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Tibbs Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Molybdenum, Lead, Antimony
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001713
MRDS ID A012497
Record type Site
Current site name Tibbs Creek
Alternate or previous names Lucky Star
Related records 10308496

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -144.26585, 64.38278 (WGS84)
Relative position Tibbs Creek drains north into the Goodpaster River, approximately 60 miles northeast of Delta Junction. The creek is approximately 11 miles long and has numerous small tributaries including Last Chance Creek (BD022), Granite Creek (BD020), Antimony Creek, Wolverine Creek, Johnson Creek, and King Creek. Placer workings are concentrated near the confluences with Last Chance Creek, Granite Creek, Antimony Creek, Wolverine Creek, and the Lucky Star mouth of Tibbs Creek (Menzie and Foster, 1979). The approximate center of the mining activity is in SW1/4NW1/4 section 19, T. 6 S., R. 18 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. A winter trail from the South Fork of the Goodpaster River provides access up Divide Creek and over Black Mountain to the east. It is locality 19 of Cobb and Eberlein (1980), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Tibbs Creek'.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Molybdenum Secondary
Lead Secondary
Antimony Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Jamesonite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Stibnite Ore

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -144.26585, 64.38278
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The area arounding the Tibbs Creek placers is characterized by rounded hills and flat-topped ridges (Thomas, 1970). The most prominent ridge is Black Mountain, which trends about 12 miles in a northerly direction and is underlain by Cretaceous granodiorite (Weber and others, 1978). Several creeks flow westward off Black Mountain in steep, parallel, V-shaped valleys to form the headwaters of Tibbs Creek. A combination of augen gneiss, gneissic schist, and schist are to the west of Black Mountain. There is intense shearing and faulting in the contact between the metamorphic and intrusive rocks. This shearing is observed in the underground workings and at the surface as pronounced saddle-like depressions across the spurs separating the westward flowing tributaries of Tibbs Creek. This shear zone trends roughly N15E and dips 65 degrees NW. Tibbs Creek is thought to lie in a structural zone. Quartz veins along the creek contain gold, jamesonite, molybdenite, and stibnite (Cobb and Eberlein, 1980). ? the Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. Thomas (1970) reports a stampede of prospectors in 1915 that ended soon after, due to low grade deposits. In the early 1930's, gold bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek drainage. From 1936 to 1941, the area was mined for lode gold at the Blue Lead and Blue Lead Extension (BD003), Grizzly Bear (BD018), and Gray Lead (BD017) mines. Joesting (1938) reports that Tibbs Creek was churn drilled near the landing field near the mouth of Wolverine Creek. Cobb (1973; B 1374) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. No production figures for Tibbs Creek are available.
  • Age = Quaternary
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Goodpaster

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Cobb (1973; B 1374) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. No production figures for Tibbs Creek are available. Cobb (1973) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. No production totals for Last Chance Creek are available.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. Thomas (1970) reports a stampede of prospectors in 1915 that ended soon after, due to low-grade deposits. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek drainage. From 1936 to 1941, the area was mined for lode gold at the Blue Lead and Blue Lead Extension (BD003), Grizzly Bear (BD018), and Gray Lead (BD017) mines. Joesting (1938) reports that Tibbs Creek was churn drilled near the landing field near the mouth of Wolverine Creek.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012497
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF BD040

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Joesting, H.R., 1938, Mining and prospecting in the Goodpaster region: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines , 2 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

  • Deposit

    Thomas, B.I., 1970, Reconnaissance of the gold-bearing quartz veins in the Tibbs Creek area, Goodpaster River, Big Delta quadrangle, central Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 14-70, 12 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-388, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Eberlein, G.D., Chapman, R.M., Foster, H.L., and Gassaway, J.S., 1977, Map and table describing known metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral deposits in central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168-D, 132 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Weber, F.R., Foster, H.L., Keith, T.E.C., Dusel-Bacon, C., 1978, Preliminary geologic map of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529A, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Foster, H.L., Albert, N.R.D., Griscom, Andrew, Hessin, T.D., Menzie, W.D., Turner, D.L, and Wilson, F.H., 1979, The Alaskan Mineral Resource Assessment Program: Background information to accompany folio of geologic and mineral resource maps of the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 783, 19 p.

  • Deposit

    Menzie, W.D., and Foster, H.L., 1979, Metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous mineral resource potential in the Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-529D, 61 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Eberlein, G.D., 1980, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Big Delta and Tanacross quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1086, 77 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Joesting, 1938

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 26-APR-1999 Cameron S. Rombach Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys