Gold King Creek Mine, Bonnifield Mining District, Denali Borough, Alaska, USA i
Regional Level Types
Gold King Creek Mine Mine
Bonnifield Mining District Mining District
Denali Borough Borough
Alaska State
USA Country

Location: The Gold King Creek mine is mostly in sec. 6, T. 10 S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks Meridian. Gold King Creek is a north-flowing tributary of the Wood River. The mine is localities 80, 81, and 82 of Cobb (1972 [MF 410]).
Geology: In 1990 and 1991, Gold King Creek was the largest placer mine in the district (Swainbank and others, 1991, p. 31; Bundtzen and others, 1991, p. 34). Gold is believed to be derived from the Tertiary Nenana Gravel (Bundtzen and others, 1991, p. 34). Placer gold is found in both the 4 to 5 feet of gravel overlying bedrock and on the clay-rich bedrock (Prindle, 1907, p. 212). Mining took place intermittently from 1903 to 1940 (Cobb, 1976 [OFR 76-662, p. 44]). In the 1920's, an attempt at large-scale hydraulic mining of Nenana Gravel was not financially successful (Capps, 1924, p. 138). The gold varies from 818 to 833 fine (Glover, 1950).
Workings: In 1990 and 1991, Gold King Creek was the largest placer mine in the district; it operated under the direction of Warren Taylor and Alaska Unlimited Inc. (Swainbank and others, 1991, p. 31; Bundtzen and others, 1991, p. 34). Mining from 1903 to 1916 was done by open-cut, pick-and-shovel methods and continued intermittently until 1940 (Maddren, 1918, p. 401). In 1924, a hydraulic operation was active in gravels 6 to 7 feet in depth (Wimmler, 1924, p. 43). An attempt at large-scale hydraulic mining of the Nenana Gravel was not financially successful (Capps, 1924, p. 138). This failed attempt consisted of 11 miles of ditches designed to convey 3,000 miner's inches of water from the upper part of Gold King Creek to a point on the eastern slopes of the valley, where it was to be delivered to a pipeline with a head of 700 feet (Maddren, 1918, p. 401).
Age: Quaternary placer.
Production: Information on gold production is not available.

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

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

ⓘ Tungsten

Mineral List

ⓘ Native Gold

ⓘ Scheelite

2 valid minerals.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Native Gold

Formula: Au

References:

(2008) Alaska Resource Data File (ARDF) Open-File Report 2008-1225. US Geological Survey

ⓘ Scheelite

Formula: Ca(WO₄)

References:

(2008) Alaska Resource Data File (ARDF) Open-File Report 2008-1225. US Geological Survey

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 1 - Elements
ⓘ	Native Gold	1.AA.05	Au
Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates
ⓘ	Scheelite	7.GA.05	Ca(WO₄)

List of minerals for each chemical element

O	Oxygen
O	ⓘ Scheelite	Ca(WO₄)
Ca	Calcium
Ca	ⓘ Scheelite	Ca(WO₄)
W	Tungsten
W	ⓘ Scheelite	Ca(WO₄)
Au	Gold
Au	ⓘ Native Gold	Au

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	FB148

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

North AmericaContinent

North America PlateTectonic Plate

Nenana BasinBasin
North America PlatformPassive Margin
Yukon-Tanana lower DomainDomain

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References

Brooks, A.H., 1910, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1909: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 426 p. Brooks, A.H., 1911, The Mount McKinley region, Alaska, with descriptions of the igneous rocks and of the Bonnifield and Kantishna districts by L.M. Prindle: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 70, 234 p. Bundtzen, T. K., Swainbank, R. C., Wood, J. E., and Clough, A. H., 1991, Alaska's mineral industry 1991: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 46, 89 p. Capps, S.R., 1911, Mineral resources of the Bonnifield region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480-H, p. 218-235. Capps, S.R., 1912, The Bonnifield region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 501, 64 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. 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. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-410, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p. Cobb, E.H., 1975, Mineral resources of Alaska, in Yount, M.E., ed., U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Program, 1975: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 722, p. 37. Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-662, 174 p. Glover, A.E., 1950, Placer gold fineness: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 195-1, 38 p. Joesting, H.R., 1943, Strategic mineral occurrences in interior Alaska, supplement to pamphlet no. 1: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 2, 26 p. 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.

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