Pedro Creek (ARDF #FB094) Au

Pedro Creek

Mine, Inactive

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Au
Other commodities	Sn
Ore minerals	cassiterite; gold

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	FB
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	D-2
Latitude	64.986
Longitude	-147.538
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	The Pedro Creek mine is located in the W1/2 sec. 22, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Fairbanks Meridian. Mine tailings are marked along Pedro Creek on the Fairbanks D-2 and the Livengood A-1 and A-2 topographic maps; the tailings extend for about 4.5 miles above its mouth. This site is also described in the Livengood ARDF records (LG064). The mine is included in locality 54 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).

Geologic setting

Geologic description Felix Pedro discovered gold on Pedro Creek in 1902, the first discovery in what was to become the Fairbanks District. Pedro Creek was a major placer gold producer in the Fairbanks mining district; placered ground extends almost 4.5 miles along the creek, from its mouth at the junction with Twin Creek to the junction of Pedro Creek and Gilmore Creek. Placer gold on Pedro Creek is both very fine and coarse and was found in the bottom 2 to 7 feet of gravel and the top 1 to 5 feet of bedrock (Prindle, 1904; Brooks, 1905). The depth to quartzite schist bedrock is 9 to 35 feet (Prindle, 1904; Prindle and Katz, 1909). Heavy minerals found with the gold are magnetite, garnet, rutile and pyrite (Prindle, 1905). The pay streak is from 4 to over 200 feet wide (Brooks, 1905). Mining was by drifting, open cuts, and dredges (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-633]). United Stated Smelting Refining and Mining Co. Dredge no. 4 was built on Pedro Creek in 1939, and the dredge worked there from 1939 to 1942 and from 1952 to 1958 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). The value of gold produced from 1903 to 1910 was $1,250,000 (with the gold valued at $17.68 per ounce) (Prindle and Katz, 1913). More recent production figures are not available.
Geologic map unit	(-147.540438854304, 64.9855739303425)
Mineral deposit model	Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Mineral deposit model number	39a
Age of mineralization	Quaternary placer.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	Felix Pedro discovered gold on Pedro Creek in 1905, the first discovery in what was to become the Fairbanks District. Mining was by drifting, open cuts and dredges (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-633]). In 1922, hydraulic operations continued and over 24,000 square feet of ground was worked (Wimmler, 1922, ATDM MR 195-6, p. 17). United Stated Smelting Refining and Mining Co. Dredge no. 4 was built on Pedro Creek in 1939, and the dredge worked there from 1939 to 1942 and from 1952 to 1958 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). In the summer of 1960, Nick Kupoff and Charles Lazeration mined on Pedro Creek near its junction with Twin Creek (Saunders, 1960). Small amounts of placer gold are still being mined at a recreational mining site on upper Pedro Creek near the monument that marks the discovery of gold in the Fairbanks District by Felix Pedro.
Indication of production	Yes; small
Production notes	The value of gold produced from 1903 to 1910 was $1,250,000 (gold valued at $17.68 per ounce) (Prindle and Katz, 1913). The production for subsequent years is not available but probably is substantial.

References

MRDS Number	A015333
References Brooks, A.H., 1905, Placer mining in Alaska in 1904: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 259, p. 18-31. Brooks, A.H., 1907, The Alaskan mining industry in 1906: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314-A, p. 19-39. Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska; report on progress of investigations in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, 413 p. Brooks, A.H., 1916, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1915: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 642, 279 p. Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p. Chapin, Theodore, 1914, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-J, p. 357-362. Chapman, R.M., and Foster, R.L., 1969, Lode mines and prospects in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 625-D, 25 p., 1 plate. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-410, 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., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-662, 174 p. Eakin, H M., 1915, Mining in the Fairbanks district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-G, p. 229-238. Ellsworth, C.E., 1910, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442-F, p. 230-245. Ellsworth, C.E., 1912, Placer mining in the Fairbanks and Circle Disctricts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520-H, p. 240-245. Ellsworth, C.E., and Davenport, R.W., 1913, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542-F, p. 203-222. Joesting, H.R., 1942, Strategic mineral occurrences in interior Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 1, 50 p. Prindle, L.M., 1904, Gold placers of the Fairbanks district, Alaska, in Emmons, S.F., and Hayes, C.W., Contributions to economic geology, 1903: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 225, p. 64-73. Prindle, L.M., 1905, The gold placers of the Fortymile, Birch Creek, and Fairbanks regions, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 251, 89 p. Prindle, L.M., 1906, Yukon placer fields, in Brooks, A.H., 1906, Report on Progress of Investigations of Mineral Resources of Alaska in 1905: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 284, p. 109-127. Prindle, L.M., 1908, The Fairbanks and Rampart quadrangles, Yukon-Tanana region, Alaska, with a section on the Rampart placers, by F.L. Hess, and a paper on the water supply of the Fairbanks region, by C.C. Covert: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 337, 102 p. Prindle, L.M., and Katz, F.J., 1909, The Fairbanks gold-placer region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379-E, p. 181-200. Prindle, L.M., and Katz, F.J., 1913, Detailed description of the Fairbanks district, in Prindle, L.M., A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 525, p. 59-152. Purington, C.W., 1905, Methods and costs of gravel and placer mining in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 263, 273 p. Saunders, R.H., 1959, Silver-lead occurrences in the Fairbanks district: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 194-18, 19 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360. Saunders, R.H., 1960, Mining in the Fairbanks District: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Itinerary Report 58-2, 15 p. Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926 and Administrative Report: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797-A, p. 1-50. Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927 and Administrative Report: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64. Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72. Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81. Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83. Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81. Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94. Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95. Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107. Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113. Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113. Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106. Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102. Smith, S.S., 1917, The mining industry in the Territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1915: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 142, 65 p. Smith, S.S., 1917, The mining industry in the Territory of Alaska during the calendar year 1916: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 153, 89 p. Wedow, H., Jr., and Killeen, P. L., 1954, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in eastern interior Alaska, 1946: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 331, 36 p. Wimmler, N.L., 1922, Placer mining in Alaska in 1922: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-6, 77 p.
Reporters	J.R. Guidetti Schaefer and C.J. Freeman (Avalon Development Corporation)
Last report date	7/31/2001