Boulder Creek

The Boulder 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: Boulder 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 (Geology): Age = Quaternary; the numerous incised terraces along the Casadepaga River and its major tributaries (including Canyon Creek) indicate that more than one cycle of erosion and deposition has developed placer deposits in the area. The low elevations between 170 and 270 feet along the first 11 miles of the river, suggest that Quaternary sea level fluctuations could have influenced placer development.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Mining took place along the active channel of Boulder Creek where thin, 1.5- to 2-feet thick gravels over bedrock contained gold. Sainsbury and others (1972, OFR 511) show placer tailings along the lower 3/4 mile of the creek. The gold was bright and some was coarse; a 3/4 ounce nugget was recovered (Smith, 1910). It appears that some mining of bench gravels also occurred. The creek was noted as one of the richer in the area; 50 ounces were reported to have been recovered in one day of work in 1899 (Brooks and others, 1901). Bedrock in the area is pelitic schist of possible Cambrian or Precambrian age that is in contact with a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage in the headwaters of Boulder Creek (Till and others, 1986).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Smith, 1910

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Small-scale hand and hydraulic mining was used up to 1907; placer tailings are mapped along the lower 3/4 mile of the creek (Sainsbury and others, 1972,OFR 511).

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): 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): 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.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., Richardson, G. B., and Collier, A. J., 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay regions, Alaska, in 1900: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, p. 1-180.

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): 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.

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