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Kowkow Creek

Mine, Undetermined

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Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities Au
Other commodities Ni; Pt
Ore minerals gold; magnetite; pge

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale GO
Latitude 59.47
Longitude -161.44
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy Kowkow Creek is a south tibutary to Trail Creek, which flows west to Butte Creek in the Faro Creek drainage. The headwaters of Kowkow Creek are on the northwest flank of Island Mountain. This is locality 5 of Hoare and Cobb (1977) and of Cobb and Condon (1972).

Geologic setting

Geologic description

Kowkow Creek is in the non-glaciated part of the Faro Creek drainage. Placer gold mining started there in 1913 and continued through most years to 1940 (Harrington, 1921; Hoare and Cobb, 1977). The pay is 8 to 15 inches of compacted fine gravel on a clay (with some gravel) false bedrock that is overlain by 3 to 4 feet of dark gravel and 1 to 3 feet of muck (Harrington, 1921, p. 227). The depth to bedrock is not known. Kowkow Creek is one of the principal producers in the Arolik River basin. It was estimated to have contributed a large part of the 1,500 ounces of gold recovered from operations in this basin up to 1919 (Harrington, 1921). Some platinum was recovered along with the gold (Hoare and Cobb, 1977). Nearby uplands are underlain by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks intruded by Jurassic mafic and ultramafic plutons (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). Stream sediments from drainages in these uplands commonly contain anomalous amounts of nickel (Hessin and others, 1978 (OF 78-9-L).
Geologic map unit (-161.442240359712, 59.4692295751644)
Mineral deposit model Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Mineral deposit model number 39a
Age of mineralization Quaternary.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration Open-cut placer mine workings are present along a significant part of Kowkow Creek.
Indication of production Yes; small
Production notes Kowkow Creek was mined intermittently from 1913 to 1940. A large part of the 1,500 ounces of gold estimated to have been produced from operations in the Arolik River basin by 1919 came from this creek (Harrington, 1921, p. 221). Total production to date (2001) probably is subtantially more than this amount.

References

MRDS Number M045379

References

Cobb, E.H., and Condon, W.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Goodnews quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-447, scale 1:250,000.
Harrington, G.L., 1921, Mineral resources of the Goodnews Bay region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-E, p. 207-228.
Hessin, T.D., Taufen, P.M., Seward, J.C., Quintana, S.J., Clark, A.L., Grybeck, Donald, Hoare, J.M., and Coonrad, W.L., 1978, Geochemical and generalized geological map showing distribution and abundance of nickel in the Goodnews and Hagemeister quadrangles region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-9-L, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Hoare, J.M., and Cobb, E.H., 1977, Mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bethel, Goodnews, and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-156, 98 p.
Hoare, J.M., and Coonrad, W.L., 1978, Geologic map of the Goodnews and Hagemeister Island quadrangles region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-9-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Reporters Travis L. Hudson
Last report date 3/20/2001