Hot Air Bench; Last Chance Creek Prospect; Mine, Valdez Creek Mining District, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, USAi
Regional Level Types | |
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Hot Air Bench; Last Chance Creek Prospect; Mine | Mine |
Valdez Creek Mining District | Mining District |
Matanuska-Susitna Borough | Borough |
Alaska | State |
USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
63° 12' 10'' North , 147° 18' 10'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
198052
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:198052:6
GUID (UUID V4):
ae6f0192-cd5b-45b5-b098-22a38ecc8087
Location: The Hot Air Bench gold placer prospect is on the south side of Valdez Creek on the prominent terrace between White Creek and Lucky Gulch. This site also includes a placer mine in a small gulch locally called Last Chance Creek, which is a tributary of Valdez Creek. The map site is just inside the north-central border of sec. 11, T. 20 S., R. 2 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. This location is accurate to within 100 feet.
Geology: The Hot Air Bench consists mostly of glacial-moraine gravels and of fluvial channels that cross the bench. All of the gravels are auriferous but none is rich enough to mine at this time (1999). A limited cross section is exposed in Last Chance Creek, along the lower portion of the bench, where Valdez Creek fluvial gravels are interbedded with apparently glacial-moraine gravels. In drill holes along the lower portion of the bench there was a large amount of ground water (D. L. Stevens, personal observations).
Workings: In 1986, a reconnaissance-scale drilling program tested these gravels. The Last Chance Creek gulch has been mined sporadically since the early days in the district. The most recent mining was in the mid-1980's. The gold is bright and shiny and some nuggets were found (D.L. Stevens, personal observations).
Age: Quaternary. Most of the bench probably consists of moraines from the last phase of valley glaciation.
Production: There has been very small production.
Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
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Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
1 valid mineral.
Gallery:
Other Databases
Link to USGS - Alaska: | HE206 |
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North America PlateTectonic Plate
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