Mills Creek

Site Name

Primary: Mills Creek
Secondary: Wagner Gulch
Secondary: Chicago Gulch

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Commodity

Primary: Gold

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Yentna

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Platinum

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Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Mills Creek area was mined nearly all the way from confluence with Twin Creek to the headwater gulches. C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that production from the entire Collinsville area came from about '1.6 million yards of ground mined in a drag line washing plant operation and 100,000 yards mined by sluice box, which respectively contained about $0.60 and $1/yard gold at $35/ounce.' Grades of 0.78 oz/ton platinum minerals are reported from one area but the exact location is not specified (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comment (Geology): Age = Pleistocene.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) show possible reserve of 640,000 cubic yards in Mills Creek (Fig. 4.2 B(4)) above the confluence with Twin Creek and another 230,000 possible cubic yards possible below the confluence. The probable reserves are largely covered by old tailings.

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) described exploratory testing by drill and backhoe and mining with a drag line washing plant and sluice box.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Mills Creek is part of the productive placer area known as Collinsville or Fairview Mountain which encompasses approximately 36 square miles. Mills Creek drains southeast from the summit of Fairview Mountain over bedrock that is shown by Reed and Nelson (1980) as semi- and unconsolidated Tertiary clastic sediment of the Sterling (?) Formation (Tps) A northeast-striking normal fault cuts the sedimentary strata and parallels the high angle northeast-striking Pass Creek fault mapped to the northwest. ?No lode occurrences have been found in the placer deposits near Fairview Mountain/Collinsville (Hawley and Clark, 1978).? C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe placer operations at this locality on auriferous gravels 3 to 10 feet deep, 20 to 30 feet wide. The main gold-bearing section is on top of a brown to orange-brown clay bed about 15 feet deep and consists of about 5 feet of quartz-bearing gravel. The gold is derived from reworking of the Tertiary clastic sediments (Tps) in the Pleistocene. ? Mills Creek area was mined nearly all the way from confluence with Twin Creek to the headwater gulches of Wagner and Chicago Gulches. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that production from the entire Collinsville area came from about '1.6 million yards of ground mined in a drag line washing plant operation and 100,000 yards mined by sluice box, which respectively, contained about $0.60 and $1/yard gold at $35/ounce.' Grades of 0.78 oz/ton platinum minerals are reported from one area but the exact location is not specified (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).? Some data for Twin Creek and Mills Creek are combined. See also Twin Creek (TL 026) and Pass Creek (TL024). Wagner Gulch and Chicago Gulch, headwater tributaries to Mills Creek, have also been mined.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Part of a productive placer area of approximately 36 square miles, including streams draining Fairview Mountain, with area of interest generally northeast and southeast of the summit of Fairview Mountain.? Some data for Twin Creek and Mills Creek are combined. See also Twin Creek (TL 026) and Pass Creek (TL024). Tributaries to Mills Creek on which gold has been mined are Wagner Gulch and Chicago Gulch.

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References

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

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., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Clark, A.L., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-369, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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

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

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1913, The Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 534, 75 p.

Reference (Deposit): Robinson, G. D., Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., and Lyon, J. B., 1955, Radioactivity investigations in the Cache Creek area, Yentna district, Alaska 1945: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-A, p. 1-23.

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., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

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

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., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1924, Geology and mineral resources of the region traversed by the Alaska Railroad: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755-C, p. 73-150.

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

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

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of reference to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-884, 106 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p., 7 plates.

Reference (Deposit): Koschmann, A.H. and Bergendahl, M.H., 1968, Principal gold producing districts of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 610, 283 p.

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