Lower Dahl Creek

The Lower Dahl 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

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.

Site Name

Primary: Lower Dahl Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Jade

Location

State: Alaska
District: Shungnak

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): Geologic Description = At the lower Dahl Creek placer deposit, gold occurs on false bedrock or in glacial drift commonly less than 10 ft. below the surface. The gold is irregularly distributed through the gravel. The gold is fairly coarse but with few nuggets. It was worth about $16.50 per ounce in 1931. Where the stream valley opens into the Kobuk Valley three shafts were sunk through glacial till, two to 25 feet and one to 80 feet. These test holes went through alternating beds of sand and gravel dipping slightly to the south and failed to reach bedrock. Fine colors of gold were found in the sand and gravel in all the holes, but no regular paystreak was found. One-half mile below the mouth of the canyon the depth to bedrock varies from 2 to 8 feet. Two lines, at 500 foot spacing, of three shafts each cross the stream valley in this area. The shafts were sunk to 25 feet and did not reach bedrock. Gold reportedly occurs in a paleo-channel. The ground mined in this area was estimated to yield about $1.02 per cubic yard (Reed, 1931).? Bedrock in the area consists of conglomeratic metasediments and black phyllite of early to mid-Paleozoic age. The black phyllite is cut by numerous quartz veins. Stream gravel is medium fine, containing well waterworn pieces up to 2 inches in diameter. Distributed throughout the gravel are numerous large boulders of greenstone or metamorphosed conglomerate, and an occasional boulder of gneissic granite (Reed, 1931).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Dahl Creek was the main placer gold producer in the district. Nephrite boulders were recovered from stream gravels during placer mining starting in the 1950's. Nephrite was produced from the creek up to the 1970's. The land is owned by NANA Regional Corporation.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Total production from Dahl Creek (also see ARDF number SH003) is estimated to be 15,000 ounces to more than 17,000 ounces (Degenhart and others, 1978).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Reed, 1931

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Gold was first discovered in 1898 and the claims have been worked more or less consistently up to 1968. Starting in 1950, nephrite boulders were recovered during the mining process. This continued into the early 1970's. In 1988 and 1989 NANA took jig samples from each of the claim blocks in an attempt to complete a patenting application on the claims. These data are available by request from NANA Regional Corp.

References

Reference (Deposit): Coats, R.R., 1944, Asbestos deposits of the Dahl Creek area, Kobuk River district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 4 p.

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1927, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1925: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 792-A, p. 1-39.

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

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in five quadrangles in west central Alaska (Hughes, Kotzebue, Melozitna, Selawik, Shungnak): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-627, 58 p.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, I.M., 1931, Report on the placer deposits of the upper Kobuk goldfields: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 37-1, 57 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

Reference (Deposit): Smith. P.S., 1913, The Noatak-Kobuk region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 536, 60 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

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

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692, p. 11-42

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1910, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1909: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1912, The Alaska mining industry in 1911, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1911: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 17-44.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S. and Eakin, H.M., 1911, Mineral resources of Alaska 1910: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480, 333 p..

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1909, The mining industry in 1908: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379-A, p. 21-62.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797, p. 1-50.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources of the Shungnak quadrangle, Alaska: USGS Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-448, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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

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

Reference (Deposit): Fritts, C.E., 1970, Geology and geochemistry of the Cosmos Hills, Ambler River and Shungnak River Quadrangles, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 39, 63 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

Reference (Deposit): Fritts, C.E., 1969, Geology and geochemistry in the southeastern part of the Cosmos Hills, Shungnak D-2 quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 37, 35 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:48,000.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., and Martin, G. C. 1921, The Alaska mining industry in 1919: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 59-95.

Reference (Deposit): Grybeck, D.J., 1977, Known mineral deposits of the Brooks Range, Alaska: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-166C, 41 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Anderson, Eskil, 1947, Mineral occurrences other than gold deposits in northwestern Alaska: Alaska Territorial Division of Mines Pamphlet 5-R, 48 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1977, Placer deposit map of central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168B, 64 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Anderson, Eskil, 1945, Asbestos and jade occurrences in the Kobuk River region, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 3-R, 48 p.

Reference (Deposit): WGM Staff, 1980, Non-fuel mineral resources of Alaska: Anchorage, Alaska, WGM, Inc. Unpublished report for Phillips Petroleum Company, 320 p. (Report held by NANA Regional Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska).

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in five quadrangles in west central Alaska (Hughes, Kotzebue, Melozitna, Selawik and Shungnak): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-627, 58 p.

Reference (Deposit): Degenhart, C.E., Griffis, R.J., McQuat, J.F., and Bigelow, C.G., 1978, Mineral studies of the western Brooks Range performed under contract to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Contract #JO155089: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 103-78, 529 p., 11 sheets.

Reference (Deposit): Mayfield, C.F. and Grybeck, D., 1978, Mineral occurrences and resource map of the Ambler river quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-120I, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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

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., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

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.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., and Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1930, Geology and mineral resources of northwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 815, 315 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.