New York Gulch; New York Creek Mine, Hot Springs Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
New York Gulch; New York Creek Mine	Mine
Hot Springs Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The site of the New York Gulch placer mine is on the gulch at an elevation of about 550 feet, in the northwest quarter of section 11, T. 3 N., R. 18 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The site corresponds to location 21 of Cobb (1972), and roughly to the site for New York Gulch, U.S. Bureau of Land Management MAS number 0020480093, but the MAS site is approximately 0.5 mile downstream.
Geology: New York Gulch is in the Hot Springs mining district, approximately 15 miles west of the old town of Tofty. It drains the south side of Serpentine Ridge, and flows into American Creek (TN075). Serpentine Ridge consists of serpentinite and mafic intrusive rocks that apparently intrude Mesozoic, predominantly marine, sedimentary rocks, through which the stream channel cuts (Chapman and others, 1982). There is little in the public record about the placer deposit in New York Gulch. Prospecting or mining occurred in 1921 (Cobb, 1977); Smith (1939 [B 910-A]) reported mining there in 1926; and Wimmler (1929) reported open-cut mining during 1929. Waters (1934) stated that the mineral content of the placer deposit is similar to that of samples from American Creek (TN075). The concentrates included gold, magnetite, barite, ilmenite, and picotite (Mertie, 1934). A contiguous claim block varying from 33 to 108 claims on New York Gulch, American Creek (TN075), and tributaries of American Creek was worked by American Creek Partners from at least 1981 to 1992 (Alaska Kardex files). Placer development, using Caterpillar D-9 and D-6 bulldozers, took place over a 3 to 5 month period during those years. Placer gold production from this mining is not known. Newberry and Clautice (1997) analyzed three small, irregularly-shaped nuggets from New York Gulch by electron microprobe. Each of the nuggets had a different composition, probably indicating different sources and/or degrees of exposure to erosion. One of the nuggets contained electrum and another nugget contained a tiny inclusion of native nickel.
Workings: Little work was done in the New York Gulch area. Prospecting or mining occurred in 1921 (Cobb, 1977); Smith (1939 [B 910-A]) reported mining there in 1926; and Wimmler (1930) reported open-cut mining during 1929. A contiguous claim block varying from 33 to 108 claims on New York Gulch, American Creek (TN075), and tributaries of American Creek was worked by American Creek Partners from at least 1981 to 1992 (Alaska Kardex files). Placer development, using Caterpillar D-9 and D-6 bulldozers, took place over a 3 to 5 month period during those years. Placer gold production from this mining is not known.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Unknown amount of placer gold production.

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; medium
Deposit Model: Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	TN077

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References