Fortyseven Creek Placer Mine, Aniak Mining District, Bethel Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Fortyseven Creek Placer Mine	Mine
Aniak Mining District	Mining District
Bethel Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Fortyseven Creek has been placer mined for about 1.2 miles. The center of this mining is near the mine symbol shown on the 1:63,360-scale USGS topographic map. The mine is at an elevation of about 1,050 feet in the northern half of sec. 16, T. 11 N., R. 50 W., of the Seward Meridian. The mine is locality 41 of Miller and others, 1989.
Geology: The Fortyseven Creek placer deposit is near the head of Fortyseven Creek. The upper portion of the stream valley above the Denali-Holitna fault zone (that is marked by the sharp break in topography and the mountain front at an elevation of about 1,000 feet) has a pronounced asymmetry in which the north facing slope is steepened and frozen and the south-facing slope is more gradual and is thawed. Fluvial gravels 6 to 15 feet thick and up to 65 feet wide have been mined for placer gold and byproduct scheelite. There are two areas of heavy mineral placer concentrations: 1) in the steep gulch immediately downslope from lode prospects described in ARDF SM073; and 2) in Fortyseven Creek below the Denali-Holitna Fault zone. Both paystreaks are about 2,000 feet long. There is only a weak concentration of heavy minerals from the steep upper portion of the creek to the fault zone. The stream gradient averages about 250 feet per mile in the upper pay zone and about 100 feet per mile in the lower paystreak. The principal heavy minerals in the placer include gold, scheelite, ilmenite, magnetite, and a trace of red garnet. According to Hawley (1989), Holitna Basin Mining and Exploration, Inc. recovered 949 ounces of placer gold from 1981 to 1986.
Workings: Placer gold and scheelite were discovered on Fortyseven Creek by Russell Schaeffer in 1947. The exploration consisted of bulldozer cuts prior to and during the mining process.
Age: Unknown, but probably Quaternary.
Production: Cady and others (1955) reported that gold and scheelite were produced on Fortyseven Creek by Russell Schaeffer by 1951. According to Hawley (1989), Holitna Basin Mining and Exploration, Inc. recovered 949 ounces of gold from 1981 to 1986. Miller and others (1989) estimated that the Fortyseven Creek placers produced a total of about 2,500 ounces of gold from 1950 to 1986.

Commodities (Major) - Au, W; (Minor) - Ag
Development Status: Yes
Deposit Model: Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SM074

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References