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Wattamuse Creek

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

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308856
MRDS ID A010311
Record type Site
Current site name Wattamuse Creek
Related records 10185504, 10000268

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.24271, 59.32927 (WGS84)
Relative position Wattamuse Creek is a west tributary to Slate Creek (GO020), a north tributary to Goodnews River. It has been placer mined from its mouth upstream for a distance of about 2 miles, including a 1/2 mile extension upstream in the Goodnews Bay B-7 quadrangle. The map site is at the approximate midpoint of the workings, in the NE1/4 of section 9, T 10 S, R 71 W, of the Seward Meridian. It is included in locality 13 of Hoare and Cobb (1977) and of Cobb and Condon (1972).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold 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) -161.24271, 59.32927
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Wattmuse Creek is the principal gold producer in the Goodnews River drainage. Gold was discovered in 1917 by a native reindeer herder (Harrington, 1921), and mining took place from the fall of 1917, when about 500 ounces were produced, to the beginning of WW II (Hoare and Cobb, 1977). Mining has been extensive over the lower 2 miles of the drainage and included dredging, especially below the mouth of Cascade Creek (GO022), a north tributary. A dragline operated in upper parts of the creek in 1946 and 1947 (Fechner, 1988). Fechner (1988) considered the lower part of Wattamuse Creek to be a continuation of Cascade Creek; the lower part of the creek is not named on USGS topographic maps. However, early descriptions indicate that Wattamuse Creek continues to Slate Creek and that Cascade Creek is a tributary to Wattamuse Creek. The pay streak on Wattamuse Creek was 20 to 30 feet wide in upper parts of the creek to over 100 feet wide on lower parts. The pay,1 to 2 feet of gravel and about 6 inches of bedrock, ranged in grade from 0.015 to 0.15 ounce of gold per cubic yard. The overburden was 2 to 5 feet of soil and gravel (Harrington, 1921). The gravel became coarser upstream, where boulders up to a few feet across became more abundant. Fechner (1988) collected eight 0.1 cubic yard placer samples in the Wattamuse Creek drainage, including one from lower Wattamuse below the mouth of Cascade Creek. These samples, from along the active drainage and from benches, contained 0.0013 to 0.7583 ounce of gold per cubic yard. Fechner (1988) indicates that the tailings along the creek could be reworked and that local unmined areas are also present. One unmined area is estimated to contain 60,000 cubic yards with an average grade of 0.015 to 0.018 ounce of gold per cubic yard. The lower dredged part of the creek (included with Cascade Creek by Fechner, 1988) is estimated to have had about 800,000 cubic yards of tailings. As the dredge is reported to have recovered about 0.025 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Fechner, 1988), about 20,000 ounces of gold production are indicated for this part of the creek. However, recorded production for this creek segment is 9,300 ounces of gold (Fechner, 1988). The upper part of the creek has recorded and estimated production of 18,300 ounces of gold (Fechner, 1988), making total production from the creek possibly as much as 38,000 ounces. Wattamuse Creek is a glaciated drainage. Bedrock in the area includes Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks intruded by an Upper Cretaceous granitic stock in the headwaters of the creek (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978).
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Goodnews Bay

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = About 2,000 ounces of gold were produced from 1917 to 1919 (Harrington, 1921). Fechner (1988) indicates that the tailings along the creek could be reworked and that local unmined areas are also present. One unmined area is estimated to contain 60,000 cubic yards with an average grade of 0.015 to 0.018 ounce of gold per cubic yard. The lower dredged part of the creek (included with Cascade Creek by Fechner, 1988) is estimated to have had about 800,000 cubic yards of tailings. As the dredge is reported to have recovered about 0.025 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Fechner, 1988), about 20,000 ounces of gold production are indicated for this part of the creek. However, recorded production for this creek segment is 9,300 ounces of gold (Fechner, 1988). The upper part of the creek has recorded and estimated production of 18,300 ounces of gold (Fechner, 1988) making total production from the creek possibly as much as 38,000 ounces.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Mining has been extensive over the lower 2 miles of the drainage and included dredging, especially below the mouth of Cascade Creek (GO022), a north tributary. A dragline operated in upper parts of the creek in 1946 and 1947 (Fechner, 1988).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF GO021
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A010311
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A010734

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Condon, W.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Goodnews quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-447, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Hoare, J.M., and Cobb, E.H., 1977, Mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bethel, Goodnews, and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-156, 98 p.

  • Deposit

    Hoare, J.M., and Coonrad, W.L., 1978, Geologic map of the Goodnews and Hagemeister Island quadrangles region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-9-B, two sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Fechner, S.A., 1988, Bureau of Mines mineral investigation of the Goodnews Bay mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-88, 230 p.

  • Deposit

    Harrington, G.L., 1921, Mineral resources of the Goodnews Bay region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-E, p. 207-228.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Fechner, 1988

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 20-MAR-2001 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology