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McKinley Creek

Prospect, Inactive

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Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities Au
Ore minerals gold; magnetite; pyrite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale WI
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale B-5
Latitude 67.4404
Longitude -152.2088
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy McKinley Creek is a long, southeast-flowing tributary to the John River. The mouth of McKinley Creek is about 2 miles north of the junction of the Allen and John Rivers. The location and extent of placer prospects on McKinley Creek are unknown; the site is arbitrarily located at an elevation of about 1,500 feet on McKinley Creek, i.e. about in the center of this long creek.

Geologic setting

Geologic description

Schrader (1900) reported a pay streak of considerable width on McKinley Creek. Cobb (1976 [OF76-340]) in summarizing Schrader's report on the McKinley Creek occurrence, indicated that Schrader's location was uncertain and that it might instead be a description of Midas Creek or Crevice Creek. Cobb, however, provides no evidence to support his suggestion. Kurtak and others (1999) collected 3 panned-concentrate samples from McKinley Creek in the vicinity of this site. One of these samples contained 2 particles of coarse gold, with abundant magnetite and pyrite. The concentrate contains 625 ppb gold. The other 2 samples contained only moderate to minor amounts of magnetite and sulfides. Kurtak and others (1999) did not find any evidence of mining on McKinley Creek.
Geologic map unit (-152.211554429483, 67.4399384491877)
Mineral deposit model Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Mineral deposit model number 39a
Age of mineralization Quaternary.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration Schrader (1900) noted that 50 men were mining in the area in 1900. This, however, may have referred to creeks other than McKinley Creek, as Kurtak and others (1999) found no evidence of mining.
Indication of production None
Production notes Questionable prospecting and mining.

References

References

Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Chandalar and Wiseman quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-340, 205 p.
Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report No. 16, 306 p.
Kurtak, J.M., Klieforth, R.F., Clark, J.M., and Williams, E.M., 1999, Mineral investigations in the Koyukuk mining district, northern Alaska--Progress Report: U.S. Bureau of Land Management Open-File Report 74, 158 p.
Maas, K.M., 1987, Maps summarizing land availability for mineral exploration and development in northern Alaska, 1986: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 10-87, 33 quadrangle overlays.
Schrader, F.C., 1900, Preliminary report on a reconnaissance along the Chandalar and Koyukuk Rivers, Alaska, in 1899 in Walcott, C.D., 1900, Twenty-First Annual report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, 1899-1900: Part II - General Geology, Economic Geology, Alaska, p. 441-486.
Reporters J.M. Britton (Anchorage)
Last report date 8/9/2002