Dime Creek

Site Name

Primary: Dime Creek
Secondary: Haycock
Secondary: Dime Creek Dredging Co.
Secondary: Dime Creek Mining Co.
Secondary: Haycock Mining Co.
Secondary: Moon and Ryan
Secondary: Smith

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Chromium
Secondary: Platinum

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Koyuk

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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: Chromite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Platinum

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Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Dime Creek placers were mined intermittently from 1915 through at least the early 1990's. The deposits were worked mostly by drift and open-cut mining. A small dredge operated from 1931 to 1940.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Dime Creek flows near a fault (?) contact between Paleozoic metalimestones and Jurassic-Cretaceous andesites. The andesites are intruded by small, mafic and ultramafic plutons. At the old placer mine, the gold is mainly on metamorphosed, andesite bedrock; some gold also is in the overlying 2 to 3 feet of gravel. In the stream bed the paystreak is well defined, while on the benches there are several, linear concentrations of gold. These bench concentrations were thought to be caused by wave action. Assays of gold from Dime Creek returned as high as 961 parts gold and 32 parts silver. The placers also contained platinum in approximate ratio to gold of 1:200. Analysis of platinum minerals from concentrate gave the following results: 88.8% Pt, I4.7% Ir, 4.3% Os + Ir, 1.1% Rh, 1.1% Pd (Mertie, 1969). The placer deposits in the upper portion of the creek produced almost twice as much platinum as the lower claims. On both creek and bench claims the overburden thickness ranges from 10 to 30 feet ; all of the ground was frozen. Heavy minerals in the concentrate from a second tier bench claim include iron-oxides, abundant chrome spinel, olivine, pyroxene, rare garnet, and rutile (Harrington, 1919).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Harrington, 1919; Mertie, 1969

Comment (Production): Production Notes = On the lower end of Dime Creek, one ounce of platinum was produced for every 250 ounces of gold. On the upper claims there may have been as much as one ounce of platinum produced for every per 100 ounces of gold. A total of 35 ounces of platinum was recovered from placers at Dime Creek in 1917 (Harrington, 1919). Most of the 56 ounces of platinum reported from the Seward Peninsula in 1918 came from Dime Creek (Cathcart, 1920). Brooks and Martin (1921) report 32 ounces of platinum from the Dime Creek area.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Stream gradient is approximately 50 feet per mile.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1926, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1924: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783-A, p. 1-39.

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

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, S.S., 1917, The mining industry in the Territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1916: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 153, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, S.S., 1917, The mining industry in the Territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1915: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 142, 65 p.

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 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

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

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.

Reference (Deposit): Gault, H.R., Killeen, P.L., West, W.S., and others, 1953, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in the northeastern part of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 1945-47 and 1951: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 250, 31 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Wood, J.E., Clough, A.H., 1991 (1992), Alaska's Mineral Industry 1991: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 46, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cass, J.T., 1959, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Candle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-287, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Candle Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-389, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Harrington, G.L., 1919, The gold and platinum placers of the Kiwalik-Koyuk region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-G, p. 369-400.

Reference (Deposit): Harrington, G.L., 1921, Mining on Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-F, p. 229-237.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1918, Placer mining on Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662-H, p. 451-458.

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1927, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1925: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 792-A, p. 1-39.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Candle, Holy Cross, Norton Bay, Nulato, and Unalakleet quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-866, 102 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1969, Economic geology of platinum minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 630, 120 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Anderson, Eskil, 1947, Mineral occurrences other than gold deposits in northwestern Alaska: Alaska Territorial Division of Mines Pamphlet 5-R, 48 p.

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., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

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): Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1923, The Alaska mining industry in 1921: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 739, p. 1-50.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1923, The occurrence of metalliferous deposits in the Yukon and Kuskokwim regions: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 739, p. 149-165.

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

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1922, The Alaska mining industry in 1920: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722-A, p. 1-74.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1921, The future of Alaska mining, in Martin G.C. and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 5-57.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., and Martin, G. C. 1921, The Alaska mining industry in 1919: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 59-95.

Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1920, Mining in northwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712, p. 185-198.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692, p. 11-42

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1917, The mining industry in the territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1916: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 153, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1917, The mining industry in the territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1915: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 142, 66 p.

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