The Elkhorn 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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Elkhorn Creek MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Elkhorn Creek
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Location
State: Alaska
District: Council
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 (Production): Production Notes = Production was $30,000 (about 1,450 ounces) in 1900 (Brooks and others, 1901) and totaled about $120,000 (about 6,000 ounces) by 1906 (Collier and others, 1908). Total production is probably more than 10,000 ounces (Cobb, 1978, OF 78-181).
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Brooks and others, 1901
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Small-scale surface mining took place before WW I and a dredge operated between 1914 and 1918 (Cobb, 1978, OF 78-181). The lower mile of the creek has probably been extensively worked.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer mining has taken place for about a mile along the lower part of Elkhorn Creek. The drainage is incised into a terrace along the Niukluk River. Creek gravels were 2.5 feet thick near the mouth and bench deposit at the mouth consisted of 4 feet of cross-bedded sand and gravel that are overlain by 6 feet of clay, muck, and vegetation. The paystreak was apparently spotty but some coarse gold was recovered; one nugget was worth $55 (about 2.75 ounces). Quartz was commonly attached to the coarser gold and one nugget was embedded in schist (Brooks and others, 1901). Bedrock in the area is probably part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and others, 1986).
References
Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., Richardson, G. B., and Collier, A. J., 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay regions, Alaska, in 1900: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, p. 1-180.
Reference (Deposit): Collier, A. J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.
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