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Rainy Creek

Mine, Active

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Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities Au; Pd; Pt
Other commodities Cr
Ore minerals chromite; gold

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale MH
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale B-4
Latitude 63.2915
Longitude -145.8934
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy Surface placer workings extend for about 1.5 miles downstream from the junction of the North Fork and West Fork Rainy Creek (Rose, 1965). For this record the site is at their junction, in the SE1/4SE1/4 section 6, T. 19 S., R. 10 E., Fairbanks Meridian. This mine corresponds to locality S4 in table 3 of Nokleberg and others (1991).

Geologic setting

Geologic description

Placer gold occurs in alluvial gravels probably derived in part from older glacial deposits (Rose, 1965; Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). The bedrock in the drainage is part of the Slana Spur Formation of Pennsylvanian age and Upper Triassic ultramafic-mafic intrusions (Nokleberg and others, 1991).
A U.S. Bureau of Mines placer concentrate sample assayed 7.324 ounces of gold per ton, 0.06 ounce of palladium per ton, and 0.207 ounce of platinum per ton (Foley and others, 1990).
Geologic map unit (-145.895655578416, 63.2910826574616)
Mineral deposit model Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Mineral deposit model number 39a
Age of mineralization Holocene.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration
Surface placer workings extend for about 1.5 miles downstream from the junction of the North and West Forks Rainy Creek (Rose, 1965). A U.S. Bureau of Mines placer concentrate sample assayed 7.324 ounces of gold, 0.06 ounce of palladium per ton, and 0.207 ounce of platinum per ton (Foley and others, 1989).
The occurrence is on active placer claims.
Indication of production Yes; medium
Production notes Placers were worked sporadically from 1900 to at least 1930 and since the early 1990s. Placer mining was first reported in Wilder Creek (later known as Rainy Creek) by Mendenhall and Schrader (1903). In 1901, 20 to 30 miners began sluicing in the new district, but results were unsatisfactory and the field was abandoned (Mendenhall, 1905). Rose (1965) reported that at least some of the gold occurs in a sticky orange-brown (glacial) clay that would not break down easily and that large boulders also cause difficulties.

References

MRDS Number A011789

References

Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Mount Hayes quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-238, 140 p.
Foley, J.Y., Burns, L.E., Schneider, C.L., and Forbes, R.B., 1989, Preliminary report of platinum group element occurrences in Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Public Data File 89-20, 32 p., 1 map sheet, scale 1:2,500,000.
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.
Mendenhall, W.C., 1905, Geology of the central Copper River region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 41, 133 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Mendenhall, W.C., and Schrader, F.C., 1903, The mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 15, 71 p., 1 sheet.
Moffit, F.H., 1912, Headwater regions of Gulkana and Susitna Rivers, Alaska, with accounts of the Valdez Creek and Chistochina placer districts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 498, 82 p.
Mulligan, J.J., 1974, Mineral resources of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline corridor: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8626, 24 p., 9 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Nokleberg, W.J., Lange, I.M., Roback, R.C., Yeend, Warren, and Silva, S.R., 1991, Map showing locations of metalliferous lode and placer mineral occurrences, mineral deposits, prospects, and mines, Mount Hayes quadrangle, eastern Alaska Range, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1996-C, 42 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Rose, A.W., 1965, Geology and mineral deposits of the Rainy Creek area, Mt. Hayes quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geologic Report 14, 57 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:36,000.
Rose, A.W., 1966, Geological and geochemical investigations in the Eureka Creek and Rainy Creek areas, Mt. Hayes quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geologic Report 20, 41 p., 3 maps [figures], scale 1:40,000.
Stout, J.H., 1976, Geology of the Eureka Creek area, east-central Alaska Range: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 46, 32 p., 1 plate, scale 1:63,360.
Reporters W.T. Ellis (Alaska Earth Science), C.C. Hawley (Hawley Resource Group), and W.J. Nokleberg (USGS)
Last report date 6/7/2002