California Creek Mine, Bonnifield Mining District, Denali Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
California Creek Mine	Mine
Bonnifield Mining District	Mining District
Denali Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The California Creek mine is located in sections 16, 9, 10, 3, 4, T. 10 S., R. 6 W. and sections 33 and 28, T. 9 S., R. 6 W., Fairbanks Meridian. The mine is localities 66 and 67 of Cobb (`1972 [MF 410]). The coordinates given are for location 67 of Cobb (1972), which is a placer mine 5 miles above the mouth of Rex Creek, where California creek enters a canyon. Placer mining also occurred at several localities for several miles downstream in recent years. California Creek is a tributary of the Totatlanika River approximately 3.5 miles east of the Liberty Bell mine (FB132).
Geology: Prior to 1918, prospecting for placer gold was carried on throughout the 20 miles of California Creek (Maddren, 1918, p. 380). Mining in 1910 was 5 miles above Rex Creek, where gravels are 6 feet deep (Capps, 1912, p. 44). Mining has also taken place at scattered localities in sections 9 and 10, 3 and 4, and 33 and 34, T. 10 S., R. 6 W., at irregular intervals through at least the 1980's (Donald Grybeck, field observations, 1994, and oral commun. from Boyd Blair, 1994). The gold occurs in stream gravels on schist bedrock. Platinum and scarce cinnabar have been found in the placers (Joesting, 1942 [ATDM Pamph. 1]).
Workings: Small-scale placer mining.
Age: Quaternary placer.
Production: Prior to 1918, prospecting for placer gold was carried on throughout the 20-mile-long length of California Creek (Maddren, 1918, p. 380). Mining in 1910 was 5 miles above Rex Creek, where gravels are 6 feet deep (Capps, 1912, p. 44). Mining has also taken place at scattered localities in sections 9 and 10, 3 and 4, and 33 and 34, T. 10 S., R. 6 W., at irregular intervals through at least the 1980's (Donald Grybeck, field observations, 1994, and oral commun. from Boyd Blair, 1994). An undisclosed amount of gold was produced from California Creek in 1989 from placer mines operated by Jack Lacross and Jack Zupan (Bundtzen and others, 1990, p. 37).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	FB137

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References