Fred Creek (or Fred Gulch--placer)

Site Name

Primary: Fred Creek (or Fred Gulch--placer)

---

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tin

---

Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

---

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: Cassiterite
Ore: Gold

---

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Fred Creek appears to have been worked in at least two periods. It was mined by 1906 because stream tin was reported by Hess (1906). Moffit (1913) also noted mining below the marble contact. Some of the creek was been worked in more recent years by small-scale mechanical methods; there are a few buildings that have been constructed at least from the 1930's, and some of the tailings appear to be less than 30 years old. The area was explored by Kennecott Exploration Company in 1995; also by Cominco American. Some exploration, mainly for lode gold deposits, took place in 1998 and 1999.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Moffit, 1913

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

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Gold in part derived from basal contact zone of massive marble.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Small-scale placer gold mining took place by 1906 in Fred Creek downstream from the basal massive marble (Bundtzen and others, 1994) contact with schist (Moffit, 1913). Hess (1906, p. 157) reported minor cassiterite in Fred Creek,which he thought could have been derived from granitic rocks (orthogneiss) in the Mount Distin region. The physical character of the mine tailings also indicates that the placer deposit has been worked mechanically since 1930. Fred Creek drains across the basal contact of massive marble with metasedimentary schist. The contact is poorly exposed in the creek, but about 600 feet to the southwest, gold-bearing hematitic schist occurs immediately below the massive marble (NM063). This lode prospect seems to be stratabound but also is very close to the projection of a main branch of the Penny River fault, which could also be auriferous.

Comment (Geology): Age = Holocene.

---

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hess, F.L., 1906, The York tin region, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Report on progress of investigations of mineral resources in Alaska, 1905: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 284, p. 145-157.

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

---

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.