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

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

Location: Sunshine Creek is a north tributary to Canyon Creek (SO083). The mouth of Sunshine Creek is 1.2 miles upstream from the confluence of Canyon Creek and the Casadepaga River. This is locality 52 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).
Geology: The lower part of Sunshine Creek crosses benches of Canyon Creek; Sainsbury and others (1972, OFR 511) show placer tailings along the lower 0.5 mile of the creek. There are reports of placer mining here in 1918 and 1934 (Cobb, 1978, OF 78-181). Smith (1910) notes that placers along north tributaries of Canyon Creek derive ther gold from reworking the bench gravels. Bedrock of the area includes a pelitic schist of possible Cambrian or Precambrian age in contact with a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage to the west in the headwaters of Canyon Creek (Till and others, 1986).
Workings: Small-scale open-cut placer mining took place intermittantly from at least 1918 to 1934 along the lower 0.5 mile of the creek.
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:	SO082

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References