Homestake Creek

The Homestake 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: Homestake 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

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Igneous Rocks Reddish-Brown Due To Oxidation By Weathering

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary placer.

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Homestake Creek was one of the most important gold-producing creeks in the Totatlanika basin. The upper part of the basin, in the Healy quadrangle, is underlain by sand, clay, gravel, and lignitic coal (Capps, 1912). The stream then flows through a ridge of schist that has been intruded by andesite (Capps, 1912; Wahrhaftig, 1970 [GQ-810]). In 1912, placer operations were in and immediately upstream of the canyon where gold was first discovered near the mouth of Fox Gulch in the Healy quadrangle (Capps, 1912; Maddren, 1918). The richest placers are below a zone that contains many quartz veins in carbonaceous slate (Maddren, 1918). Gravels are generally 6 feet deep on decayed schist bedrock. The gold is rusty and rather coarse; it is found mainly in the top foot of schist bedrock (Capps, 1912). The gold varies from 833 to 842 fine (Glover, 1950).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Production): Production Notes = About 3,870 ounces of gold was produced from 1905 to 1909 (Maddren, 1918). There is no information available of the amount of production in subsequent years.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maddren, 1918

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Small-scale mining occurred from 1905 to 1909 and in 1912, 1935, 1936, and 1939 (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-662, p. 73]).

References

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): 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): Brooks, A.H., 1911, The Mount McKinley region, Alaska, with descriptions of the igneous rocks and of the Bonnifield and Kantishna districts by L.M. Prindle: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 70, 234 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1912, The Bonnifield region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 501, 64 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1911, Mineral resources of the Bonnifield region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-H, p. 218-235.

Reference (Deposit): Prindle, L.M., 1907, The Bonnifield and Kantishna regions, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314-L, p. 205-226.

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.

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