Alpha Creek

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

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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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