Ketchem Creek; Holdem Creek Mine, Circle District, Yukon-Koyukuk Borough, Alaska, USA

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Ketchem Creek has also been spelled 'Ketchum'.
Location: The location is at the junction of Holdem and Ketchem Creeks. Most mining was on two sites along Ketchem Creek: 1) an area about 0.5 mile long beginning about 0.5 miles below the mouth of Holdem Creek, and 2) a 0.25 mile long area centered near the junction of Holdem and Ketchem Creeks. There has also probably been some mining on Holdem Creek.
Geology: Ketchem Creek flows northeast, drains the north slope of Ketchem Dome, and eventually crosses into the Tintina fault zone, approximately 3 miles west of Circle Hot Springs. The western fork is called Holdem Creek. Before entering the Tintina fault zone, both Ketchem and Holdem Creeks are underlain by Tertiary granite bedrock described by Wiltse and others (1995) as a light gray biotite monzogranite to syenogranite. An east-trending mafic dike intrudes the granite on the east side of Ketchem Creek about a quarter of a mile above the junction with Holdem Creek. Most mining has occurred south of the fault zone. This fault zone is exposed by mining and is marked by deep-orange clay-rich gravel. The gravel to the north of the fault has spread laterally and two to three colors per pan can be collected there (Yeend, 1991). Placer gravel in Ketchem Creek varies from 2 to 5 meters in thickness and is commonly overlain by 1 to 2 meters of muck. Gravel in the creek bed near the Hot Springs fault is up to 200 meters in width, most of which has been mined. Gold is concentrated in the lower 1 meter of gravel and is generally coarse and flattened. Nuggets of 1 to 3 ounces have been recovered. Fineness of gold about 0.783 Au and 0.207 Ag (Mertie, 1938). Heavy minerals in the gravel include scheelite, cassiterite, allanite, garnet, sphene and zircon (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 5; Cobb, 1973, p. 122, [B 1374]). Unknown amount of gold was produced by placer mining from 1933 to 1949, 1975, 1981, and throughout the 1990's. Winter drifting and dragline excavators operated in the 1930's; however, large boulders were a serious problem just below the mouth of Holdem Creek. In 1991, Magic Circle, Inc., worked Ketchum Creek for 65 days and processed 17,230 tonnes (19,000 tons) of pay gravel during the season . Greenhorn Mining processed 7,646 cubic meters (10,000 cubic yards) of auriferous pay in the same year (Swainbank and others, 1991). More recent mining has been conducted on Ketchem Creek by Fred Wilkinson (C.J. Freeman, oral commun., 1998).
Workings: Placer mining occurred from 1933 to 1949, 1975, 1981, and throughout the 1990's. Winter drifting and dragline excavators operated in the 1930's; however, large boulders were a serious problem just below the mouth of Holdem Creek. In 1991, Magic Circle, Inc., worked Ketchum Creek for 65 days and processed 17,230 tonnes (19,000 tons) of pay gravel during the season . Greenhorn Mining processed 7,646 cubic meters (10,000 cubic yards) of auriferous pay in the same year (Swainbank and others, 1991). More recent mining has been conducted on Ketchem Creek by Fred Wilkinson (C.J. Freeman, oral commun., 1998).
Production: Unknown amount of gold produced by placer mining acitivity from 1933 to 1949, 1975, 1981, and throughout the 1990's. Production reported throughout the 1990's by Ed Lapp and Sons Mining (ESLM), Magic Circle, Inc. and Greenhorn Mining.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - REE, Sn, W
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

References

Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., Green, C.B., and Lueck, L.L., 1986, Alaska's mineral industry, 1985: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 39, 68 p. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-391, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p. Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 p. Lampright, R. L., 1996, Gold placer deposits near Fairbanks Alaska: Iron Fire Publications, Nederland, Colorado, 135 p. Menzie, W.D., Foster, H.L., Tripp, R.B., and Yeend, W.E., 1983, Mineral resource assessment of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-170-B, 61 p., 1 sheet, 1:250,000. 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. Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94. Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95. 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 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113. 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. Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102. Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., Killeen, P. L., and others, 1954, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in eastern interior Alaska, 1946: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 331, 36 p. Yeend, W.E., 1991, Gold placers of the Circle district, Alaska--Past, present, and future: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1943, 42 p.

Mineral List

'Allanite'

Cassiterite

Gold

Scheelite

4 entries listed. 3 valid minerals.