Ketchem Creek; Holdem Creek Mine, Circle Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi
Regional Level Types | |
---|---|
Ketchem Creek; Holdem Creek Mine | Mine |
Circle Mining District | Mining District |
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | Census Area |
Alaska | State |
USA | Country |
This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
65° 29' 2'' North , 144° 44' 27'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
198346
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:198346:6
GUID (UUID V4):
dfdfa44c-bc4d-4b21-b175-9ac9a6f1dffe
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)
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
3 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
β 'Allanite Group' Formula: (A12+REE3+)(M13+M23+M32+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH) |
β Cassiterite Formula: SnO2 |
β Gold Formula: Au |
β Scheelite Formula: Ca(WO4) |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
Group 1 - Elements | |||
---|---|---|---|
β | Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
β | Cassiterite | 4.DB.05 | SnO2 |
Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
β | Scheelite | 7.GA.05 | Ca(WO4) |
Unclassified | |||
β | 'Allanite Group' | - | (A12+REE3+)(M13+M23+M32+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH) |
List of minerals for each chemical element
H | Hydrogen | |
---|---|---|
H | β Allanite Group | (A12+REE3+)(M13+M23+M32+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH) |
O | Oxygen | |
O | β Cassiterite | SnO2 |
O | β Scheelite | Ca(WO4) |
O | β Allanite Group | (A12+REE3+)(M13+M23+M32+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH) |
Si | Silicon | |
Si | β Allanite Group | (A12+REE3+)(M13+M23+M32+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH) |
Ca | Calcium | |
Ca | β Scheelite | Ca(WO4) |
Sn | Tin | |
Sn | β Cassiterite | SnO2 |
W | Tungsten | |
W | β Scheelite | Ca(WO4) |
Au | Gold | |
Au | β Gold | Au |
Other Databases
Link to USGS - Alaska: | CI031 |
---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Yukon-Tanana lower DomainDomain
- Yukon Flats BasinBasin
This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to
visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders
for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.