Cahoon Creek

Site Name

Primary: Cahoon Creek

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Juneau (Skagway subdistrict)

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Name: Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold

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Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = None reported, but Hoekzema and others, 1986, note that an abandoned channel about 0.25 miles upstream from the current junction with McKinley Creek should be investigated.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Hoekzema and others (1986) estimate 79,650 ounces for gold was produced from the Porcupine area that includes Cahoon Creek, but separate production figures for Cahoon Creek are not available. See Porcupine Creek (SK041) for a more detailed history of production in the Porcupine area.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The lower 0.5 miles of Cahoon Creek were extensively mined by the Cahoon Creek Mining Company from 1908 to 1913 (Hoekzema and others, 1986). A little placer mining was done at the head of Cahoon Creek in the early days of the camp, but apparently with little success (Eakin, 1918 and 1919).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Hoekzema and others, 1986

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = According to Hoekzema and others (1986), the lower 0.5 miles of Cahoon Creek were extensively mined by the Cahoon Creek Mining Company from 1908 to 1913. Cahoon Creek is a steep northeast flowing tributary to McKinley Creek with an average gradient of 650 feet per mile. Very little gravel is present in the channel and much of the creek is on bedrock. There is some potential for abandoned channel or bench deposits, but these are generally covered by colluvium and avalanche debris. Gold concentration increases toward the junction with McKinley Creek. Samples contained from less than 0.0004 to 0.045 ounces of gold per cubic yard. The gold is nuggety and 83% is less than 0.02 inches in size. Panned concentrates contained greater than 70% magnetite, with minor pyrite, zircon, and garnet.? the Cahoon Creek placer mineralization lies within the northwest-trending zone of quartz-sulfide veining in sediments and slates in the Skagway B-4 quadrangle that is described by Wright (1904 [B 225 and B 236}), Eakin (1918 and 1919), and MacKevett and others (1974) and considered to be the source of placer gold in this area.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Modern stream placer (Cox and Singer, 1986: model 39a).

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References

Reference (Deposit): Eakin, H.M., 1918, Gold placer mining in the Porcupine district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662-B, p. 93-100.

Reference (Deposit): Hoekzema, R.B., Fechner, S.A., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1986, Distribution, analysis, and recovery of placer gold from the Porcupine mining area, southeast Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 89-86, 49 p., 4 sheets.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Robertson, E.C., and Winkler, G.R., 1974, Geology of the Skagway B-3 and B-4 quadrangles, southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 832, 33 p.

Reference (Deposit): Still, J.C., 1991, Bureau of Mines mineral investigations in the Juneau mining district, Alaska, 1984 - 1988, v. 2, Detailed mine, prospect, and mineral occurrence descriptions, section A, Haines-Klukwan-Porcupine subarea: U.S. Bureau of Mines of Mines Special Publication, 214 p.

Reference (Deposit): Winkler, G.R., and MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1970, Analyses of bedrock and stream-sediment samples from the Haines-Porcupine region, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 369, 91 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:125,000.

Reference (Deposit): Still, J.C., Hoekzema, R.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Gilbert, W.G., Wier, K.R., Burns, L.E., and Fechner, S.A., 1991, Economic geology of Haines-Klukwan-Porcupine area, southeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 91-4, 156 p., 5 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Skagway quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-424, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Wright, C.W., 1904, The Porcupine placer mining district, Alaska in Emmons, S.F., and Hayes, C.W., eds., Contributions to economic geology 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p.60-63.

Reference (Deposit): Eakin, H.M., 1919, The Porcupine gold placer district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 699, 29 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

Reference (Deposit): Wright, C.W., 1904, The Porcupine district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 236, 35 p.

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