Golden Creek Mine, Melozitna Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Golden Creek Mine	Mine
Melozitna Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The Golden Creek placer mine extends from the western edge of the Tanana quadrangle into the Melozitna quadrangle, where there has been more extensive mining. For this record, the site is at the northeast end of the landing strip, in the north half of section 6, T. 5 N., R. 26 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate. The site corresponds to location 13 of Cobb (1972), and roughly to the site for Golden Creek, U.S. Bureau of Land Management MAS number 0020480092.
Geology: Bedrock in the area of the Golden Creek placer deposit is pelitic schist with interbedded marble and greenstone (Chapman and others, 1982). The Cretaceous Melozitna Pluton, ranging in composition from quartz-monzonite to granite, borders the schist and crops out about 5 miles north of Golden Creek. The Kaltag fault, a major, east-northeast structure, is approximately 5 miles to the south. Gold in the Golden Creek placer occurs in thin bench and shallow stream gravel deposits (Cobb, 1973). According to Cobb, Golden Creek was one of the most recently mined placer areas in the Melozitna mining district, and as of 1954, was the only active placer mine in the district. Chapman and others (1963) explored the placer for cassiterite, but found none. Phil Ramsted worked in the area in 1991 and was mining on Golden Creek in 1993 (Bundtzen and others, 1992, 1994). In 1993-94 and 1997-98, Wayne Gibson used a dragline to mine (Bundtzen and others, 1994; Swainbank and others, 1995, 1998; Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999). There is no public record of production, which probably has been small.
Workings: There has been small-scale placer mining on Golden Creek (Chapman and others, 1963). There is no public record of production, which probably has been small. According to Cobb (1973), Golden Creek was one of the most recently mined placer deposits in the Melozitna mining district, and as of 1954, was the only active placer mine in the district. The history of the placer operation in the Tanana quadrangle, however, is little known. Phil Ramsted worked in the area in 1991 and was mining on Golden Creek in 1993 (Bundtzen and others, 1992, 1994). In 1993-94 and 1997-98, Wayne Gibson used a dragline to mine (Bundtzen and others, 1994; Swainbank and others, 1995, 1998; Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999).
Age: Quaternary.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	TN013

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References