Bottom Dollar Creek; Nugget Gulch; Greenhorn Creek Mines, Circle Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Bottom Dollar Creek; Nugget Gulch; Greenhorn Creek Mines	Group of Mines
Circle Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Greenhorn Creek is a tributary of Bottom Dollar Creek, while Greenhorn Gulch is a tributary of Boulder Creek. Greenhorn Gulch is sometimes referred to as Greenhorn Creek in the literature and may lead to some confusion. Most information reported for Greenhorn Creek probably refers to Greenhorn Gulch, since Greenhorn Gulch was mined more extensively than Greenhorn Creek.
Location: Coordinates are for the junction of Greenhorn Creek and Bottom Dollar Creek. The location of individual placer operations is unknown, but the entire drainage is covered by placer claims. Bottom Dollar Creek drains into Harrison Creek, which is a tributary of Birch Creek.
Geology: Bottom Dollar Creek is about 7 to 8 km long and flows southward into Harrison Creek. The upper 3 km of Bottom Dollar Creek is underlain by Cretaceous chloritized porphyritic biotite monzogranite. Primary trace minerals include zircon, topaz, apatite and ilmenite. In the granite, anomalous gold concentrations are spatially associated with sericite-quartz occurrences (Wiltse and others, 1995). The coarse gravel along the lower part of the creek has been thoroughly mined. A pebble count of creek gravel near the mouth of the creek shows 77 percent quartzite, 13 percent quartz, and 10 percent mica schist (Yeend, 1991). Greenhorn Creek and Nugget Gulch are tributaries of Bottom Dollar Creek. Small-scale mining on Bottom Dollar Creek was reported in 1909 to 1910, 1912, 1936, and 1938 to 1939, and sluicing occurred in 1975 (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 18). Some small operations occurred in the 1980's and 1990. Most of the gravels have been processed for gold at least once (Menzie and others, 1983). Colledge Enterprises reported drilling on Bottom Dollar Creek in 1996 (Bundtzen and others, 1996).
Workings: Small-scale mining on Bottom Dollar Creek was reported in 1909 to 1910, 1912, 1936, and 1938 to 1939, and sluicing occurred in 1975 (Eberlein and others, 1977, p. 18). Some small operations occurred in the 1980's and 1990. Most of the gravels have been processed for gold at least once (Menzie and others, 1983). Colledge Enterprises reported drilling on Bottom Dollar Creek in 1996 (Bundtzen and others, 1996).
Production: Mining has been reported (see workings/exploration); however, amount of production is unknown.

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	CI007

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References