Peters Creek; Peters Creek Mining Corporation Property; Cottonwood Creek Mine, Yentna Mining District, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Peters Creek; Peters Creek Mining Corporation Property; Cottonwood Creek Mine	Mine
Yentna Mining District	Mining District
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

According to C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) the Peters Creek placer gold deposits are generally too low grade for anything but a large-scale hydraulic or dredging operation to be successful;. Drainages secondary to Peters Creek that also contain gold deposits are Bird Creek (TL040), Willow Creek (TL042), Poorman Creek (TL043), and their headwater tributaries.
Location: The coordinates for this location are given at the approximate downstream limit of dredge tailings from large-scale dragline operation near Petersville in the west half of Section 21 and 28, T. 28 N., R. 8 W., of the Seward Meridian. Auriferous stream and bench deposits occur upstream from this point for about one mile. Localities given by the following authors have been combined into one record (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Fig. 4.2-B(3); Clark and Cobb, 1973, localities 26 and 27; Reed and others, 1978, localities 81 and 82; and MacKevett and Holloway, 1977, localities 25 and 26).
Geology: Gold-bearing Pleistocene stream and bench gravel in the Peters Creek drainage basin occurs near the bedrock contact between Mesozoic marine sedimentary rocks (KJs) and continentally derived sedimentary strata of the Tertiary Kenai Group (Cobb and Reed, 1980; Reed and Nelson, 1980). The KJs unit is cut by Tertiary (?) diabase and other dikes (Hawley and Clark, 1973; C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978; Cobb and Reed, 1980). C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe the base of the Tertiary strata in the headwaters of Peters Creek as an argillaceous white quartz conglomerate containing angular gold. Capps (1925) describes this conglomerate as the basal unit of the Tertiary Kenai Formation. However Clark and Hawley (1968) suggest that the white quartz conglomerate is older and that the Kenai Group was deposited on it. They believe the auriferous conglomerate is near its original source in part because the characteristics of the gold show a common source that has not moved far or has not been reworked. Further, they indicate that the conglomerate is a product of shearing and weathering in situ of argillic altered, auriferous Tertiary quartz porphyry intrusive rocks and associated quartz veins that were emplaced along northeast, high angle normal faults. In Peters Creek stream gravel averages 6 feet in depth; bench gravel is generally thinner, about 3 to 4 feet thick. Boulders are abundant in the stream gravel and the benches. The placer deposits have been mined from 1905 into the 1970s (Cobb and Reed, 1980) at various places over ten miles along Peters and Cottonwood Creeks. Large scale production in about 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956 (C.C. Hawley and Associates Inc., 1978) from drag-line dredge operations covered an area 1200 feet wide and a mile long on Peters Creek. The fineness of the gold ranges from 865 1/4 to 870 3/4; averaging: 868 (Clark and Hawley, 1968). C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Table 4.2-B(3)-B) report probable reserves of the Peters Creek Mining Corporation to be 3,467,000 cubic yards from the combined areas of Cottonwood, Big Willow and Peters Creek. They suggest that most of the gold in Peters Creek drainage system is unmined. According to C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) the Peters Creek placer gold deposits are generally too low grade for anything but a large-scale hydraulic or dredging operation to be successful. Drainages secondary to Peters Creek that also contain gold deposits are: Bird Creek (TL040); Willow Creek (TL042); Poorman Creek (TL043); and their headwater tributaries.
Workings: Garrett (1998) reports current placer mining by mechanical cut-and-fill techniques and feed hopper, trommel and sluice processing. Exploration has been conducted by test drilling and pits. Hydraulic and hand-mining operations were conducted in the past. Placer mining on Peters Creek was reported in 1927 on Cottonwood Creek by Smith (1930, B 810). The placer deposits have been mined from 1905 into the 1970s (Cobb and Reed, 1980) at various places over ten miles along Peters and Cottonwood Creeks. Large scale production in about 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956 (C.C. Hawley and Associates Inc., 1978) from drag-line dredge operations covered an area 1200 feet wide and a mile long on Peters Creek.
Age: Pleistocene.
Production: The placer deposits have been mined from 1905 into the 1970s (Cobb and Reed, 1980) at various places over ten miles along Peters and Cottonwood Creeks. Large scale production in about 1937 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956 (C.C. Hawley and Associates Inc., 1978) from drag-line dredge operations covered an area 1200 feet wide and a mile long on Peters Creek.
Reserves: C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Table 4.2-B(3)-B) report probable reserves in the Peters Creek Mining Corporation are to be 3,467,000 cubic yards. They suggest that most of the gold in Peters Creek drainage system is unmined.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	TL045

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References