Granite Creek Mine, Iditarod Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

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

Location: About 0.8 miles in the middle portion of Granite Creek has been mined and the workings are shown on the USGS 1:63,360-scale topographic map. The center of the workings is at an elevation of about 600 feet in the SE1/4, section 36, T. 28 N., R. 47 W., of the Seward Meridian. The location is accurate. Granite Creek is locality 32 of Cobb (1972 [MF 363]); also described in Cobb (1976 [OFR 76-576]).
Geology: Placer gold has been mined on Granite Creek since 1910 (Mertie, 1936). The deposit developed where the creek dissects mineralized volcanic and plutonic rocks north of Otter Creek (Bundtzen and others, 1992). The gold fineness averages 854 (Mertie, 1936). Heavy minerals identified in concentrates include gold, arsenopyrite, cinnabar, scheelite, chromite, and ilmenite (Mertie, 1936; Bundtzen, Cox and Veach, 1987). The placer gold was very fine grained and shotty; about 1.5 feet of bedrock was dug up to recover the gold (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-576]). Granite Creek has produced at least 4,750 ounces of gold and 636 ounces of silver since the early 20th century (Bundtzen and others, 1992; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). These production estimates derived from incomplete mint records are probably conservative.
Workings: Mining began on Granite Creek in 1908 using scrapers working in open cuts; the most extensive mining took place between 1924 and 1940 (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-576]).
Age: Unknown; probably Quaternary.
Production: Granite Creek has produced at least 4,750 ounces of gold and 636 ounces of silver since the early 20th century (Bundtzen and others, 1992; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). These production estimates derived from incomplete mint records are probably conservative.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	ID122

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References