Poker Creek Mine, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Poker Creek Mine	Mine
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Poker Creek is a small east headwater tributary of the Walker Fork of the Fortymile River. Poker Creek is about 3 miles long; the upper 2 miles extend into Yukon Territory, Canada. Placer workings on Poker Creek extend from its mouth for about a mile upstream into Canada. The coordinates are the approximate midpoint of the section of the creek in Alaska; it is on the border between sections 1 and 2, T. 26 N., R. 22 E., of the Copper River Meridian. The location is accurate. Poker Creek is locality 108 of Burleigh and Lear (1994), locality 49 of Eberlein and others (1977), and locality 76 of Cobb (1972 [MF-393]).
Geology: Bedrock along Poker Creek consists of carbonaceous schist and quartzite with abundant quartz lenses, as well as biotite-quartz schist (R.L. Flynn, unpub. data, 2000), which are part of the Nasina Series of McConnell (1905). The Nasina Series is Mississippian in age (Mortensen, 1999). Almost all of the gold from Poker Creek was extracted from the gravel just above bedrock. The paystreak was about 3 feet deep near the mouth of Poker Creek, thinning to 1 foot upstream (Spurr, 1898). The paystreak was covered by 4 to 6 feet of barren gravel. Placer gold in Poker Creek has a fineness of 864 parts gold per thousand (Metz and Hawkins, 1981). Walker Fork (EA156), Davis Creek (EA155), and Younger Creek (EA159) are other nearby headwater tributaries of Walker Fork with placer gold production. Placer gold claims were first staked on Poker Creek in 1889, and mining began in 1896 (Spurr, 1898). The headwater tributaries of Walker Fork were mostly mined out by the turn of the century (Yeend, 1996). The Mulvane dredge worked a few hundred feet up Poker Creek from Walker Fork before being dismantled and moved in 1912 (Ellsworth and Davenport, 1913). Mining on Poker Creek was reported from 1932 to 1934. Bundtzen and others (1990) reported mining on Poker Creek in 1989. A small open-cut mining operation was active on Poker Creek from 1982 to 1985 and from 1995 to 1998 (Norm LaFramboise, Boundary Explorations, Inc., written commun., 2000).
Workings: Placer gold claims were first staked on Poker Creek in 1889, and mining began in 1896 (Spurr, 1898). The headwater tributaries of Walker Fork were mostly mined out by the turn of the century (Yeend, 1996). The Mulvane dredge worked a few hundred feet up Poker Creek from Walker Fork before being dismantled and moved in 1912 (Ellsworth and Davenport, 1913). Mining on Poker Creek is reported from 1932 to 1934. Bundtzen and others (1990) reported mining on Poker Creek in 1989. A small open-cut mining operation was active on Poker Creek from 1982 to 1985 and from 1995 to 1998 (Norm LaFramboise, Boundary Explorations, Inc., written commun., 2000).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Placer gold in Poker Creek has a fineness of 864 parts gold per thousand (Metz and Hawkins, 1981).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	EA158

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References