Cahoon Creek Mine, Skagway District, Juneau District, Haines Borough, Alaska, USA
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Geology: According to Hoekzema and others (1986), the lower 0.5 miles of Cahoon Creek were extensively mined by the Cahoon Creek Mining Company from 1908 to 1913. Cahoon Creek is a steep northeast flowing tributary to McKinley Creek with an average gradient of 650 feet per mile. Very little gravel is present in the channel and much of the creek is on bedrock. There is some potential for abandoned channel or bench deposits, but these are generally covered by colluvium and avalanche debris. Gold concentration increases toward the junction with McKinley Creek. Samples contained from less than 0.0004 to 0.045 ounces of gold per cubic yard. The gold is nuggety and 83% is less than 0.02 inches in size. Panned concentrates contained greater than 70% magnetite, with minor pyrite, zircon, and garnet. The Cahoon Creek placer mineralization lies within the northwest-trending zone of quartz-sulfide veining in sediments and slates in the Skagway B-4 quadrangle that is described by Wright (1904 [B 225 and B 236}), Eakin (1918 and 1919), and MacKevett and others (1974) and considered to be the source of placer gold in this area.
Workings: The lower 0.5 miles of Cahoon Creek were extensively mined by the Cahoon Creek Mining Company from 1908 to 1913 (Hoekzema and others, 1986). A little placer mining was done at the head of Cahoon Creek in the early days of the camp, but apparently with little success (Eakin, 1918 and 1919).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Hoekzema and others (1986) estimate 79,650 ounces for gold was produced from the Porcupine area that includes Cahoon Creek, but separate production figures for Cahoon Creek are not available. See Porcupine Creek (SK041) for a more detailed history of production in the Porcupine area.
Reserves: None reported, but Hoekzema and others, 1986, note that an abandoned channel about 0.25 miles upstream from the current junction with McKinley Creek should be investigated.
Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ag
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Modern stream placer (Cox and Singer, 1986: model 39a).
Mineral List
1 entry listed. 1 valid mineral.
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References
Brooks, A.H., and Capps, S.R., 1924, The Alaska mining industry in 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755-A, p. 1-56. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Skagway quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-424, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Eakin, H.M., 1918, Gold placer mining in the Porcupine district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662-B, p. 93-100. Eakin, H.M., 1919, The Porcupine gold placer district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 699, 29 p. Hoekzema, R.B., Fechner, S.A., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1986, Distribution, analysis, and recovery of placer gold from the Porcupine mining area, southeast Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 89-86, 49 p., 4 sheets. MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Robertson, E.C., and Winkler, G.R., 1974, Geology of the Skagway B-3 and B-4 quadrangles, southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 832, 33 p., 1 plate. Still, J.C., 1991, Bureau of Mines mineral investigations in the Juneau mining district, Alaska, 1984-1988; Volume 2, Detailed mine, prospect, and mineral occurrence descriptions, Section A, Haines-Klukwan-Porcupine subarea: U.S. Bureau of Mines of Mines Special Publication, 214 p. Still, J.C., Hoekzema, R.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Gilbert, W.G., Wier, K.R., Burns, L.E., and Fechner, S.A., 1991, Economic geology of Haines-Klukwan-Porcupine area, southeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 91-4, 156 p., 5 sheets, scale 1:63,360. Winkler, G.R., and MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1970, Analyses of bedrock and stream-sediment samples from the Haines-Porcupine region, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 369, 91 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:125,000. Wright, C.W., 1904, The Porcupine placer district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 236, 35 p. Wright, C.W., 1904, The Porcupine placer mining district, Alaska in Emmons, S.F., and Hayes, C.W., eds., Contributions to economic geology 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p. 60-63.
