Last Chance Creek (west bench)

The Last Chance Creek (west bench) 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: Last Chance Creek (west bench)

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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: Hematite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Magnetite

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = This small bench placer was mined hydraulically, probably before 1926. Claims were located between 1906 and 1916; the claims were surveyed for patent in 1926, and most of the workings predate that year.

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

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Moffit, 1913

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = A bench placer was mined about 500 to 600 feet west of Last Chance Creek, immediately above its confluence with North Fork. The pit is oriented northeast, parallel to the modern drainage. The placer was mined hydraulically to bedrock for a distance of about 1,000 feet on the Calfornia Association and Good Chance Association claims (U.S. Mineral Survey No. 1838). Moffit (1913, p. 87) reported scheelite, pyrite, magnetite, and hematite from Last Chance Creek near Dewey Creek, a name not currently used. A quartz-ankerite vein cutting schistose bedrock is exposed at a bedrock drain of the cut. A sample of this vein did not contain gold, but it is similar to others in the area that are locally auriferous. Bedrock in the area is probably part of the 'mixed unit' of Till and others, 1986) and the calcareous metaturbidite schist of Bundtzen and others (1994).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

References

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

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): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, 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 Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

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