Eldorado Creek

The Eldorado 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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Site Name

Primary: Eldorado 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: 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 = The production records for Eldorado Creek are incomplete but the extent of the workings suggests that production may have exceeded 1,000 ounces (Mulligan, 1971).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1978 (OF 78-181)

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Open-cut placer mining took place over a distance of 3,000 feet downstream from an area of schist that trends across the drainage at an elevation of about 75 feet (Herried, 1965; Mulligan, 1971). The bedrock through most of the mined area is a 'rough' marble but one pit, separate from the stream channel workings, is 100 by 200 feet in area and possibly 30 to 50 feet deep (Mulligan, 1971). Mulligan (1971) suggests that this pit may be the location of a sink hole. Mulligan also noted that a shaft on the east side of Eldorado Creek, 600 feet from the creek and 3,000 feet inland form the beach, was associated with placer mining equipment and might indicate the presence of a residual placer deposit on schist bedrock here. Most of the mining took place before WW II and was probably by hydraulic methods although a small dredge operated on the creek as recently as 1964 (Herried, 1965).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active?

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold was discovered on Eldorado Creek by 1902 (Collier and others, 1908), soon after discovery of the rich placers at nearby Bluff and Daniels Creek (ARDF localities SO134 and SO006). Some cinnabar is reported to be present in the Eldorado Creek placer (Cathcart, 1922). Open-cut placer mining took place over a distance of 3,000 feet downstream from an area of metasedimentary schist bedrock that trends across the drainage at an elevation of about 75 feet (Herried, 1965; Mulligan, 1971). The bedrock through most of the mined area is a 'rough' marble but one pit, separate from the stream channel workings, is 100 by 200 feet in area and possibly 30 to 50 feet deep (Mulligan, 1971). Mulligan (1971) suggests that this pit may be the location of a sink hole. Mulligan also noted that a shaft on the east side of Eldorado Creek, 600 feet from the creek and 3,000 feet inland from the beach, was associated with placer mining equipment and might indicate the presence of a residual placer deposit on schist bedrock here. The marble and intercalated metasedimentary schist of the area are lower Paleozoic (Till and others, 1986).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; the placer deposits here are at low enough elevation (about 50 to 100 feet) to have been influenced by Quaternary sea level fluctuations.

References

Reference (Deposit): Herreid, G.H., 1965, Geology of the Bluff area, Solomon quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 10, 21 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:40,000.

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.

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): 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): Mulligan, J.J., 1971, Sampling gold lode deposits, Bluff, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, with a section on petrography by Walter L. Gnagy: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 7555, 40 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.

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