Dick Creek Mine, Serpentine Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Dick Creek Mine	Mine
Serpentine Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Dick Creek, located along the southwest border of the Bendeleben D-6 quadrangle, is a north-flowing tributary to Bryan Creek. Bryan Creek is a northeast-flowing drainage with some headwater tributaries on the northeast flank of the Kougarok Mountain upland (TE070, Hudson, 1998). The continental divide separates the Dick Creek drainage from that of Mascot Gulch (BN044) to the south (in the Bendeleben C-6 quadrangle). Sainsbury and others (1969) show 9,000 feet of placer workings along the channel of Dick Creek in its headwater reaches. This is locality 19 of Cobb (1972; MF 417; 1975; OFR 75-429).

Geology: Sainsbury and others (1969) show 9,000 feet of placer workings along the channel of Dick Creek in its headwater reaches. This location is across the continental divide (about 1,140 feet high here) and about 2.3 miles north of the placer workings on Mascot Gulch (BN044). Because there is indication that placer mining took place near the mouth of Dick Creek (locality TE070, Hudson, 1998), the area of mining here may be more extensive than that shown by Sainsbury and others (1969). The presence of stream tin (cassiterite) in the gravels was reported in 1906 (Hess, 1906, p. 157) and mining took place at least by 1908 (Collier and others, 1908). Anderson (1947) reported that both scheelite and cassiterite were present in this drainage. Mining was continuous from 1927 to 1940 and included some dredging (Cobb, 1975, OFR 75-429). Some mining took place as recently as 1952 (Cobb, 1973, B 1374)). The character of the placer deposits has not been described but all mining appears to have been in the main channel and floodplain of Dick Creek; bench placers are apparently not present. Bedrock in the area is part of a Lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Sainsbury and others, 1969; Till and others, 1986).

Workings: Sainsbury and others (1969) show 9,000 feet of placer workings in the headwater reaches of Dick Creek. However, because mining is also indicated near the mouth (locality TE070, Hudson, 1998) and because there is a long history of mining of this creek (including dredging, Cobb, 1975), the area of placer mine workings may be more extensive than that shown by Sainsbury and others (1969).

Age: Quaternary.

Commodities: (Major) Au; (Minor) - Sn, W.

Development Status: Yes; small.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	BN046

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References