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

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

Location: The Grant Creek placer mine is marked by tailings at the junction of Grant and Monday creeks, in the northwest quarter of section 26, T. 5 N., R. 26 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The site corresponds to location 15 of Cobb (1972), and roughly to the site for Grant Creek, U.S. Bureau of Land Management MAS number 0020480010.
Geology: Bedrock in the area of Grant Creek consists of complexly folded and metamorphosed upper Precambrian or lower Paleozoic schist, limestone, quartzite, and greenstone (Wedow and others, 1954). The depth to bedrock ranges from more than 130 feet downstream to 30 feet near the head. Mining in the area began in 1909. According to Maddren (1910), gravel deposits were 5-7 feet thick and more than 100 feet wide. Eakin (1913) reported gold values of $10-$12 (gold at $20.67 per ounce) per yard of ground on Lynx Creek, the principal eastern tributary of Grant Creek. Mining in Grant Creek was sporadic from 1909 into the 1940's. Although initial reports indicated that the pay dirt was extremely rich, most records indicate prospecting without significant gold production. A dragline was operated for the entire season in 1938, and mining may have continued into the early 1940s, before the miner died (Wedow and others, 1954). More recent placer mining on Grant Creek is unknown. Doyon, Ltd., conducted exploration drilling in 1964 with an 8-inch reverse-circulation drill mounted on a Nodwell, to define placer gold reserves on Grant Creek between its junctions with Monday and Lynx creeks (Alaska Kardex files). Overburden averaged 12 feet thick. Doyon planned to bulk-sample placer gravels and conduct additional reconnaissance drilling in 1997 on Grant Creek and proposed to drill on Lynx Creek between its junctions with Grant and Windy creeks (Alaska Kardex files). There is ambiguity about economic minerals other than gold on Grant Creek. Smith (1932, 1933) reported that cassiterite was mined during 1929 and 1930. However, Chapman and others (1963) state that no cassiterite is known. Uranium ore (pitchblende) reportedly was found by a placer miner in the 1940's, but Wedow and others (1954) concluded that there was no pitchblende in the area, and that hematite might have been misidentified.
Workings: Mining on Grant Greek began in 1909 (Brooks, 1910) and continued sporadically until 1938 and possibly to the middle 1940's. Most of the activity was prospecting, and only minor mining. Large scale mining, however, occurred in 1938, when a dragline operated for a full season (Smith, 1939 [B 917-A]). Doyon, Ltd., conducted exploration drilling in 1964 with an 8-inch reverse-circulation drill mounted on a Nodwell, to define placer gold reserves on Grant Creek between its junctions with Monday and Lynx creeks (Alaska Kardex files). Overburden averaged 12 feet thick. Doyon planned to bulk sample placer gravels and conduct additional reconnaissance drilling in 1997 on Grant Creek and proposed to drill on Lynx Creek between its junctions with Grant and Windy creeks (Alaska Kardex files).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: There are no records of the total production of gold from Grant Creek (Cobb, 1977).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	TN071

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References