Rock Creek (bench placer)

The Rock Creek (bench placer) 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: Rock Creek (bench placer)

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tungsten
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: Scheelite
Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = An elevated alluvial (bench) placer is partly preserved west of Rock Creek on the south part of Arsenic Hill. The base of the channel is at an elevation of about 220 feet, or about 20 feet higher than the base of the alluvium in modern Rock Creek to the east. At the time of the formation of the elevated channel, an ancestral Rock Creek left the modern drainage and flowed southwest and then west-southwest. It can be traced for about 700 feet to a linear swale developed along the Brynteson fault; possibly the channel turned more southerly at that point. The channel ranges from about 100 to 120 feet across. Its southeast limit above Rock Creek was mined hydraulically in a pit that was about 120 feet long. The rest of the channel was developed from a series of at least six shallow shafts, which probably follow the deepest part of the channel. The channel is subparallel to the Arsenic Gulch fault, a strong fault that may have partly controlled the course of the old channel (Kennecott Exploration Company, unpublished data). The fault nearly coincides with the north limit of the channel where it leaves modern Rock Creek. Probably only a small amount of gold was recovered from the area of the shafts. This part of the channel may be the location of the small reserve suitable for dragline mining that was noted by Metcalfe and Tuck (1942).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The elevated channel was mined hydraulically and from shallow underground workings, probably before 1920.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = This report

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = A small reserve is probably present.

Comment (Geology): Age = Pleistocene.

References

Reference (Deposit): Metcalfe, J.B., and Tuck, Ralph, 1942, Placer gold deposits of the Nome district, Alaska: Report for U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co., 175 p.

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