Nolan Creek Mine (includes Mary's Bench and Swede Channel), Koyukuk Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Nolan Creek Mine (includes Mary's Bench and Swede Channel)	Mine
Koyukuk Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Pleistocene fossils occur in the deep channel and overlying muck.
Location: Nolan Creek is a south-southwesterly-flowing tributary of Wiseman Creek; its mouth is about 5 miles northwest of Wiseman. The coordinates are at a cabin shown on the 1:63,360-scale topographic map on the west bank of Nolan Creek just above the mouth of Smith Creek. The placer deposits extends approximately 1 mile below and 1.75 miles above the cabin. The Mary's Bench and Swede Channel placers are bench deposits of Nolan Creek just east of Nolan Creek between Smith and Archibald Creeks. The location is accurate.
Geology: Gold placers in Nolan Creek valley are in shallow gravels of the modern stream, in bench gravels, and in frozen gravels in a deep channel. The gravels of the deep channel have been the most productive by far. The present channel in Nolan Creek was mined just below the mouth of Fay Creek (near the Discovery claim) from 1903 to 1905. This channel together with shallow gravels on Smith and Fay Creeks produced a considerable amount of gold. The shallow gravels on Nolan Creek were about 3.5 feet thick and lay on false bedrock in the valley fill. Reed (1938) suggested that the gold in this placer was derived from erosion of gold-bearing gravels in Fay Creek. Recent information from the Internet page website of Silverado Gold Mines, the current property owner, (http://www.silverado.com) indicates that shallow placer deposits also occur on upper Nolan Creek for about 0.5 mile above Fay Creek. The bench deposits on Nolan Creek generally are between the mouth of Fay Creek to just below the mouth of Smith Creek. The configuration of several of these bench deposits suggests that at least some of them may be derived from the eastern tributaries to Nolan Creek. Most are located along the east side of Nolan Creek and 20 to more than 200 feet above the modern stream. The gravel in these deposits is frozen and coarse grained but contains few boulders. The gold is also coarse; it includes small nuggets and a few large nuggets. The gold fineness varies from 885 to 962. According to Reed (1938) these deposits varied in value from $0.25 to $4.20 per square foot of bedrock (gold at $35 per ounce). The most productive portion of the Nolan Creek placers has been the deep channel. This extends for about 2 miles along the Nolan Creek valley from near the mouth of Fay Creek to about 0.75 mile below the mouth of Smith Creek. At its upper end, the deep channel is about 20 feet below the surface; it gradually deepens to over 200 feet at its lower end. The average gradient of the deep channel is about 4.5 percent but there are a number of steeper gradients as the channel makes its way down valley. The gravel and overlying fill in Nolan Creek is frozen and waterworn and generally fairly fine, grained; however, large boulders commonly are scattered throughout the gravel. The gold in the deep channel lies directly on bedrock. It is rounded and waterworn and generally coarse grained; large nuggets are rare. Values, according to Reed (1938), range from $1.15 to as much as $15 per square foot of bedrock (gold at $35 per ounce). In addition to the principal deep channel, there are sections of other deep channels that have been preserved at levels above the principal channel. Reed (1938) speculated that these remnants may have been bench deposits formed either when the deep-channel stream was active, or when an aggrading Nolan Creek deposited gold in channels cut in the valley walls as it meandered across the valley floor. The rocks in the valley of Nolan Creek are predominantly black metasiltstone, phyllite, pelitic schist and black slate of the Middle to Upper Devonian, Beaucoup Formation (Eden, 2000). Nolan Creek has been extensively mining and prospected beginning in 1903 and continuing until the present (2000). Most early mining was by underground drifting. Modern mining has been by open-pit operation in the summer and underground drift mining in frozen gravel in the winter. Reed (1938) noted that by 1937 the deep channel was considered mined out. However, press releases from Silverado Gold Mines (the current property owner) indicate that mining is continuing in the Nolan Creek valley, and that further exploration on the deep channel is planned.
Workings: Nolan Creek has been extensively mining and prospected beginning in 1903 and continuing until the present (2000). Most early mining was by underground drifting. Modern mining has been by open-pit operation in the summer and underground drift mining in frozen gravel in the winter. Reed (1938) noted that by 1937 the deep channel was considered mined out. However, press releases from Silverado Gold Mines (the current property owner) indicate that mining is continuing in the Nolan Creek valley, and that further exploration on the deep channel is planned.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Maddren (1913) reports gold production from Nolan Creek between 1904 and 1909 was $765,000 (approximately 40,300 ounces). Eden (2000) reports that a total of 135,437.70 ounces of gold was produced from Nolan Creek between 1904 and 1999. A press release dated October 27, 1999 from Silverado Gold Mines (the current property owner) indicated that a total of 734 ounces of gold were recovered during mining operations in the summer of 1999. A press release from Silverado Gold Mines on Aug. 24, 2000 indicated that the company was actively mining on Nolan Creek.
Reserves: A number of reserve figures for the Nolan Property (which includes Nolan Placer, Nolan Lode, Thompson's Pup, Dionne (Mary's Bench) and Smith Creek) are given on the website of the Silverado Gold Mines Ltd., the current property owner (http://www.silverado.com/) . A press release dated February 16, 2000 posted on the website indicated a gold reserve of 145,000 oz. of proven, probable, and drill-indicated reserves for the Nolan Gold Property. This figure is presumed to represent a total resource for the entire property. On the website, Silverado has also described a probable and possible gold resource for the Nolan Placer of 114,760 ounces. Although it is unclear from the information on the website what portion of the overall Nolan property this reserve figure represents, the information implies that it is for the Nolan deep channel.

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

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	WI101

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References