Cripple Creek (lower)

The Cripple Creek (lower) 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Cripple Creek (lower)

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: 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

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

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Gold

Comments

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

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Several tunnels up to 60 feet long were dug into bench gravels above bedrock. They are on the west side of Cripple Creek, 2.5 miles upstream from its mouth, where the stream is incised 10 to 15 feet into bedrock (Maddren, 1915). Cobb (1972 [MF 455]) shows about a mile of placer workings along this part of Cripple Creek.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Cripple Creek was prospected and staked soon after placer gold was discovered on Marvel Creek (BH010) in 1911. The headwaters of Cripple Creek have coarse outwash or morainal deposits, and a glacier occupied the headwater valley of Loco Creek, a west tributary. Most of the Cripple Creek drainage is filled with alluvial outwash deposits. These have been incised by the present drainage that cuts 10 to 30 feet into bedrock along the lower reaches of the creek. Placer mining along Cripple Creek below the mouth of Dome Creek, has taken place over at least a mile of the creek and seems restricted to the active flood plain (Cobb, 1972 [MF 455]). The flood plain gravels are about 6 feet thick and some of the pay is reported to have run about 0.003 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Hoare and Cobb, 1977, p. 9). The gold is fine and flaky and accompanied by much magnetite. Maddren (1915) reports that bench-placer gold prospects are present on lower Dome Creek near its confluence with Cripple Creek. The bench alluvium is up to 100 feet thick. Early tunneling along the bedrock base of the benches indicated that gold was concentrated on bedrock (Maddren, 1915, p. 349). Hoare and Cobb (1977, p. 9) report that bench deposits have comparable gold content to flood plain deposits in some areas. Bedrock in the headwaters of Cripple Creek and Loco Creek include a Lower Tertiary granitic stock and a rhyolite intrusive (?) in mid-Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Kuskokwim Group (Box and others, 1993).

References

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): 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): 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.

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.

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.