The Iron 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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Iron Creek MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Iron Creek
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury
Location
State: Alaska
District: Kougarok
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: Cinnabar
Ore: Gold
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Magnetite
Comments
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Smith, 1909
Comment (Production): Production Notes = The grade of the placer deposits was reported to be low but considerable mining and remining took place intermittantly from 1899 to 1940.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Iron Creek has been placer mined over about 90 percent of its 5.5 mile length. Most of this mining was by small-scale methods from discovery in 1899 or 1900 to 1914. A dredge operated in 1939 and 1940 but this was probably upstream on Dome Creek (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 512). Mining along the lower part of the creek tried unsuccessfully to use sluices in a tunnel driven between Iron Creek and the Pilgrim River. Water was lost to subsurface flow in areas of carbonate bedrock.
Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; presence of gold-bearing bench deposits indicates two or more cycles of erosion and deposition.
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Iron Creek has been placer mined over about 90 percent of its 5.5 mile length. Most of this mining was by small-scale methods from discovery in 1899 or 1900 to 1914. A dredge operated in 1939 and 1940 but this was probably upstream on Dome Creek (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 512). Much of the placer on Iron Creek was of low tenor. The gold was bright and in both the active drainage and benches, particularly along the east side near Eagle (Easy) Creek (SO126). Mining along the lower part of the creek tried unsuccessfully to use sluices in a tunnel driven between Iron Creek and the Pilgrim River (Henshaw, 1910). The coarse gold and cinnabar recovered from the Iron Creek area appears to be from deposits upstream in the Iron Creek drainage (Smith, 1909). Bedrock in the area is mostly part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and others, 1986).
References
Reference (Deposit): Henshaw, F.F., 1910, Mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, p. 353-371.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, R., and Richards, T., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Solomon D-6 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 512, 17 p.
Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1909, Recent developments in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379-F, p. 267-301.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.
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