Slate Creek Mine, Iditarod Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Slate Creek Mine	Mine
Iditarod Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The Slate Creek Mine is actually composed of two separated placer deposits in the basin of Slate Creek, a tributary of Otter Creek. The eastern placer extends for about 2.2 miles in the main valley of Slate Creek (as labeled on the USGS topographic map). Its center is at an elevation of about 500 feet and it extends through the E1/2 of section 24, T. 27 N., R. 47 W., of the Seward Meridian. The coordinates above are the center of the eastern placer. The other placer is about a half mile to the west. It extends for about 1.2 mile through the SE1/4 of section 23 and the NE1/4 of section 24, T. 27 N., R. 47 W., of the Seward Meridian. The main (east) Slate Creek deposit is locality 35 of Cobb (1972 [MF 363]); also described in Cobb (1976 [OFR 76-576]).
Geology: The Slate Creek Mine consists of two separated, north-trending, paystreaks in the Slate Creek valley, a tributary of Otter Creek. The western paystreak is an ancestral channel of Slate Creek that is perched about 250 feet vertically above the modern stream. The western paystreak is about 1.2 mile long and about 320 feet wide. The eastern paystreak, which follows the modern channel of Slate Creek, is about 2.2 miles long and about 250 feet wide. The eastern paystreak lies wholly on slate and sandstone of the Cretaceous Kuskokwim Group; the western paystreak lies in part on volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Upper Cretaceous, Chicken Mountain volcano-plutonic complex (Bundtzen and Miller, 1997). Placer gold was found in the lower 10 feet of gravel with little gold on or in bedrock (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-576]). A panned concentrate sample contained 8.5 ounces of gold per ton, 2.6 ounces of silver per ton, 0.03 percent tungsten, 0.28 percent mercury (Maloney, 1962). From 1915 to 1952, Slate Creek produced 3,483 ounces of gold and 592 ounces of silver (Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). Slate Creek has lower grade gold values compared to other placers in the Iditarod district and mining was not always profitable.
Workings: There was open cut placer mining on Slate Creek from 1915 to 1962 (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-576]; Bundtzen and others, 1992).
Age: Probably Tertiary and Quaternary by analogy with other placer deposits in Interior Alaska (Hopkins and others, 1971).
Production: From 1915 to 1952, Slate Creek produced 3,483 ounces of gold and 592 ounces of silver (Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). Peter Miscovich mined here from 1924 to 1931 with an operation that featured a hydraulic lift. Gus Uotila and John Ogriz initiated bulldozer mining of the paystreak in 1932 and continued intermittently until 1952. 1921 and continued until about 1925. Slate Creek has lower grade gold values compared to other placers in the Iditarod district and mining was not always profitable.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ag, Hg, W
Development Status: Yes
Deposit Model: Placer Au deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	ID120

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References