Sheep Creek

The Sheep 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: Sheep Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Fairbanks

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 (Geology): Age = Quaternary placer.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = May and Bundtzen, 1996

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = There was probably earlier drift mining and prospecting, but in 1952, the F.E. Co. prepared a half-mile section of lower Sheep Creek channel for dredging after drilling approximately 200 to 300 prospect holes (May and Bundtzen, 1996). In the early to mid-1950's, the F.E. Co. began hydraulic stripping of the 80-100 feet of muck overlying the thawed gravels of the Sheep Creek channel (May and Bundtzen, 1996). In the fall of 1957, Dredge no. 6, which had just finished mining at Gold Hill (FB155) was hauled overland to Sheep Creek. The dredge began working the Sheep Creek channel in 1958 and continued until it was shut down in 1962 (May and Bundtzen, 1996).

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Sheep Creek is a tributary of Goldstream Creek that drains the northeast side of Ester Dome. Bedrock in the drainage is Fairbanks Schist that consists of quartz-muscovite schist, quartzite, chlorite-quartz schist, and bleached feldspathic quartzose schist (Newberry and others, 1996). The area that has been mined, about a half-mile in the lower part of the creek, consists predominantly of frozen ground with a few scattered, thawed bog holes and a thawed area running the length of the old F.E. Co. stripping drain (May and Bundtzen, 1996). The depth to bedrock ranges from 30 to 100 feet and averages around 70 feet (May and Bundtzen, 1996). Within the mine section, 20-25 feet of frozen muck overlies the gravels (May and Bundtzen, 1996). In the early to mid-1950's, the F.E. Co. began hydraulic stripping of the 80-100 feet of muck overlying the thawed gravels of the Sheep Creek channel (May and Bundtzen, 1996). Dredge no. 6 began working the Sheep Creek channel in 1958 and continued until it was shut down in 1962 (May and Bundtzen, 1996).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = There is no record on the amount of production, but it was clearly substantial.

References

Reference (Deposit): Newberry, R.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Clautice, K.C., Combellick, R.A., Douglas, T., Laird, G.M., Liss, S.A., Pinney, D.S., Reifenstuhl, R.R., and Solie, D.N., 1996, Preliminary geologic map of the Fairbanks mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Public Data File 96-16, 17 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T. K., Green, C. B., Peterson, R. J., and Seward, A. F., 1988, Alaska's mineral industry 1987: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 41, 69 p.

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): Green, C.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Peterson, R.J., Seward, A.F., Deagan, J.R., and Burton, J.E., 1989, Alaska's Mineral Industry, 1988, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 43, 79 p.

Reference (Deposit): Chapman, R.M., and Foster, R.L., 1969, Lode mines and prospects in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 625-D, 25 p., 1 plate.

Reference (Deposit): May, D., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1996, Placer mine tour, Little Eldorado Group and Polar Mining Inc. operations, Fairbanks mining district, in brochure for 15th Biennial Conference of Alaska Mining, Fairbanks, Alaska, 12 p.

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