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Crooked Creek

Mines, Inactive

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Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities Au
Other commodities Ag; Ti
Ore minerals gold

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale DN
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale D-2
Latitude 63.7996
Longitude -150.5
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy Crooked Creek (Cobb, 1980 [OFR 80-853]) flows northeasterly on the east side of the Kantishna Hills for about 5 miles. The creek has been placer mined in two main segments. An upper segment is centered in section 18, T. 13 S., R. 15 W., Fairbanks Meridian. A lower segment is mainly in section 8 of the same township. For this record, the location is in the lower segment, at the boundary of the Mt. McKinley D-1 and D-2 quadrangles. Crooked Creek is number 55 of Cobb (1972 [MF 366]) and 58 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977).

Geologic setting

Geologic description

Crooked Creek has a relatively narrow channel incised in bedrock walls. The valley walls are steep enough that landslide material or colluvium are probably mixed with alluvium in the creek. The creek mainly drains Birch Creek Schist.
Crooked Creek has a long history of production, but there is little information about the placer deposit or the source(s) of the placer gold. Bundtzen, Smith, and Tosdal (1976) reported 0.06 to 0.15 ppm of gold in rock samples collected above the placer deposit. Bundtzen (1981, p. 164) reported that apparently barren garnet amphibolite in the Crooked Creek drainage contains free gold, and speculated that a source of the placer gold is a shear zone nearly parallel to the creek.
The placer gold recovered from Crooked Creek was about 850 fine (Bundtzen, 1981, table 19). Its relatively high fineness suggests that its source is different from that of the silver-rich gold in the Little Moose Creek (DN140) and Stampede Creek (DN142) placers.
Geologic map unit (, )
Mineral deposit model Au-PGE placer deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Mineral deposit model number 39a
Age of mineralization Holocene.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration Crooked Creek was mined using relatively small mechanical equipment. The mine operated intermittently from about 1926 (Smith, 1929) until World War II (Cobb, 1980 [OFR 80-363]). The creek was also mined after 1960 (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]).
Indication of production Yes; small
Production notes Recorded production from Crooked Creek is less than 1000 fine ounces of gold (Cobb, 1980 [OFR 80-363]), but its long history of mining suggests that at least 1000 ounces was recovered.

Additional comments

Crooked Creek is in Denali National Park and Preserve.

References

MRDS Number A011267

References

Bundtzen, T. K., 1981, Geology and mineral deposits of the Kantishna Hills, Mt. McKinley quadrangle, Alaska: M. S. Thesis, University of Alaska, College, Alaska, 238 p.
Bundtzen, T.K., Smith, T.E., and Tosdal, R.M., 1976, Progress report--Geology and mineral deposits of the Kantishna Hills: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report AOF-98, 80 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.
Cobb, E. H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Mount McKinley quadrangle, Alaska: U. S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-366, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
Cobb, E.H., 1980, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Mount McKinley quadrangle, Alaska: U. S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-363, 150 p.
Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds., 1986, Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, 379 p.
Hawley, C. C. and Associates, Inc, 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U. S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p. (paged by sections).
MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.
Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926 and Administrative Report: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797-A, p. 1-50.
Reporters C.C. Hawley
Last report date 5/6/2001