Swede Creek

The Swede 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: Swede Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury

Location

State: Alaska
District: Council

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: Cinnabar
Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; the placer deposits here are at low enough elevation (50 to 100 feet) to have been influenced by Quaternary sea level fluctuations.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1978 (OF 78-181)

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The placer workings were shallow and extend about 600 feet upstream from the coastal bluff (Herreid, 1965).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = The reported production from Swede Creek back to 1910 is less than 1,000 ounces but the extent of placer workings suggests that production was greater (Mulligan, 1971).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold was discovered on Swede Creek between 1900 and 1902 (Collier and others, 1908) but most mining was between 1918 and WW II (Mulligan, 1971). The placer workings were shallow and extended 600 feet upstream from the coastal bluff (Herreid, 1965). Recorded gold production from the placer is less than 1,000 ounces but the extent of the workings suggested to Mulligan (1971) that production could have been greater. Bedrock in the area is Paleozoic marble and a band of intercalated metsedimentary schist (Herried, 1965; Mulligan, 1971; Till and others, 1986). The gold is thought to have been derived from mineralization in schist (as in the nearby Bluff/Daniels Creek area, ARDF localities SO006 and SO135) and part of the placer deposit here could be residual. Cinnabar was reported to be present in the placer deposits as early as 1922 (Cathcart, 1922) and lode cinnabar deposits were subsequently identified and locally explored (ARDF locality SO133).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Herreid, G.H., 1965, Geology of the Bluff area, Solomon quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 10, 21 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:40,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., 1971, Sampling gold lode deposits, Bluff, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, with a section on petrography by Walter L. Gnagy: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 7555, 40 p.

Reference (Deposit): Collier, A. J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p.

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