Last Chance Creek Mine, Goodpaster Mining District, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Last Chance Creek Mine	Mine
Goodpaster Mining District	Mining District
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Last Chance Creek drains into Tibbs Creek (BD040), a tributary of the Goodpaster River, approximately 54 miles northeast of Delta Junction. The creek is approximately 4.5 miles long and has several small tributaries. Placer workings are concentrated near the confluence with Tibbs Creek (Doyon Limited, 1998). The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system reports placer mining at the base of Last Chance Creek. The approximate center of the mining activity is in SE1/4SE1/4 section 11, T. 6 S., R. 17 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. A winter trail from the South Fork of the Goodpaster River provides access up Divide Creek and over Black Mountain to the east. It was not identified as a separate location by Cobb (1972) or by Cobb and Eberlein (1980).
Geology: The area around the Last Chance Creek placers is characterized by rounded hills and flat-topped ridges (Thomas, 1970). The most prominent ridge is Black Mountain, which trends about 12 miles in a northerly direction and is underlain by Cretaceous granodiorite (Weber and others, 1978). A combination of augen gneiss, gneissic schist, and schist are to the west of Black Mountain. There is intense shearing and faulting in the contact between the metamorphic and intrusive rocks. This shearing is observed in the underground workings and at the surface as pronounced saddle-like depressions across the spurs separating the westward-flowing tributaries of Tibbs Creek. This shear zone trends roughly N15E and dips 65 degrees NW (Thomas, 1970). The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. Thomas (1970) reports a stampede of prospectors in 1915 that ended soon after due to low grade deposits. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek area. Cobb (1973) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Last Chance Creek as recent as 1984. No production totals for Last Chance Creek are available.
Workings: The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. Thomas (1970) reports a stampede of prospectors in 1915 that ended soon after due to low grade deposits. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek area. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Last Chance Creek as recent as 1984.
Age: Quaternary
Production: Cobb (1973) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. No production totals for Last Chance Creek are available.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	BD022

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References