Sheep Creek; Sheep Gulch Mine, Koyukuk Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Sheep Creek; Sheep Gulch Mine	Mine
Koyukuk Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Alaska Kardex No. 031-029 (Kardex is a card file mining claim information system located at the State of Alaska DNR Public Information Center in Fairbanks).
Location: Sheep Creek drains the northwest flank of Poss Mountain and is a west-northwest-flowing tributary to Middle Fork Koyukuk River. The reference point is the mine symbol on the topographic map; it is approximately 1 1/2 miles above the mouth of the creek and 3 1/2 miles north-northeast of Minnie Creek Lake (sec. 21, T. 31 N., R. 10 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). Placer mining has probably extended approximately 1/2 mile downstream and 1 mile or more upstream from the reference point. The location is accurate within a 1/2-mile.
Geology: Reed (1938, p. 28-29) reported that the Sheep Creek placers are in both the present channel and a deep channel. The bench placers were discovered along the right limit of the present stream in about 1910 and were mined for a distance of approximately 7,000 feet upstream from the point where Sheep Creek valley opens into the Middle Fork valley. Above this point the channel grades into the present stream channel. At the lower end the depth to the deep channel was approximately 90 feet. There was little evidence of large boulders in the tailings from the mining of the deep channel. Values from the deep channel ran about $1 per square foot of bedrock (1937), but some small areas had much higher values. One of those areas returned $800 (1908) from 200 square feet. The deep channel probably extends some distance into Middle Fork valley but may have been cut off, as was the deep channel of Gold Creek just to the north (CH080). Reed (1938) implied that mining had only just begun in the present channel about 1,000 feet above where Sheep Creek valley entered the valley of the Middle Fork. The depth to the schist bedrock there was about 6 ft, and the gravel was very coarse with many large schist boulders. The gold was said to be very coarse and water worn. Preliminary estimates of the values in the present channel in 1937 were about $0.50 per square foot of bedrock. Reed (1938) described the bedrock of Sheep Creek as schist. More recent mapping shows the area to be underlain by Devonian black slate, phyllite and phyllitic siltstone, chloritic siltstone and grit, and quartz-muscovite schist (Brosg
Workings: Placer was worked by surface mining of the present channel and underground drift mining of the deep channel.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Production reported sporadically from the early 1900s through the early 1960s. Total value of production is unknown, but from 1900 to 1909, $2,000 worth of gold reportedly was produced (Maddren, 1913).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	CH029

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References