Ruby Creek Mine, Council Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Ruby Creek Mine	Mine
Council Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Ruby Creek is an east tributary to the Casadepaga River. Its mouth is 0.9 miles downstream from the old town of Casdepaga and across the river from the mouth of Lower Willow Creek (SO091). Sainsbury and others (1972) show placer tailings to be present over the lower 2 miles of Ruby Creek. This is locality 79 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).
Geology: Ruby Creek was an important and heavily worked creek in the early history of the area (Brooks and others, 1901). It is incised in its lower reaches and both the active channel and some bench placers have been mined. Some of the gold was coarse (a 1/4 ounce nugget was reported) and had a fineness of 946. The gravels in the lower creek were thin, 2 to 3 feet, and gold-bearing throughout. The creek gets its name from the abundant garnet in heavy mineral concentrates. A large part of this creek was mined by 1907 (Smith, 1910). The headwaters of Ruby Creek are underlain by a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and othes, 1986).
Workings: Almost all the creek gravels had been worked by 1907. Sainsbury and others (1972, OFR 511) show placer tailings to be present over the lower 2 miles of Ruby Creek.
Age: Quaternary; the numerous incised terraces along the Casadepaga River and its major tributaries indicate that more than one cycle of erosion and deposition has developed placer deposits in the area. The low elevations between 170 and 270 feet along the first 11 miles of the river, suggest that Quaternary sea level fluctuations could have influenced placer development.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SO096

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References