Sourdough Creek Prospect, Fairbanks Mining District, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Sourdough Creek Prospect	Prospect
Fairbanks Mining District	Mining District
Fairbanks North Star Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The location is the approximate center of discontinuous placer workings that extend from Silver Creek to Polar Creek; from the mouth of Bear Creek upstream for about 1,500 ft; and for about a mile between Bear Creek and Ruby Creek. Sourdough Creek is a tributary of the Chatanika River. The creek can be accessed from the Steese Highway at mile marker 66.
Geology: Bedrock in the area is schist,and, near the mouth of the creek a granitic pluton (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 8). A sample of granite talus contained stibnite and scheelite (Nelson and others, 1954). Joesting (1942) reported stibnite in placer concentrates and scarce cassiterite in placers. Placer gold was mined from 1932 to 1940 and intermittently from 1946 to 1959. Gravel is ten to eleven feet thick. Prospecting and maintenance work occurred in 1966. The creek has largely been mined out by surface workings (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 24). Total production is not known, but about 2850 oz gold was reportedly produced from 1937 to 1941. A few blocks of unmined ground remain mid-valley but the creek has been largely mined. Two hundred ounces of gold was produced from one 300 ft by 150 ft cut on the Discovery Claim (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 24).
Workings: Placer gold was mined from 1932 to 1940 and intermittently from 1946 to 1959. Prospecting and maintenance work occurred in 1966. The creek has largely been mined out by surface workings (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 24).
Production: Total production is not known, but about 2850 oz gold was reportedly produced from 1937 to 1941. A few blocks of unmined ground remain mid-valley but the creek has been largely mined. Two hundred ounces of gold was produced from one 300 ft by 150 ft cut on the Discovery Claim (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 24).

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Sb, Sn, W
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	CI054

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References