Goldstream Creek

The Goldstream 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: Goldstream Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Fairbanks

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 = There is no record on the amount of production, but it was clearly substantial.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = May and Bundtzen, 1996

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary placer.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Polar Mining Inc. (PMI) mined in Goldstream Creek valley at the mouth of Sheep Creek from 1987 to 1996 and processed gravels through a sophisticated sluice plant (Bundtzen and others, 1988, p. 30; Green and others, 1989, p. 37; May and Bundtzen, 1996). Five hundred additional prospect holes were drilled to further define the ore reserve. At its widest point, PMI's mining cut was more than 1,300 feet wide (May and Bundtzen, 1996). PMI used open-pit mining methods, using drilling and blasting to loosen the frozen materials. Overburden stripping was done in the winter; pay gravels were left to thaw during the summer, then hauled by truck to the wash plant (May and Bundtzen, 1996). During the summer of 1991, PMI processed about 600,000 cubic yards and about 1.5 million pounds of explosives were used to blast frozen overburden during the winter (Bundtzen and others, 1992, p. 32). In 1995, PMI moved 3,600,000 cubic yards and washed 505,000 cubic yards of pay gravel (Bundtzen and others, 1996, p. 28). This area has since been reclaimed and PMI now operates on another Goldstream property near Fox (FB085).

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Bedrock in the drainage near the mouth of Sheep Creek is Fairbanks Schist, consisting of quartz-muscovite schist, quartzite, and chlorite-quartz schist, and bleached feldspathic quartzose schist (Newberry and others, 1996). The mine, which is near the mouth of Sheep Creek, consists of predominantly frozen ground with a few scattered, thawed bog holes and a thawed area running the length of the old F.E. Co. stripping drain (May and Bundtzen, 1996). Polar Mining Inc. (PMI) ran the placer operation in the Goldstream Creek valley here from 1987 to 1996 and processed gravels through a sophisticated sluice plant (Bundtzen and others, 1988, p. 30; Green and others, 1989, p. 37; May and Bundtzen, 1996). Five hundred additional prospect holes were drilled to further define the ore reserve. At its widest point, PMI's mining cut was more than 1,300 feet wide (May and Bundtzen, 1996). The ore grade in 1995 was 0.00286 ounce of gold per ton, or about 350 tons of frozen gravel were processed for each ounce of gold that was recovered (May and Bundtzen, 1996).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

References

Reference (Deposit): May, D., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1996, Placer mine tour, Little Eldorado Group and Polar Mining Inc. operations, Fairbanks mining district, in brochure for 15th Biennial Conference of Alaska Mining, Fairbanks, Alaska, 12 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Green, C.B., Peterson, R.J., and Seward, A.F., 1988, Alaska's mineral industry, 1987: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 41, 69 p.

Reference (Deposit): Newberry, R.J., Bundtzen, T.K., Clautice, K.C., Combellick, R.A., Douglas, T., Laird, G.M., Liss, S.A., Pinney, D.S., Reifenstuhl, R.R., and Solie, D.N., 1996, Preliminary geologic map of the Fairbanks mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Public Data File 96-16, 17 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Green, C.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Peterson, R.J., Seward, A.F., Deagan, J.R., and Burton, J.E., 1989, Alaska's Mineral Industry, 1988, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 43, 79 p.

Reference (Deposit): Chapman, R.M., and Foster, R.L., 1969, Lode mines and prospects in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 625-D, 25 p., 1 plate.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-662, 174 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-410, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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