California Creek

Site Name

Primary: California Creek

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Jade
Secondary: Asbestos

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Shungnak

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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: Gold

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Comments

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Reed, 1931

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = The deposit is probably mined out.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = California Creek has been mined since gold was discovered on it in 1918. The deposit was mined by hydraulicking pits and washing the lower 6 to 10 feet of gravel through a sluice box. Flumes, hydraulic mining equipment and piles of stripped gravel remain along the creek. The deposit is probably mined out.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = At California Creek, placer gold occurs in the lower 5 feet of creek gravels, but not in bedrock crevices. The gold is smooth, flat and coarse; about half of it was nugget size. It was worth about $17.20 per ounce in 1931. The grade of the deposit was said to average $0.81 per cubic yard up to and including production from 1930. In 1931 the ground averaged about $0.385 per cubic yard (gold at $20.67/ounce). Both creek and bench deposits were auriferous. Depth to bedrock ranged from 14 to 20 feet. The gravel is coarse, up to 3 inches in diameter, and contains numerous subangular boulders of greenstone and greenschist up to 3 feet in diameter. Nephrite boulders were common, but few of gem quality. Asbestos fibers said to be as long as 3 inches were found in placer workings. The valley is unglaciated. The stream drains an area of lower Paleozoic metavolcanic rock and phyllite that is cut by many quartz veins from which the gold in the placers was probably derived. The veins may be genetically linked to the mid-Paleozoic granitic intrusion that outcrops on lower Lynx Creek (ARDF number SH006) (Reed, 1931). Quartz crystals have been recovered from gold placers.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Stream gradient is approximately 200 feet per mile. Asbestos fibers said to be as long as 3 inches were found in placer workings.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Mayfield, C.F. and Grybeck, D., 1978, Mineral occurrences and resource map of the Ambler river quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-120I, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Mayfield, C.F. and Grybeck, D., 1978, Mineral occurrences and resource map of the Ambler river quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-120I, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1977, Placer deposit map of central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168B, 64 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in five quadrangles in west central Alaska (Hughes, Kotzebue, Melozitna, Selawik and Shungnak): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-627, 58 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Reed, I.M., 1931, Report on the placer deposits of the upper Kobuk goldfields: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 37-1, 57 p.

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

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

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in five quadrangles in west central Alaska (Hughes, Kotzebue, Melozitna, Selawik, Shungnak): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-627, 58 p.

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., 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 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

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

Reference (Deposit): Fritts, C.E., 1969, Geology and geochemistry in the southeastern part of the Cosmos Hills, Shungnak D-2 quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 37, 35 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:48,000.

Reference (Deposit): Fritts, C.E., 1970, Geology and geochemistry of the Cosmos Hills, Ambler River and Shungnak River Quadrangles, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 39, 63 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

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): Anderson, Eskil, 1945, Asbestos and jade occurrences in the Kobuk River region, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 3-R, 48 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., and Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1930, Geology and mineral resources of northwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 815, 315 p.

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., 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., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

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

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

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. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

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

Reference (Deposit): Grybeck, D.J., 1977, Known mineral deposits of the Brooks Range, Alaska: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-166C, 41 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources of the Shungnak quadrangle, Alaska: USGS Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-448, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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

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

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