Tatalina Creek Mine, Iditarod District, Yukon-Koyukuk Borough, Alaska, USA

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Location: What is locally called Tatalina Creek has its headwaters just west of VABM Tatalina; it flows about 2 miles north-northwest to Carl Creek. One of the reporters of this record (T.K. Bundtzen) collected anomalous panned concentrates in upper Tatalina Creek in 1978. The coordinates reflect the location of that sampling at an elevation of about 1,200 feet. However there was also some placer mining along Tatalina Creek prior to 1917 but the location is uncertain. A placer gold prospect with the same name has also been located in the McGrath quadrangle south of Candle Hills (Bundtzen, 1999).
Geology: Tatalina Creek which has its headwaters near VABM Tatalina, flows about 2 miles north-northwest to Carl Creek. Unpublished U.S. Mint records indicate prospecting in Tatalina Creek in 1917 and 1918 and the production of about 18 ounces of placer gold. However, the location of this production is uncertain (Wimmler, 1927). Heavy-mineral-concentrate samples were collected by Bundtzen, Cox and Veach (1987) in Tatalina Creek at an elevation of about 1,200 feet. The samples contained anomalous values of lead, silver, arsenic, and gold; the heavy minerals in the samples include magnetite, galena, ilmenite, crossite, and fluorapatite (Bundtzen and others, 1987). The base-metal deposit in tourmaline hornfels upstream near VABM Tatalina (ID044) is the possible source of the anomalous samples in Tatalina Creek.
Workings: There are old placer tailings in Tatalina Creek. Panned-concentrate samples were collected by the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys in 1978 and by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1985 (Bundtzen and Laird, 1983; McGimsey and others, 1988; Bennett and others, 1988). Anaconda Minerals Company took stream-sediment samples in Carl and other tributary creeks in 1981; they reportedly contained five to ten times above background values for lead, zinc, and silver (D.B. Obolewicz, written communication, 1981).
Age: Probably Quaternary.
Production: Unpublished U.S. Mint records show that Tatalina Creek was prospected in 1917 and 1918 and about 18 ounces of placer gold were recovered (Wimmler, 1927).

Commodities (Major) - Ag, Au; (Minor) - As, Pb
Development Status: Yes
Deposit Model: Placer Au deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

References

Bennett, G.J., Gray, J.E., and Taylor, C.D., 1988, Mineralogy and sample locality map of the nonmagnetic, heavy-mineral-concentrate samples, Iditarod quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-32, 37 p., 1 plate, scale 1:250,000. Bundtzen, T.K., 1999, Alaska Resource Data File (ARDF), McGrath quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-357, 199 p. Bundtzen, T.K., and Laird, G.M., 1983, Geologic map of the Iditarod D-1 quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 78, scale 1:63,360. Bundtzen, T.K., Cox, B.C., and Veach, N.C., 1987, Heavy mineral provenance studies in the Iditarod and Innoko districts, western Alaska: Process Mineralogy VII, The Metallurgical Society, p. 221-246. McGimsey, R.G., Miller, M.L., and Arbogast, B.F., 1988, Paper version of analytical results, and sample locality map for rock samples from the Iditarod quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-421-A, 110 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Miller, M.L., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1994, Generalized geologic map of the Iditarod quadrangle, Alaska showing potassium-argon, major oxide, trace element, fossil, paleocurrent, and archeological sample localities: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2219-A, 48 pages; 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Miller, M.L., Bundtzen, T.K., and Gray, J.E., 2005, Mineral resource assessment of the Iditarod quadrangle, west-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2219-B, scale 1:250,000, pamphlet. Wimmler, 1927, Placer mining methods and costs in Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 259, 236 p.

Mineral List

Crossite Fluorapatite

Galena Gold

Ilmenite Magnetite

6 entries listed. 5 valid minerals.