Goldstream Creek Mine (ARDF - FB085), Fairbanks Mining District, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Goldstream Creek Mine (ARDF - FB085)	Mine
Fairbanks Mining District	Mining District
Fairbanks North Star Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: More than 5 miles of Goldstream Creek has been mined by suface pits, drift mining, and dredging. The tailings that extend for as much as a mile across Goldstream valley are shown on current topographic maps. The coordinates for this site are located near Fox at about the center of the area that has been mined throughout the 1990's. Most mining has taken place on lower Goldstream Creek north of the mouths of Little Queenie and Calder Creeks in sections 1 and 2, T. 1 N., R. 1 W., Fairbanks Meridian.
Geology: Goldstream Creek is one of the most productive gold placers in the Fairbanks mining district. The creek has been mined almost continuously from the junction of Gilmore and Pedro Creeks to several miles below Fox, with dredging as much as a mile wide in places. Mining on the creek began in 1903 and is still active today. In 1913, productive ground averages 6 feet thick and 225 feet wide (Prindle and Katz, 1913). United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company Dredge no. 2 worked on Goldstream Creek from 1928 to 1942 and from 1947 to 1949. Dredge no. 8 was built in 1928 and 1929 on Goldstream Creek and worked there from 1929 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1947 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). Polar Mining Inc., the current operator, operates an open-pit placer mine year-round near Fox (May and Bundtzen, 1996).
Workings: Goldstream Creek is one of the most productive placer gold streams in the Fairbanks mining district. Mining on the creek began in 1903 and is still active today. In 1922, a total of 72 men were employed in mining operations on the creek, including a Bagley scraper plant and another pit being worked with a trolley excavator (Wimmler, 1922, p. 17). In 1924, principal workings consisted of five large Bagley scraper operations (Wimmler, 1924, p. 71). Development work in 1925 preparatory to dredging brought a close most of the Bagley scraper operations that had been so typical of placer mining on the creek (Wimmler, 1925, p. 53). This development work consisted of prospecting dredgeable ground by shaft sinking and drilling and ditch construction; summer employment ranged from 300 to 500 people (Wimmler, 1925 [ATDM MR 195-8, p. 54]). United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company (U.S.S.R. & M.) Dredge no. 2 worked on Goldstream Creek from 1928 to 1942 and from 1947 to 1949. Dredge no. 8 was built in 1928 and 1929 on Goldstream Creek and worked there from 1929 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1947 (R.M. Chapman, USGS unpublished memorandum, 1978). In 1940, U.S.S.R. & M. (F.E. Co.) began hydraulic stripping on the 1,290-acre parcel of patented claims that had once belonged to Alaska Gold; Goldstream Creek was diverted into a 4-mile-long ditch (May and Bundtzen, 1996). These stripping operations were halted by World War II and never restarted in the lower Goldstream valley (May and Bundtzen, 1996). Polar Mining Inc. (PMI) is the current operator and is running a year-round placer operation that has been active since 1987 when PMI acquired a lease from Alaska Gold Co. and began work on the Sheep Creek property (FB052). During 1991, PMI processed about 600,000 cubic yards during summer workings, and about 1.5 million pounds of explosives were used to blast frozen overburden during the winter months (Bundtzen and others, 1991, p. 32). In 1995, PMI moved 3,600,000 cubic yards and washed 505,000 cubic yards of pay gravel from its lower Goldstream Creek operation (Bundtzen and others, 1996, p. 28). The ore grade from this material was 0.00286 ounce of gold per ton (May and Bundtzen, 1996). In 1996, PMI moved its operation to a large placer gold deposit in lower Goldstream Creek near Fox (Bundtzen and others, 1996, p. 28).
Age: Quaternary placer.
Production: Production from the Goldstream basin between 1903 and 1924 amounted to about $15,520,000 in gold (more than 750,000 ounces of gold) (Smith, 1926, p. 13). Information on the amount of gold produced in recent years is not available, but it is undoubtedly large, considering the many years of dredging and surface mining on Goldstream Creek since 1924.

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

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	FB085

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References