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

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

See also Faith Creek, ARDF no. CI018.
Location: The location is the approximate center of mining activity along Hope Creek. Mining activity occurred at several locations along the creek, specifically at 65.40 N, 146.32 W and 65.40 N, 146.36 W. Hope Creek is a tributary to Faith Creek.
Geology: Bedrock exposure is rare in the Hope Creek area, except on ridgetops, and locally along creeks. Micaceous quartzite, typically weathering to massive slabs and blocks, is the most abundant rubble and forms most of the bedrock outcrops. White, sulfide-free, quartz lenses, segregations and veinlets are common in the quartzite. Quartz-mica schist and pelitic schist also form some outcrops. Nonfoliated hornblende quartz monzonite occurs as small bodies in Hope Creek drainage. The rock varies in composition between quartz monzonite and monzogranite. Hornblende quartz monzonite is commonly altered to chlorite-ankerite-sericite with or without pyrite. Fluorite and garnet are occasionally present. Alteration occurs both along plutonic contacts and along shear zones within the plutons. Numerous cobbles and boulders of sulfide-bearing hornfels occur in Hope Creek. Samples of sulfide-bearing hornfels and quartz-monzonite north of Hope Creek are strongly anomalous in As (up to 7,000 ppm) and Au (up to 550 ppb) and moderately anomalous in Sb (up to 120 ppb). Sulfide-bearing hornfels and quartz monzonite samples from south of Hope Creek are also anomalous in these elements with maximum values of 53 ppm As, 43 ppb Au, and 29 ppb Sb. Virtually no mineralization was observed in metamorphic rocks away from plutonic contacts. In summary, sulfide-bearing hornfels and altered quartz monzonite samples near hornblende quartz monzonite contacts are the most gold-rich rocks found in the Hope Creek drainage. (Swainbank and Burton, 1987, p. 6-19 to 6-22) Placer gold was found in stream gravel, apparently in subeconomic amounts. Stibnite deposits were reportedly found in 1926, but were apparently reburied by 1942 (Joesting, 1943, p. 12).
Workings: Placer gold was discovered in the early 1900's but was never mined extensively (Menzie and others, 1983, p. 46).

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Cu, Mo, Pb, REE, Sb, W
Development Status: Undetermined
Deposit Model: Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a); Gold-rich sulfide-bear

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	CI026

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References