Mystery Creek

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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Site Name

Primary: Mystery Creek
Secondary: Mud Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold

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: Gold

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Collier and others, 1908

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Small-scale mining started in the 1900's and some dredging operations took place up to 1914 (Cobb, 1978, OF 78-181).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Dredging was reported to have taken place 3 miles above the mouth (Chapin, 1913); the gravels here were 2 to 15 feet thick on a clay false bedrock. One mile above the mouth, gravels were 7 feet thick and the pay was in the lower 3 feet. Mud Creek, a headwater tributary of Mystery Creek, contained coarse, rough gold in 3 to 4 feet of angular schist gravel and in 3 to 4 foot-deep crevices in schist bedrock (Collier and others, 1908). Mud Creek gravels were overlain by 2.5 feet of muck and sthe recovered gold was coarse, very rough, spongy, and somewhat rusty. Bedrock is calcareous mica schist with small quartz stringers (Collier and others, 1908); impure schistose Ordovician marble occurs in headwater parts of the area (Till and others, 1986).

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

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

References

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

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): 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): 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.

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