Iron Creek

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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

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.

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.