Goldstream Creek Mine (ARDF - FB151), Fairbanks Mining District, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Goldstream Creek Mine (ARDF - FB151)	Mine
Fairbanks Mining District	Mining District
Fairbanks North Star Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The Goldstream Creek is located in the NE1/4 sec. 17 and NW1/4 sec. 16, T. 1 N., R. 2 W., Fairbanks Meridian. This large open-pit mine is marked on the Fairbanks D-2 NW topographic map; it is approximately 9 miles northwest of Fairbanks. It is in the valley of Goldstream Creek below the mouth of Sheep Creek, which drains the northeast side of Ester Dome.
Geology: Bedrock in the drainage near the mouth of Sheep Creek is Fairbanks Schist, consisting of quartz-muscovite schist, quartzite, and chlorite-quartz schist, and bleached feldspathic quartzose schist (Newberry and others, 1996). The mine, which is near the mouth of Sheep Creek, consists of predominantly frozen ground with a few scattered, thawed bog holes and a thawed area running the length of the old F.E. Co. stripping drain (May and Bundtzen, 1996). Polar Mining Inc. (PMI) ran the placer operation in the Goldstream Creek valley here from 1987 to 1996 and processed gravels through a sophisticated sluice plant (Bundtzen and others, 1988, p. 30; Green and others, 1989, p. 37; May and Bundtzen, 1996). Five hundred additional prospect holes were drilled to further define the ore reserve. At its widest point, PMI's mining cut was more than 1,300 feet wide (May and Bundtzen, 1996). The ore grade in 1995 was 0.00286 ounce of gold per ton, or about 350 tons of frozen gravel were processed for each ounce of gold that was recovered (May and Bundtzen, 1996).
Workings: Polar Mining Inc. (PMI) mined in Goldstream Creek valley at the mouth of Sheep Creek from 1987 to 1996 and processed gravels through a sophisticated sluice plant (Bundtzen and others, 1988, p. 30; Green and others, 1989, p. 37; May and Bundtzen, 1996). Five hundred additional prospect holes were drilled to further define the ore reserve. At its widest point, PMI's mining cut was more than 1,300 feet wide (May and Bundtzen, 1996). PMI used open-pit mining methods, using drilling and blasting to loosen the frozen materials. Overburden stripping was done in the winter; pay gravels were left to thaw during the summer, then hauled by truck to the wash plant (May and Bundtzen, 1996). During the summer of 1991, PMI processed about 600,000 cubic yards and about 1.5 million pounds of explosives were used to blast frozen overburden during the winter (Bundtzen and others, 1992, p. 32). In 1995, PMI moved 3,600,000 cubic yards and washed 505,000 cubic yards of pay gravel (Bundtzen and others, 1996, p. 28). This area has since been reclaimed and PMI now operates on another Goldstream property near Fox (FB085).
Age: Quaternary placer.
Production: There is no record on the amount of production, but it was clearly substantial.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	FB151

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References