Lost Chicken Creek; Lost Chicken Hill Mine, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Lost Chicken Creek; Lost Chicken Hill Mine	Mine
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Lost Chicken Creek is a small tributary that drains southeast into the South Fork of the Fortymile River about a mile southeast of Chicken. Placer tailings are shown on the U.S. Geological Survey 1:63,360-scale topographic map of the Eagle A-2 quadrangle (1956; revised in 1971). The coordinates correspond to the approximate midpoint of the tailings, in section 5, T. 26 N., R. 18 E., of the Copper River Meridian. The location is accurate. This site is locality 82 of Burleigh and Lear (1994), locality 36 of Eberlein and others (1977), and locality 52 of Cobb (1972 [MF-393]). Lost Chicken Hill is a small hill located immediately southwest of Lost Chicken Creek. The Lost Chicken Creek placer deposit is referred to in some older references as Lost Chicken Hill.
Geology: The rocks in the vicinity of Lost Chicken Creek are granitic rocks of the Taylor Mountain batholith of Triassic age and upper Paleozoic greenschist-facies metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks (Werdon and others, 2001). These units have been cut by high-angle faults. The bedrock at the head of the creek exposed by placer mining is quartz diorite cut by a Tertiary basalt dike (Mertie, 1930 [B 813-C]). Quaternary alluvium and colluvium deposits are extensive in the valley of Lost Chicken Creek; they largely consist of gravel and lesser silt and sand overlain by muck. Placer gold mining of these deposits has exposed numerous Pleistocene mammalian fossils including mammoth, horse, caribou, and bison (Pinney, 2001). Near the head of Lost Chicken Creek, the valley is separated from that of Chicken Creek (see EA128) by a gravel-capped terrace about 80 to 90 meters above Chicken Creek (Mertie, 1938). Placer mining on Lost Chicken Creek occurred along the creek and more extensively on a bench at the head of the creek. The high gravels were richly auriferous (Prindle, 1909). Placer gold occurs in the lower part of the gravel and on top of bedrock (Mertie, 1938); the gold is mainly small, flattened pieces. Good-size nuggets are rare, but one weighing nearly 1.5 ounces was found before 1936. The fineness of gold mined from 1935 to 1936 ranged from 820.75 to 845.75 parts of gold per thousand and from 121 to 155 parts of silver per thousand (Mertie, 1938). A mean of seven assays indicates an average fineness of 842 parts of gold per thousand and 144 parts of silver per thousand; this is higher fineness than gold from the nearby Chicken Creek (EA128) and Myers Fork (EA124) placers (Mertie, 1938). Placer concentrates mainly contain magnetite, ilmenite, garnet, and zircon. Placer gold on Lost Chicken Creek was discovered in 1895 (Foster and Keith, 1969), and the creek has been mined from about 1901 to as recently as 2000. Early mining occurred on the bench between Chicken Creek and Lost Chicken Creek. The bench deposit was initially mined by drifts run from shafts 33 to 53 feet deep (Prindle, 1905). The creek and bench gravels have also been mined by hydraulic, bulldozer, and sluice box methods (Burleigh and Lear, 1994). Lost Chicken Creek was one of the major gold producers of the Fortymile mining district in the early 1900's (Prindle, 1909). Ground mined in 1902 averaged about $1 per square foot of bedrock (gold at $20.67 per ounce) (Prindle, 1905). Gravels being mined in 1977 were 8 to 10 feet thick, and the frozen muck over the gravel was commonly 20 feet thick (Eberlein and others, 1977).
Workings: Placer mining on Lost Chicken Creek occurred along the creek and more extensively on a bench at the head of the creek. The high gravels were richly auriferous (Prindle, 1909). Placer gold occurs in the lower part of the gravel and on top of bedrock (Mertie, 1938); the gold is mainly small, flattened pieces. Good-size nuggets are rare, but one weighing nearly 1.5 ounces was found before 1936. The fineness of gold mined from 1935 to 1936 ranged from 820.75 to 845.75 parts of gold per thousand and from 121 to 155 parts of silver per thousand (Mertie, 1938). A mean of seven assays indicates an average fineness of 842 parts of gold per thousand and 144 parts of silver per thousand; this is higher fineness than gold from the nearby Chicken Creek (see EA128) and Myers Fork (EA124) placers (Mertie, 1938). Placer concentrates mainly contain magnetite, ilmenite, garnet, and zircon. Placer gold on Lost Chicken Creek was discovered in 1895 (Foster and Keith, 1969), and the creek has been mined from about 1901 to as recently as 2000. Early mining occurred on the bench between Chicken Creek and Lost Chicken Creek. The bench deposit was initially mined by drifts run from shafts 33 to 53 feet deep (Prindle, 1905). The creek and bench gravels have also been mined by hydraulic, bulldozer, and sluice box methods (Burleigh and Lear, 1994). Lost Chicken Creek was one of the major gold producers of the Fortymile mining district in the early 1900's (Prindle, 1909). Ground mined in 1902 averaged about $1 per square foot of bedrock (gold at $20.67 per ounce) (Prindle, 1905). Gravels being mined in 1977 were 8 to 10 feet thick, and the frozen muck over the gravel was commonly 20 feet thick (Eberlein and others, 1977).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Lost Chicken Creek was one of the major gold producers of the Fortymile District in the early 1900's (Prindle, 1909). Ground mined in 1902 averaged about $1 per square foot (1902 dollars) (Prindle, 1905). Production in 1904-1907, including that from Myers Fork (EA124), Lost Chicken Creek (EA131), Stonehouse Creek (EA122), and Ingle Creek (EA111), totaled about 18,835 fine ounces (Eberlein and others, 1977).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	EA131

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References