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Valdez Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10000717
MRDS ID A011355
Record type Site
Current site name Valdez Creek
Alternate or previous names Valdez Creek Mining Co.
Related records 10137133

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.46276, 63.17963 (WGS84)
Relative position This site represents an area of placer gold mining on lower Valdez Creek and on adjacent parts of some of its tributaries. The map site is on the northbank of lower Valdez Creek, at the northeast end of the historic mining town of Denali. The site is in the SE1/4 of sec. 13, T. 20 S., R 1 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. This location is accurate to within a quarter mile.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Hessite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
BC deposit profile C01. C02
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Slate
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Argillite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -147.46276, 63.17963
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The following description inpart duplicates, and in part supplements, the information in record HE194.? Valdez Creek drains an area underlain by pelitic metasedimentary rocks of probable Jurassic age, and several small intrusions of intermediate composition (Smith, 1981). The sedimentary sequence was regionally metamorphosed during the Cretaceous pumpellyite-prehnite grade on the southeast, through greenschist grade, to amphibolite grade on the northwest. The metamorphic sequence appears to be telescoped, possibly by northward-dipping thrust faults. An east-trending strike-slip fault zone south of, and sub-parallel to, Valdez Creek forms a distinct topographic break from upper Timberline Creek, across the upper end of Rusty and White creeks, and on eastward along the east-west portion of the Pass Creek drainage. This zone is important to the distribution of the origin of the placer gold because it has controlled the emplacement of several of the intermediate composition intrusions as well of as quartz vein swarms, some of which are auriferous. None of the northern tributaries of Valdez Creek are significant sources of placer gold.? the genesis and distribution of the placer gold deposits are also linked to the complex glacial history of the drainage. Near the lower end of the valley, at least three superimposed, gold-bearing paleochannels were cut into bedrock (Reger and Bundtzen, 1990), probably during valley deglaciation. From youngest to oldest, the paleochannels are designated Tammany paleochannel, A paleochannel, and B paleochannel. Portions of other paleochannels were also identified by drilling. Each paleochannel is at a specific elevation and gradient, and the younger paleochannels cut the older paleochannels, thereby redistributing and reconcentrating the gold. Gold concentrations are highest in the lowest portions of the paleochannels. The gravels and cobbles in these channels indicate that the channels were a very high energy depositional environment. The paleochannels served as natural giant sluiceboxes to concentrate the gold. The cracks and crevices in the bedrock in the bottom of the paleochannel also collected gold to depths of at least five feet below the bedrock surface (D.L. Stevens, personal observation). ? the paleochannels become less incised upstream and eventually are not found. The pay streaks merge into a large volume of lower grade auriferous gravel from the upper limit of mining by Valdez Creek Mining Company, apparently up into the White Creek drainage, and in Valdez Creek upstream from White Creek. These auriferous gravels are fluvial and glacial in origin. ? the fineness of the gold runs about 852 with only minor variations. The gold itself showed several different varieties. Most of the gold is 'oatmeal' sized and shaped; other varieties include well-polished and rounded grains, rough, angular, and quartz-rich grains, and rough, angular, and oxide-coated grains.
  • Age = Paleochannel A is probably Sangamon in age, the Tammany channel is probably mid-Wisconsin in age, and Paleochannel B was probably deposited during the late Illinoian interstade (Reger and Bundtzen, 1990). The pay streaks and low-grade gravels in the White Creek drainage and Lucky Gulch are probably younger.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Valdez Creek

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Recorded production for all of Valdez Creek exceeds 600,000 ounces.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = the large volume of low-grade material upstream from the upper limit of mining by Valdez Creek Mining Company has been extensively drilled, but is not economic to mine at this time (1999). No definitive efforts have been made to classify this large resource.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Lower Valdez Creek was mined by hand methods after discovery in 1903. The Tammany Channel was mined by underground methods for a distance of about 3,500 feet from the confluence of the channel with Valdez Creek. The lower portion of the Tammany Channel was hydraulicked. The Dry Creek Cut was mined by hand methods and then by hydraulick methods. ? From 1984 through 1994, Channels A and B were mined by large-scale, open-pit methods for a distance of several miles upstream after have been thoroughly explored by reverse-circulation drilling. During this period, this mine was the largest placer mine in North America. The highest single year's production was nearly 102,000 ounces of gold.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A011355
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF HE197

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Mendenhall, W.C., 1905, Geology of the central Copper River region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 41, 133 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1908, The mining industry in 1907: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 345, 294 p.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., 1909, Mining in the Kotsina-Chitina, Chistochina, and Valdez Creek Regions: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379, p. 153-160.

  • Deposit

    Ross, C.P., 1933, The Valdez Creek mining district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849, p. 289-467.

  • Deposit

    Tuck, Ralph, 1938, The Valdez Creek mining district, Alaska, in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-B, p. 109-131.

  • Deposit

    Smith, T.E., 1971, Geology, economic geochemistry, and placer gold resources of the western Clearwater Mountains, east-central Alaska: Reno, University of Nevada, Ph.D. dissertation, 440 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, T.E., 1981, Geology of the Clearwater Mountains, south-central Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological "&" Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 60, 72 p., 3 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Wiltse, M.A., 1988, Preliminary litho-geochemistry of Gold Hill and Lucky Hill, Valdez Creek mining district, Healy A-1 quadrangle, southcentral Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological "&" Geophysical Surveys, Public-data File 88-41, 9 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:12,000.

  • Deposit

    Wiltse, M.A., and Reger, R.D., 1989, Geologic map of Gold Hill and Lucky Hill, Valdez Creek mining district, Healy A-1 quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological "&" Geophysical Surveys, Public-data File 89-5, scale 1:12,000, 1 sheet.

  • Deposit

    Reger, R.D., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1994, Multiple glaciation and gold-placer formation, Valdez Creek Valley, western Clearwater Mountains, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological "&" Geophysical Surveys, Professional Report 107, 30 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., 1914, Preliminary report on the Broad Pass region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-H, p. 301-305.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Reger and Bundtzen, 1994

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-APR-2000 D.L. Stevens Stevens Exploration Management Corporation