Hunter Creek Mine (ARDF - LG185), Rampart Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hunter Creek Mine (ARDF - LG185)	Mine
Rampart Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc. 57; SE1/4SE1/4 sec. 34, T. 8 N., R. 12 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The coordinates given are for the eastern end of the placer mine tailings along Hunter Creek. The placer ground continues downstream into the Tanana Quadrangle.
Geology: Except near the mouth and the extreme headwaters of this placer-mined creek, the bedrock is shale, tuff and diabase of the Rampart series (Spurr, 1898). Prindle and Hess (1906) describe the bedrock as slate near the head, quartzite with tuffaceous greenstone in the lower part of the valley, and Kenai (Tertiary) sandstone and conglomerate near the mouth. More recent geologic mapping of the area indicates that most of the Hunter Creek drainage is underlain by mafic igneous rocks with a few interlayered sedimentary rocks (Weber and others, 1992). Prospectors found gold through the entire length of the creek (Spurr, 1898). Gravels are 2 to 12 feet thick and overlain by as much as 40 feet of frozen muck (Prindle and Hess, 1906). Much of the gold was found in bedrock cracks along with considerable barite and some hematite in the concentrates (Prindle and Hess, 1906). Eakin (1912) reported that there was very little production from stream gravels and that most gold came from the bench 15 to 20 feet above the stream. The bedrock surface was noted to be uneven with overburden thickening toward the valley wall (Eakin, 1912). The gravel and the top 4 feet of shattered greenstone bedrock were mined (Mertie, 1934). Heavy mineral in concentrates include magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, barite, pyrite, picotite, cinnabar, galena, cassiterite, and native copper (Mertie, 1934). Waters (1934) reported that concentrate samples also contained garnet, zircon, limonite, quartz, diopside, and epidote. Mining began in 1896 and continued with few interruptions to as recently as 1940 (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 100). The ground was apparently mined out with little gold being found upstream from Dawson Creek (Eberlein, 1977, p. 66).
Workings: Mining began in 1896 and continued with few interruptions to as recently as 1940 (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 100).
Production: Mining began in 1896 and continued with few interruptions to as recently as 1940 (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 100).

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

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	LG185

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References