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Livengood Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Tin, Tungsten
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10096769
MRDS ID A010741
Record type Site
Current site name Livengood Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.54693, 65.52467 (WGS84)
Relative position A productive placer area of approximately 25 square miles, near the town of Livengood. Most of the gold production in the district has been from buried placers along the north side of the valley half a mile from Livengood Creek (Overbeck, 1920).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Tin Secondary
Tungsten Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore
Scheelite 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) -148.54693, 65.52467
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Mertie (1918, p. 256), reported that most of the mining occurred along the old channel from bench claims northwest of Livengood Creek. The old channel has an average width of 127 feet, an average depth to bedrock of 80 feet, and at the time of Mertie's report, had been traced for approximately 4 miles. The bedrock is mainly chert, with some greenstone and limestone. Gold is found in basal gravel and weathered bedrock. Concentrates contain gold, magnetite, ilmenite, limonite, picotite, hematite, barite, and pyrite.? By 1939, a large auriferous bench that occupied the northwest limit of Livengood Creek valley was defined (Bundtzen and others, 1982).

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Tolovana

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Placer mining has taken place from 1914 to the present; however, exact production figures are not available. Annual production from 1978 to 1981 varied from 800 to about 3,000 ounces of gold (Bundtzen and others, 1982). In 1994, a crew of 8 to 10 processed approximately 156,000 cubic yards of auriferous pay using open cut-hydraulic mine technology (Swainbank and others, 1995, p. 28).

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Gold reserves of over 1 million ounces were defined by drilling prior to 1940 (Bundtzen and others, 1982). One reserve estimate based on data from 640 drill holes indicates about 17 million cubic yards of placer gravel that would average about $2.10 per cubic yard in gold at its 1976 price (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 67).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer mining has taken place from 1914 to the present. Much of the development and production had been confined to relatively shallow pay in tributaries of Livengood Creek. By 1939, a large auriferous bench that occupied the northwest limit of Livengood Creek valley was defined (Bundtzen and others, 1982). This bench was covered by 80 to 110 feet of muck but because the pay streaks were thawed, extensive drift mining was not possible. A larger company, Livengood Placers, was formed to develop these bench deposits, which vary from 100 to 1,000 feet in width and extend for at least 6 miles (Bundtzen and others, 1982). Gold reserves of over 1 million ounces were defined by drilling prior to 1940. A dredge operated near the town of Livengood in 1940, 1946 and probably other years (Cobb, 1976; OFR 76-633, p. 115). In the winter of 1981, Livengood Joint Ventures (LJV), a consortium of Asamera Minerals, Canadian Natural Resources, and Stanford Mines of Canada and the United States, contracted Doyon, Ltd., to strip overburden from the bench and construct a large settling pond; both projects were completed in June, 1981 (Bundtzen and others, 1982). Annual production from 1978 t0 1981 varied from 800 to about 3,000 ounces of gold (Bundtzen and others, 1982). The washing plant for this operation consisted of two sluice boxes fed by a dozer or front-end loader. By 1981, a large washing plant was acquired. Alaska Placer Development reported mining activity on the Livengood bench in 1988, 1994, 1996 and 1997. In 1994, a crew of 8 to 10 processed approximately 156,000 cubic yards of auriferous pay using opencut-hydraulic mine technology (Swainbank and others, 1995, p. 28). In 1996, Alaska Placer Development conducted a vigorous exploration program to ascertain the full extent of the pay zone (Swainbank and others, 1997).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A010741
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF LG008

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Overbeck, R M., 1920, Placer mining in the Tolovana district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712, p. 177-184.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 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

    Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Robinson, M.S., Clough, J.G., Green, C.B., Clautice, K.H., and Albanese M.A., 1983, Alaska's mineral industry, 1982, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 31, 63 p.

  • Deposit

    Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T.K., Clough, A.H., Henning, M.W., and Hansen E.W., 1995, Alaska's mineral industry 1994: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 49, 77 p.

  • Deposit

    Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T. K., Clough A.H., and Henning, M.W., 1997, Alaska's mineral industry 1996: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 51, 68 p.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Livengood quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-819, 241 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Eakins, G.R., and Conwell, C.N., 1982, Review of Alaska mineral resources 1981: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Annual Report 1981, 48 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Bundtzen and others, 1982

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation