L., and Gassaway, J.S., 1977, Map and table describing known metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits in central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168-D, 132 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Reger, R.D., 1977, The Richardson lineament-a structural control for gold deposits in the Richardson mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 55, 46 p.

Reference (Deposit): Menzie, W.D., and Foster, H.L., 1979, Metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral resource potential in the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529D, 61 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Saunders, R.H., 1965, A geochemical investigation in the Richardson area, Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geochemical Report 3, 11 p.

Reference (Deposit): Prindle, L.M., and Katz, F.J., 1913, Detailed description of the Fairbanks district, in Prindle, L. M., A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 525, p. 59-152.

Reference (Deposit): Chapin, Theodore, 1914, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-J, p. 357-362.

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