Crescent Creek Mine, Seward Mining District, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Crescent Creek Mine	Mine
Seward Mining District	Mining District
Kenai Peninsula Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

A Forest Service brochure, Recreational Gold Panning, by Carol Huber and Joe Kurkak, recommends an area at the Crescent Creek campground for recreational gold panning.
Location: Crescent Creek placer mine is located in T. 5 N., R. 2 W., of the Seward Meridian. The creek flows generally north from Crescent Lake into Quartz Creek, which flows into Kenai Lake. The placer extends for about half a mile from the mouth of the creek to about 1.5 miles below Crescent Lake. The map location in the NE1/4 section 29 marks the center of the area where most of the mining has occurred. This is location P-83 of Jansons and others (1984). This location is accurate to within 300 feet.
Geology: Crescent Creek occupies a fairly steep-walled, narrow, avalanche-debris-filled valley. The creek descends in a series of steps; auriferous gravels were deposited below each drop. The gravels are clay-rich and contain numerous boulders as much as 3 feet in diameter. Bedrock in the Crescent Creek drainage is metasedimentary rock of the Valdez Group of Late Cretaceous age (Nelson and others, 1985). Gold is disseminated throughout the gravels but is concentrated on bedrock. Bench gravels contain anomalous (higher) gold values. Gold occurs as flakes and is fine in the lower part of the creek,but both coarse gold and nuggets have been found in the upper section (Jansons and others, 1984). Production has been estimated at less than 500 ounces of gold, of which as much as 200 ounces have been produced since 1975 (Jansons and others, 1984).
Workings: Evidence of early hand mining exists. A small mechanized operation has worked the lower end of the creek since 1978 (Jansons and others, 1984). Numerous prospect pits have been dug on the alluvial fan below the lower canyon. Suction dredging has been tried with some success on the upper portion of the creek. Small-scale suction dredging has occurred intermittently up through 2001. Gold panning is popular near the Crescent Creek campground. No permit is required for panning there. Production is estimated at less than 500 ounces of gold, of which as much as 200 ounces have been produced since 1975 (Jansons and others, 1984). Jansons and others (1984) estimated production grades of 0.015 ounces of gold per ton. The U.S. Bureau of Mines collected three samples from the lower portion of the creek; they yielded from 0.01 to 0.03 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Jansons and others, 1984). The section sampled has since been mined.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Production is estimated at less than 500 ounces of gold, of which as much as 200 ounces have been produced since 1975 (Jansons and others, 1984). Jansons and others (1984) estimated a production grade of 0.015 ounce of gold per cubic yard.

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au (alluvial) (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SR183

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References