Daniels Creek

The Daniels 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: Daniels Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Bonnifield

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

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The following description is summarized from Maddren (1918, p. 388-391). The first mining was reported to have been done in 1914 by two men on the lower end of No. 1 above Discovery (which is at the mouth of the creek). The work on this claim consisted of a sluice box and a small automatic dam that was used to work a cut 40 feet wide by 200 feet long through about 4 feet of gravels. About $1,500 worth of gold (about 72.5 ounces) was mined from this cut. During 1916, three men mined on the lower part of claim No. 3 above Discovery (about one-half mile above the previous workings). The first dam was destroyed by a flood, and the second one had only been in operation a few days at the time of Maddren's visit. At that time, a cut from 20 to 40 feet in width and 300 feet in length had been partly ground sluiced. In 1925, an automatic gate was in use (Wimmler, 1925 [ATDM MR 195-8, p. 43]).

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

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maddren, 1918

Comment (Production): Production Notes = There is no information available on production.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary placer.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The following description is summarized from Maddren (1918, p. 388-391). Placer claims were located widely along Daniels Creek as early as 1905; however, most production came from claims located along the lower mile of the creek. Most of the placer gold of Daniels Creek is somewhat rounded or worn. Daniels Creek is approximately 4 miles long and flows into the Totatlanika River from the southwest. The upper valley is composed of two headwater branches that have eroded deep gulches into the California Creek Member of the Totatlanika Schist, which consists of gray quartz-orthoclase-sericite schist and augen gneiss (Wahrhaftig, 1970 [GQ-810]). The middle part of the creek is eroded in slightly consolidated coal-bearing sediments that are overlain by the Nenana Gravel. From the junction of the headwater branches to its mouth, a distance of about 2 miles, the stream has cut 100 feet or more below the base of these sedimentary units and into harder and much older schist. The lower quarter mile of the creek is confined in a narrow, rocky gorge whose walls are several hundred feet high and composed of gravel that overlies schist. The gold at Daniels Creek is 817 fine (Glover, 1950).

References

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1923, The Alaska mining industry in 1921: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 739, p. 1-50.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1922, The Alaska mining industry in 1920: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722-A, p. 1-74.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52.

Reference (Deposit): Maddren, A.G., 1918, Gold placers near the Nenana coal field: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, p. 363-402.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-410, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Wahrhaftig, Clyde, 1970, Geologic map of the Fairbanks A-4 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-810, 1 sheet, scale 1:63:360.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-662, 174 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Glover, A.E., 1950, Placer gold fineness: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-1, 38 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wimmler, N.L., 1925, Placer mining in Alaska in 1925: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-8, 118 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81.

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