The Alpha 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
Alpha Creek MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Alpha Creek
Commodity
Primary: Gold
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: Gold
Comments
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Alluvial placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a); possibly partly residual.
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cathcart, 1922
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Alpha placer deposit was worked, probably by scraper and gin pole, before 1920 (Cathcart, 1922). A reverse-circulation drill hole was completed near the ditch line above the placer by Kennecott Exploration Company in about 1994. Samples from this hole contained maximum gold values of a few hundreths of an ounce per ton.
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Alpha Creek placer deposit is on the flood plain of Snake River on the flank of the range of hills that extends from Monument Creek to Sledge Creek. On the basis of the configuration of tailings, the placer deposit was surface mined by scraper and gin pole. Cathcart (1922, p. 249) reported 'considerable' placer gold production from this small placer. Bedrock cleaned in mining was cut by numerous glassy quartz stringers containing sulfides and their alteration products. Cathcart (1922) did not find gold in the quartz samples that he assayed, but he reported that A.C. Stewart had obtained about 0.6 ounce of gold per ton in selected veinlets that he assayed. In addition to a local bedrock source, additional gold could have been derived from the Alpha Ridge lode prospect (NM171) at the head of Alpha Creek. Cathcart (1920) speculated that the gold either was distributed irregularly in the quartz veins or was derived from mineralized schist. The Alpha Creek placer is on schist bedrock on the east flank of the Twin Mountain anticline of Bundtzen and others (1994).
References
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): 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): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.
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