Ester Creek Mine, Fairbanks Mining District, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Ester Creek Mine	Mine
Fairbanks Mining District	Mining District
Fairbanks North Star Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Extensive placer mining took place on Ester Creek in the northern portions of sections 7 and 8, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., and section 12, T. 1 S., R. 3 W., Fairbanks Meridian. The coordinates given are for the approximate center of placered ground that is shown on the Fairbanks D-2 and D-3 topographic maps. Ester Creek is just south of the town of Ester, and the creek has been mined for at least 3 miles by drift mining, surface open pits, and dredge from 1905 well into the 1990's. This mine is included in locality 44 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).
Geology: Ester Creek produced placer gold almost continuously from 1905 well into the 1990's. The Ester Creek placer gold is deeply buried; the depth to bedrock was originally nearly 170 feet near its mouth, although much of the material over bedrock has since been stripped away (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p.110). Productive gravels average 300 feet wide and 8 feet thick (Prindle and Katz, 1913). United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. Dredge no. 6 worked on Ester Creek from 1929 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1950 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). Early in 1951, the dredge moved from near the mouth of Eva Creek to Gold Hill (FB155) through a canal. Prior to dredging, most work on the creek was by drift mines through deep shafts in the frozen, reworked loess or the co-called muck that blanketed the gravel, or from surface workings after stipping away the muck with hydraulic monitors (Wimmler, 1922, p. 20; Wimmler,1924, p. 67-68; Wimmler, 1925, p. 46; Wimmler, 1926 [ATDM MR 195-11, p. 58]; Wimmler, 1929, p. 191). In addition to gold, scheelite and stibnite were found in placer concentrates (Brooks, 1907; Joesting, 1942 [ATDM Pamph. 1]). Mining, prior to 1961, produced more than $4,000,000 worth of gold (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). Also see the Yellow Eagle mine (FB152) that recently worked on ground south of Eva Creek that may in part be in the Ester Creek drainage.
Workings: Ester Creek produced placer gold almost continuously from 1905 well into the 1990's. The Ester Creek placer gold is deeply buried; the depth to bedrock was originally nearly 170 feet near its mouth, although much of the material over bedrock has since been stripped away (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p.110). Productive gravels average 300 feet wide and 8 feet thick (Prindle and Katz, 1913). United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. Dredge no. 6 worked on Ester Creek from 1929 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1950 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). Early in 1951, the dredge moved from near the mouth of Eva Creek to Gold Hill (FB155) through a manmade canal. Prior to dredging, most work on the creek was by drift mines through deep shafts in the frozen, reworked loess or so-called muck that blanketed the gravel, or from surface workings after stipping away the muck with hydraulic monitors (Wimmler, 1922, p. 20; Wimmler,1924, p. 67-68; Wimmler, 1925, p. 46; Wimmler, 1926 [ATDM MR 195-11, p. 58]; Wimmler, 1929, p. 191). In addition to gold, scheelite and stibnite were found in placer concentrates (Brooks, 1907; Joesting, 1942 [ATDM Pamph. 1]). Mining, prior to 1961, produced more than $4,000,000 worth of gold (Cobb, 1973, B 1374). Also see the Yellow Eagle mine (FB152) that recently worked on ground south of Eva Creek that may in part be in the Ester Creek drainage.
Age: Quaternary placer.
Production: Prior to 1961, Ester Creek produced more than $4,000,000 worth of gold (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). Placer operations were active through the 1990's; however, the amount of gold produced in recent years has not been reported (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	FB034

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References