The Mystery 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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Mystery Creek MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Mystery Creek
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Location
State: Alaska
District: Nome; Solomon River
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 (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Smith, 1910
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; the location and elevation (150 to 200 feet) of this area indicate that it was affected by Quaternary sea level fluctuations.
Comment (Production): Production Notes = Smith (1910) estimated that annual production from the early mining here was worth $30,000 or about 1,450 ounces. The gold was worth between $17.50 and $18.75 per ounce at the time when the price of gold was $20.67 per fine ounce.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Hydraulic placer mining started on this creek as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908). Production was mostly at elevations from 150 to 200 feet between the Puzzle and Problem Creek tributaries, especially from benches that had a paystreak 100 to 150 feet wide (Smith, 1910). A shaft on this bench encountered 6-8 feet of gravel overlain by 2-18 inches of angular limestone fragments and about 30-35 feet of overburden; this shaft was located at an elevation 35 feet above the nearby stream bottom but encountered bedrock at a depth of 43 feet indicating an older and deeper channel than that of the present stream. Only 2 to 3 feet of gravel over bedrock is common in the present stream. The gold from the bench placer was fairly coarse, dark and rusty. Smith (1910) estimated that annual production from the early mining here was worth $30,000 or about 1,450 ounces. Bedrock is part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 511; Till and others, 1986).
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Mostly small-scale hydraulic placer mining operations, but a dredge operated in 1911 and winter drift mining took place on the benches.
References
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): 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): 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.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1910, Geology and mineral resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 433, 234 p.
Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, R., and Marsh, W.R., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic maps of the Solomon D-5 and C-5 quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 511, 12 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.
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