Boulder Creek

The Boulder 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: Boulder Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

Location

State: Alaska
District: Circle

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
Ore: Silver

Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = By 1943, the creek had produced 88 troy ounces of gold and 11 troy ounces of silver. By 1951, 334 troy ounces of gold and 42 troy ounces of silver had been removed from the creek (National Park Service, 1990).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See also Coal Creek (CY006) and Colorado Creek (CY007). This site is within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

Comment (Geology): Age = Tertiary-Quaternary.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The bedrock in the Boulder Creek drainage is composed of Cretaceous to Tertiary sedimentary rocks (Dover and Miyaoka, 1988). Placer gold in stream gravels was bright and flaky and had a fineness of 909.5 (National Park Service, 1990). The bench-placer gold is unevenly distributed and tarnished with manganese. Gold was found in the normal-fault contact zone between Tertiary conglomerate on the north and Permian conglomerate with quartz stockwork veins on the south (National Park Service, 1990).? Claims were staked along Boulder Creek as early as 1908, and mining also began about then (National Park Service, 1990; Chapin, 1914). During 1935-36, small-scale drift mining took place along the creek. Placer mines were located near the mouth of the creek, but other locations along the creek may have been mined or prospected. By 1943, the creek had produced 88 troy ounces of gold and 11 troy ounces of silver. By 1951, 334 troy ounces of gold and 42 troy ounces of silver had been removed from the creek (National Park Service, 1990).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = National Park Service, 1990

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Mining along the creek began as early as 1908 and continued intermittently until at least 1951. There were both stream and bench placer mines and prospects (National Park Service, 1990).

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

References

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, Gold placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C, p. 133-261.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Charley River and Coleen quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-632, 45 p.

Reference (Deposit): Dover, J.A., and Miyaoka, R.T., 1988, Reinterpreted geologic map and fossil data, Charley River quadrangle, east-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2004, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): National Park Service, 1990, Final environmental impact statement, volume 1, Mining in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska: National Park Service, Anchorage, Alaska, p. 36-44.

Reference (Deposit): Chapin, Theodore, 1914, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-J, p. 357-362.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1942, Tertiary deposits of the Eagle-Circle district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-D, p. 213-264.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Charley River quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-390, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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