Fox Creek Mine, Eagle District, Southeast Fairbanks Borough, Alaska, USA

Location: Fox Creek is a 5-mile-long north tributary of the Seventymile River. Mertie (1938) reported that Fox Creek has been mined for placer gold for some distance downstream from Lucky Gulch (EA020) but no workings are present above Lucky Gulch. The coordinates on Fox Creek are about 1 mile downstream of the mouth of Lucky Gulch, in section 12, T. 1 N., R. 30 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate within one-half mile. Fox Creek is locality 30 of Cobb (1972 [MF-393]), locality 29 of Eberlein and others (1977), and locality 14 of Burleigh and Lear (1994).
Geology: The rocks in the vicinity of Fox Creek are Upper Cretaceous to Pliocene conglomerate (Clark and Foster, 1971; Foster, 1976). Gold placers of the valley floor and lower benches of Fox Creek have been worked for some distance downstream from Lucky Gulch. No workings are present above Lucky Gulch; thus it appears that the gold in Fox Creek is derived from Lucky Gulch (Mertie, 1938). The earliest reported prospecting occurred on Fox Creek in 1911, when some ground was stripped in preparation for placer mining (Porter, 1912). In 1912, mining occurred on Fox Creek over a considerable area below the mouth of Lucky Gulch, but no rich gravels were found (Ellsworth and Davenport, 1913). Mining was sporadically reported on Fox Creek from 1912 to 1939. Mining occurred on a high bench just below the mouth of Lucky Gulch, where the bedrock is 70 feet above Fox Creek (Mertie, 1938). The conglomerate bedrock on the bench is overlain by 4 feet of well-rounded gravel. This is overlain by a mixture of fine gravel and muck 8 to 15 feet deep, in which mammoth tusks were found Mertie (1938). Gold from the bench is fine-grained and high-grade. Assays of gold mined from Fox Creek in 1933 and 1934 averaged 884 parts of gold aned scarce placer cassiterite in Fox Creek, and Clark and Foster (1971) found anomalous zinc, copper, barium, boron, chromium, and nickel in stream-sediment samples.
Workings: The earliest reported prospecting occurred on Fox Creek in 1911, when some ground was stripped in preparation for placer mining (Porter, 1912). In 1912, mining occurred on Fox Creek over a considerable area below the mouth of Lucky Gulch, but no rich gravels were found (Ellsworth and Davenport, 1913). Mining is sporadically reported on Fox Creek from 1912 to 1939. Mining occurred on a high bench just below the mouth of Lucky Gulch, where the bedrock is 70 feet above Fox Creek (Mertie, 1938). Joesting (1942) reported scarce placer cassiterite in Fox Creek, and Clark and Foster (1971) found anomalous zinc, copper, barium, boron, chromium, and nickel in stream sediment-samples.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Assays of gold mined from Fox Creek in 1933 and 1934 averaged 884 parts of gold and 110 parts of silver per thousand (Mertie, 1938).

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Cr, Cu, Ni, Sn, Zn
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

References:
Brooks, A.H., 1915, Mineral resources of Alaska; report on progress of investigations in 1914: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622, 380 p. Brooks, A.H., 1916, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1915: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642, 279 p. Burleigh, R.E., and Lear, K.G., 1994, Compilation of data for Phase I of the mineral resource evaluation of the Bureau of Land Management Black River and Fortymile subunits: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 48-94, 116 p. Clark, S.H.B., and Foster, H.L., 1971, Geochemical and geological reconnaissance in the Seventymile River area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1315, 21 p. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Eagle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-393, 1:250,000 scale, 1 sheet. Cobb, E.H., 1977, Summary of references to mineral occurrences in the Eagle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-845, 122 p. Eberlein, G.D., Chapman, R.M., Foster, H.L., and Gassaway, J.S., 1977, Map and table describing known metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits in central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168-D, 132 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000. Ellsworth, C.E., and Davenport, R.W., 1913, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542-F, p. 203-222. Foster, H.L., 1976, Geologic map of the Eagle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series, Map 922, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Joesting, H.R., 1942, Strategic mineral occurences in interior Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 1, 46 p. Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, Gold placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle districts, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C, p. 133-261. Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1942, Tertiary deposits of the Eagle-Circle district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-D, p. 213-264. Porter, E.A., 1912, Placer mining in the Fortymile, Eagle, and Seventymile River districts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520-G, p. 211-218. Smith, P.S., 1926, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1924: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783-A, p. 1-30. Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797, p. 1-50. Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81. Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107. Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113. Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.