Marvel Creek

The Marvel 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: Marvel Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Aniak

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: 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

Name: Clay, Mud
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Marvel Creek has been extensively placer mined over about 3 miles, or most of its length. It is in a non-glaciated valley with headwaters in an area where the Upper Cretaceous granitic stock of Marvel Dome is surrounded by hornfels in sedimentary rocks of the mid-Cretaceous Kuskokwim Group (Box and others, 1993). A small undated felsic stock is bedrock at the head of the placer workings. Hornfels near the intrusive rocks is locally cut by abundant quartz stringers and veins up to 8 inches wide. Some iron-staining accompanies the quartz veins, but metallic minerals are not obvious (Maddren, 1915, p. 341).? Marvel Creek valley has not been glaciated. The alluvium is moderately well sorted but locally derived, coarse, and subangular. Silt is present in the gravels and a discontinuous yellow clay horizon is present on or near bedrock. Pay is on bedrock and in bedrock fractures, or on the clay horizon where it is present. There are discontinuous sloping bench deposits that are incised by the active stream along lower parts of the creek. The lower creek also incises bedrock, and the initial discovery of gold in 1911 was on bench bedrock exposed in a cutbank there (Maddren, 1915, p. 343). Along the present flood plain, the gravel deposits are about 800 feet wide and 5 to 25 feet thick. It appears that they thicken upstream; near the head of mining a 60-foot deep shaft failed to reach bedrock (Maddren, 1915, p. 342). The creek has been placer mined over 3 miles of its length. Most of the mining on the lower part was by a small dredge. Mining took place almost every year from the 1920s to 1940 and recommenced after WW II until at least 1970 (Hoare and Cobb, 1977). Much of the pay ranged in grade from 0.01 to 0.02 ounce of gold per square foot and much of the gold was coarse (Hoare and Cobb, 1977, p. 19). In 1912, a 20,000-square-foot open cut completed with pick and shovel recovered about 0.03 ounce of gold per square foot (Maddren, 1915, p. 344).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Maddren (1915) reported that about 1,100 ounces of gold were produced between 1912 and 1914. In 1912, a 20,000-square-foot open cut completed with pick and shovel recovered about 0.03 ounce of gold per square foot (Maddren, 1915, p. 344). Much of the pay ranged in grade from 0.01 to 0.02 ounce per square foot, and much of the gold was coarse (Hoare and Cobb, 1977, p. 19).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Hoare and Cobb, 1977

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The creek has been placer mined over 3 miles of its length. Most of the mining on the lower part was by a small dredge. Hydraulic and open-cut methods were used above the dredged area. Mining took place almost every year from the 1920s to 1940 and recommenced after WW II until at least 1970 (Hoare and Cobb, 1977).

References

Reference (Deposit): Maddren, A.G., 1915, Gold placers of the lower Kuskokwim with a note on copper in the Russian Mountains: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-H, p. 292-360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Bethel quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-455, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Box, S.E, Moll-Stalcup, E.J., Frost, T.P., and Murphy, J.M., 1993, Preliminary geologic map of the Bethel and southern Russian Mission quadrangles, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2226-A, 20 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J.M., and Cobb, E.H., 1977, Mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bethel, Goodnews, and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-156, 98 p.

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