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Mills Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10107516
MRDS ID A011588
Record type Site
Current site name Mills Creek
Alternate or previous names Wagner Gulch, Chicago Gulch
Related records 10185811

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -151.49279, 62.34953 (WGS84)
Relative position The best location for this mined area is shown by C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) on Figure 4.2-B(3)) in Sections 8, 9, 16, and 17, T. 26 N., R. 12 W., of the Seward Meridian. Coordinates given are approximately one half mile upstream from Collinsville. The placered area extends approximately two miles upstream into the headwater drainages of Wagner and Chicago Gluches. The locality is also shown by Clark and Cobb (1972, locality 14).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Platinum 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) -151.49279, 62.34953
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Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Mills Creek is part of the productive placer area known as Collinsville or Fairview Mountain which encompasses approximately 36 square miles. Mills Creek drains southeast from the summit of Fairview Mountain over bedrock that is shown by Reed and Nelson (1980) as semi- and unconsolidated Tertiary clastic sediment of the Sterling (?) Formation (Tps) A northeast-striking normal fault cuts the sedimentary strata and parallels the high angle northeast-striking Pass Creek fault mapped to the northwest. ?No lode occurrences have been found in the placer deposits near Fairview Mountain/Collinsville (Hawley and Clark, 1978).? C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) describe placer operations at this locality on auriferous gravels 3 to 10 feet deep, 20 to 30 feet wide. The main gold-bearing section is on top of a brown to orange-brown clay bed about 15 feet deep and consists of about 5 feet of quartz-bearing gravel. The gold is derived from reworking of the Tertiary clastic sediments (Tps) in the Pleistocene. ? Mills Creek area was mined nearly all the way from confluence with Twin Creek to the headwater gulches of Wagner and Chicago Gulches. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that production from the entire Collinsville area came from about '1.6 million yards of ground mined in a drag line washing plant operation and 100,000 yards mined by sluice box, which respectively, contained about $0.60 and $1/yard gold at $35/ounce.' Grades of 0.78 oz/ton platinum minerals are reported from one area but the exact location is not specified (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).? Some data for Twin Creek and Mills Creek are combined. See also Twin Creek (TL 026) and Pass Creek (TL024). Wagner Gulch and Chicago Gulch, headwater tributaries to Mills Creek, have also been mined.
  • Age = Pleistocene.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Mills Creek area was mined nearly all the way from confluence with Twin Creek to the headwater gulches. C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that production from the entire Collinsville area came from about '1.6 million yards of ground mined in a drag line washing plant operation and 100,000 yards mined by sluice box, which respectively contained about $0.60 and $1/yard gold at $35/ounce.' Grades of 0.78 oz/ton platinum minerals are reported from one area but the exact location is not specified (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) show possible reserve of 640,000 cubic yards in Mills Creek (Fig. 4.2 B(4)) above the confluence with Twin Creek and another 230,000 possible cubic yards possible below the confluence. The probable reserves are largely covered by old tailings.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = C.C.Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) described exploratory testing by drill and backhoe and mining with a drag line washing plant and sluice box.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A011588
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF TL059

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1913, The Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 534, 75 p.

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

  • Deposit

    Capps, S.R., 1924, Geology and mineral resources of the region traversed by the Alaska Railroad: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755-C, p. 73-150.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797, p. 1-50.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1940: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

  • Deposit

    Robinson, G. D., Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., and Lyon, J. B., 1955, Radioactivity investigations in the Cache Creek area, Yentna district, Alaska 1945: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-A, p. 1-23.

  • Deposit

    Koschmann, A.H. and Bergendahl, M.H., 1968, Principal gold producing districts of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 610, 283 p.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p., 7 plates.

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of reference to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-884, 106 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    Clark, A.L., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-369, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    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.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = Part of a productive placer area of approximately 36 square miles, including streams draining Fairview Mountain, with area of interest generally northeast and southeast of the summit of Fairview Mountain.? Some data for Twin Creek and Mills Creek are combined. See also Twin Creek (TL 026) and Pass Creek (TL024). Tributaries to Mills Creek on which gold has been mined are Wagner Gulch and Chicago Gulch.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates