Spruce Creek

The Spruce 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

Name: Spruce Creek  

State:  Alaska

County:  na

Elevation:

Commodity: Gold

Lat, Long: 61.04611, -159.80306

Map: View on Google Maps

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.


Satelite image of the Spruce Creek

Spruce Creek MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Spruce 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: 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: Clay, Mud
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Gold


Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maddren, 1915

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Open-cut placer mining took place along lower Spruce Creek until about 1920. Some of this work included a 280-foot long, 15- to 20-foot wide, and 10-foot-deep trench built as a bedrock drain.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The lower part of Spruce Creek has been placer mined where it crosses bench deposits along Bear Creek. Gravel deposits at the mouth of the creek are as much as 400 feet thick. Gravels along the active drainage are 20 to 30 feet thick 1,500 feet upstream of the mouth, and the headwaters of the creek cut directly into bedrock. Where the alluvial deposits are 20 to 30 feet thick, they consist of 2 to 4 feet of muck, 2 to 3 feet of coarse gravel with boulders as much as 1 foot in diameter, 1 to 1.5 feet of blue clay, and brown sandy and pebbly clay to bedrock (Maddren, 1915). Most of the gold occurred in the blue and brown pebbly clays and on bedrock. Some of the gold was coarse and attached to quartz. Maddren (1915) thought that it could have been derived from the contact zone around an intrusive at the head of the creek. Bedrock in the Spruce Creek drainage includes thermally metamorphosed Jurassic volcanic rocks developed around a mid-Cretaceous granitic stock (Box and others, 1993). Spruce Creek may be the only tributary of Bear Creek that contains substantial amounts of gold derived from bedrock in its own drainage.

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


References

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J M., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-444, 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., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-444, 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.


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