Independence Creek Mine, Circle Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi
Regional Level Types | |
---|---|
Independence Creek Mine | Mine |
Circle Mining District | Mining District |
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | Census Area |
Alaska | State |
USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
65° 29' 9'' North , 145° 12' 50'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
198124
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:198124:0
GUID (UUID V4):
d3e4d6f0-1fd1-404e-a21a-a1188c10ed36
See also Mammoth Creek, ARDF no. CI036, Mastodon Creek, ARDF no. CI037 and Miller Creek, ARDF no. CI039.
Location: Independence Creek was mined from just above Harrison Fork to the confluence with Mastodon Creek. The placered areas extend from about 3,000 ft to 6,000 ft upstream of, to about 7,500 ft downstream of, the intersection of the coordinates. Independence Creek is a major fork of Mammoth Creek.
Geology: Independence Creek is about 6.5 km long. Below the junction of Independence and Mastodon Creeks, the drainage is known as Mastodon Creek. Bedrock in the Independence Creek drainage is the Lower Schist unit described by Wiltse and others (1995) as a slightly calcareous quartz-muscovite schist and porphyroblastic albite-quartz-chlorite-muscovite schist. The bedrock is cut by numerous quartz veins. Pay gravel was as much as 425 ft wide but generally no more than 325 ft wide. Gravels are 4 ot 5 ft thick and overlain by 0 to 10 ft of muck. The gold is fine-grained and lies mainly within 3 ft of the gravel-bedrock contact. In one part of the creek, weighted mean fineness (eight assays) was 787 Au and 201 Ag. In another part it was 810 Au and 175 Ag (five assays representing 1500 oz of gold) (Mertie, 1938, p. 219-222). Gold fineness increases progressively downstream. The source of gold, according to miners, is localized in the area around Mastodon Dome. Heavy mineral concentrates contain wolframite, xenotime, zircon, garnet, and hematite (Nelson and others, 1954). Drift mining occurred in the early days. A dredge operated near the mouth of Independence Creek for a short time in the 1920's (Mertie, 1938). Most mining was by hydraulic methods. This early mining yielded values of 0.05 to 0.4 ounces per cubic yard (Mertie, 1938). Much of the gravel has been washed at least three times during multiple mining operations spanning 90 years. Recent mining has focused on the margins of the creek under old mine tailings (Yeend, 1991, p. 23).
Workings: Drift mining occurred in the early days. A dredge operated near the mouth of Independence Creek for a short time in the 1920's (Mertie, 1938). Most mining was by hydraulic methods. Much of the gravel has been washed at least three times during multiple mining operations spanning 90 years. Recent mining has focused on the margins of the creek under old mine tailings (Yeend, 1991, p. 23).
Production: Early mining yielded values of 0.05 to 0.4 ounces per cubic yard (Mertie, 1938).
Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Pb, Sn, W
Development Status: Yes; medium
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
5 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
β Cassiterite Formula: SnO2 |
β Galena Formula: PbS |
β Gold Formula: Au |
β Scheelite Formula: Ca(WO4) |
β 'Wolframite Group' |
β Xenotime-(Y) Formula: Y(PO4) |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
Group 1 - Elements | |||
---|---|---|---|
β | Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
β | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
β | Cassiterite | 4.DB.05 | SnO2 |
β | 'Wolframite Group' | 4.DB.30 va | |
Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
β | Scheelite | 7.GA.05 | Ca(WO4) |
Group 8 - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates | |||
β | Xenotime-(Y) | 8.AD.35 | Y(PO4) |
List of minerals for each chemical element
O | Oxygen | |
---|---|---|
O | β Cassiterite | SnO2 |
O | β Scheelite | Ca(WO4) |
O | β Xenotime-(Y) | Y(PO4) |
P | Phosphorus | |
P | β Xenotime-(Y) | Y(PO4) |
S | Sulfur | |
S | β Galena | PbS |
Ca | Calcium | |
Ca | β Scheelite | Ca(WO4) |
Y | Yttrium | |
Y | β Xenotime-(Y) | Y(PO4) |
Sn | Tin | |
Sn | β Cassiterite | SnO2 |
W | Tungsten | |
W | β Scheelite | Ca(WO4) |
Au | Gold | |
Au | β Gold | Au |
Pb | Lead | |
Pb | β Galena | PbS |
Other Databases
Link to USGS - Alaska: | CI029 |
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Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North America PlateTectonic Plate
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