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

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

Location: Spruce Creek is a south tributary to the Casadepaga River; its mouth is about 2.5 miles upstream of the mouth of Big Four Creek. It is locality 64 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).
Geology: Spruce Creek cuts completely through the terrace of the Casadepaga River and flows on bedrock at its mouth. Sainsbury and others (1972) show placer tailings along the lower 0.7 miles of the creek. By 1907, an estimated $10,000 or about 400 ounces of gold had been recovered (Smith, 1910); 40 to 50 ounces were recovered in the first year of mining, 1899 (Brooks and others, 1901). The gold was bright and coarse, and primarlily recovered over marble bedrock. Bedrock in Spruce Creek is primarily part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and others, 1986).
Workings: Small-scale placer mining took place along the lower 0.7 miles of the creek prior to WW I.
Age: Quaternary; the numerous incised terraces along the Casadepaga River 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:	SO076

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References