Last Chance Creek

The Last Chance 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: Last Chance Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tungsten

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: Gold
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Stibnite

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Moffit, 1913

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Hand and small-scale mechanical operations occurred on Last Chance Creek. Mining was reported in 1900, 1903, and as recently as 1924 (Smith, 1926). Some of the tailings below Hazel Gulch could have been processed by small-scale mechanical operations after 1924.

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

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold was discovered in Last Chance Creek in or before 1900 and some sluicing was reported in 1900 (Brooks and others, 1901, p. 80). Reportedly the creek was prospected extensively in 1901, but probably with poor results because the prospect was abandoned (Collier and others, 1908, p. 197). Some mining was reported in 1903. Gold was reported as coarse and rough, as well as bright (Collier and others, 1908) and iron-stained (Moffit, 1913, p. 87). Moffit also reported that mining near Dewey Creek (not currently named) recovered gold from heavy concentrate that also contained scheelite, pyrite, hematite, and magnetite. Coats (1944) confirmed minor amounts of scheelite. Sainsbury and others (1972 [OFR 72-321]) showed placer mine workings to be present downstream from the headwaters almost to the edge of the Nome C-2 quadrangle. Mining, at least partly by mechanical methods, has taken place from at least one-half mile above Hazel Creek to the mouth of the creek on the north fork of Snake River in the Nome C-1 quadrangle. Sampling by Kennecott Exploration Company in 1990 found more than 4,000 ppb gold in a panned concentrate from the mouth of Waterfall Creek and more than 9,000 ppb gold from a point about one-half mile below Waterfall and about a mile above Hazel Gulch (C.C. Hawley, Cindy Buxton, and D.L. Olson, written communication, 1992). Bedrock along Last Chance Creek is mostly the chlorite-rich metaturbidite and marble unit of Bundtzen and others (1994).

References

Reference (Deposit): Coats, R.R., 1944, Lode scheelite occurrences of the Nome area: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 17, 6 p.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

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): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, Rodney, and Marsh, W.R., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Nome C-2 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-321, 13 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., Richardson, G. B., and Collier, A. J., 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay regions, Alaska, in 1900: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, p. 1-180.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

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