Mammoth Creek

Site Name

Primary: Mammoth Creek

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Tungsten
Secondary: Molybdenum

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Circle

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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: Allanite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Scheelite

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Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Bedrock along Mammoth Creek is mainly quartzite schist and mica schist intruded by granitic bodies and cut by numerous quartz veins (Prindle, 1905; Mertie, 1938). About 12 feet of locally-derived gold-bearing gravel is overlain by 3 feet of overburden. Gold in upper valley is fairly coarse and light colored. Fineness is about 840, increasing downstream. The source of gold is believed to be quartz veins and mineralized zones in the bedrock (Mertie, 1938). Samples of granite talus contained allanite, galena, molybdenite, scheelite, iron sulfide minerals, garnet, topaz and hematitic copper carbonate minerals (Nelson and others, 1954). In 1906, a small steam shovel capable of handling 50 cubic yards of gravel per hour was installed on Mammoth Creek, and a 9.5 km long ditch was built in 1908 to bring water from Bonanza Creek for hydraulic mining. The largest hydraulic plant in the Circle district was used in mining the entire length of Mammoth Creek from Mastodon to Porcupine Creeks (Ellsworth, 1910; Ellsworth and Parker, 1911). In 1915 the Berry Dredging Company installed a dredge on the creek. It worked upstream along several parallel paths, was dismantled, carried downvalley, and reassembled several times during the following 35 years (Yeend, 1991). The main channel of the creek is completely mined (Menzie and others, 1983). In the 1980's, as many as four separate mining plants were operating along the creek in an attempt to clean the bedrock better than it had been by dredging, as well as to wash pockets of gravel left unmined along the channel margin. In addition, the thin mantle of colluvium on the channel sides yielded some gold following the stripping of the barren overlying ice-rich muck (Yeend, 1991). Gold was discovered on Mammoth Creek in 1894. Yields were 0.3 to 0.5 ounces of gold per man per day by the 'shoveling-in' method of mining (Dunham, 1898). The early miners recovered a few 3 and 4 ounce nuggets from gravel that yielded values of 0.1 to 0.15 ounces per cubic yard (Prindle, 1905). Detailed production records have not been published.

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Menzie and others, 1983.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Gold was discovered on Mammoth Creek in 1894. Yields were 0.3 to 0.5 ounces of gold per man per day by the 'shoveling-in' method of mining (Dunham, 1898). The early miners recovered a few 3 and 4 ounce nuggets from gravel that yielded values of 0.1 to 0.15 ounces per cubic yard (Prindle, 1905). Detailed production records have not been published.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See also Mastodon Creek, ARDF no. CI037, Independence Creek, ARDF no. CI029 and Miller Creek, ARDF no. CI039.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = In 1906, a small steam shovel capable of handling 50 cubic yards of gravel per hour was installed on Mammoth Creek, and a 9.5 km long ditch was built in 1908 to bring water from Bonanza Creek for hydraulic mining. The largest hydraulic plant in the Circle district was used in mining the entire length of Mammoth Creek from Mastodon to Porcupine Creeks (Ellsworth, 1910; Ellsworth and Parker, 1911). In 1915 the Berry Dredging Company installed a dredge on the creek. It worked upstream along several parallel paths, was dismantled, carried downvalley, and reassembled several times during the following 35 years (Yeend, 1991). The main channel of the creek is completely mined (Menzie and others, 1983). In the 1980's, as many as four separate mining plants were operating along the creek in an attempt to clean the bedrock better than it had been by dredging, as well as to wash pockets of gravel left unmined along the channel margin. In addition, the thin mantle of colluvium on the channel sides yielded some gold following the stripping of the barren overlying ice-rich muck (Yeend, 1991).

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References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Misc. Field Studies Map MF-391, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Burand, W.M., 1965, A geochemical investigation between Chatanika and Circle hot springs, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geochemical Report 5, 11 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): Nelson, A.E., West, W.S., and Matsko, J.J., 1954, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in eastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 348, 21 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

Reference (Deposit): Dunham, S.C., 1898, The Alaskan gold fields and the opportunities they offer for capitol and labor: U.S. Department of Labor Bulletin No. 16, p. 297-425.

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

Reference (Deposit): Spurr, J.E., 1898, Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska, with an introductory chapter on the history and conditions of the district to 1897 by H.B. Goodrich: U.S. Geological Survey 18th Annual Report, Part 3, p. 87-392.

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

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, Gold placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C, p. 133-261.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1915, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1914: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622, 238 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 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): Ellsworth, C.E., and Davenport, R.W., 1913, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542, 303 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Ellsworth, C.E., and Parker, G.L., 1911, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480, 325 p.

Reference (Deposit): Ellsworth, C.E., 1912, Placer mining in the Fairbanks and Circle Disctricts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 240-245.

Reference (Deposit): Ellsworth, C.E., 1910, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 432 p.

Reference (Deposit): Orris, G.J., and Bliss, J.D., 1985, Geologic and grade volume data on 330 gold placer deposits: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 85-0213, 173 p.

Reference (Deposit): Yeend, W.E., 1991, Gold placers of the Circle district, Alaska - past, present, and future: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1943, 42 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Purington, C.W., 1905, Methods and costs of gravel and placer mining in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 263, 273 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1909, The mining industry in 1908: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379-A, p. 21-62.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1907, The Alaskan mining industry in 1906: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314, p. 19-39.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., and Henning, M.W., 1978, Barite in Alaska: Mines and Geology Bulletin, v. 27, no. 4, p. 1-4.

Reference (Deposit): Menzie, W.D., Foster, H.L., Tripp, R.B., and Yeend, W.E., 1983, Mineral resource assessment of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-170-B, 61 p., 1 sheet, 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1904, Placer mining in Alaska in 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p. 43-59.

Reference (Deposit): Prindle, L.M., 1905, The gold placers of the Fortymile, Birch Creek, and Fairbanks regions, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 251, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1905, Placer mining in Alaska in 1904: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 259, p. 18-31.

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