Pasco Creek Prospect, Fairbanks Mining District, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Pasco Creek Prospect	Prospect
Fairbanks Mining District	Mining District
Fairbanks North Star Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Pasco Creek is roughly 5 miles long and drains southeast into the Salcha River. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system reports placer mining at the base of Paldo Creek. The approximate center of the mining activity is in SW1/4NW1/4 section 9, T. 3 S., R. 11 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. A tractor trail and a landing strip provide access to the lower Pasco Creek drainage. It is locality 29 of Cobb and Eberlein (1980), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Pasco Creek'.
Geology: The bedrock in the region is primarily schist, gneiss, some granite, and minor amounts of serpentinite and limestone. The intrusive bodies in the area range in composition from granodiorite to quartz monzonite with Cretaceous to Tertiary K-Ar ages (Weber and others, 1978). The gravels in the region average 18 to 20 feet in thickness and contain a variety of schist, gneiss, granite, and vein quartz (Prindle, 1906). Brooks (1908) reported the fineness of the gold to be higher than that mined in the Richardson district. Placer gold was first discovered in the Salcha River area in 1905. Prospecting initially occurred on Butte Creek (BD006) and soon extended to nearby Caribou Creek (BD009), and Gold Creek (BD015) and associated tributaries. Live water and thawed ground presented the biggest obstacles during prospecting (Prindle, 1906; B 284). The first claims on Pasco Creek were staked in 1954 (Cobb and Eberlein, 1980). Subsequently, there have been active claims in 1976, 1977, and 1980 (Eberlein and others, 1977). The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Pasco Creek as recent as 1986. There is evidence of surficial mining operations, but the period of activity is unknown (Eberlein and others, 1977). It is unclear how much gold was produced from Pasco Creek.
Workings: Placer gold was first discovered in the Salcha River area in 1905. Prospecting initially occurred on Butte Creek (BD006) and soon extended to nearby Caribou Creek (BD009), and Gold Creek (BD015) and associated tributaries. Live water and thawed ground presented the biggest obstacles during prospecting (Prindle, 1906; B 284). The first claims on Pasco Creek were staked in 1954 (Cobb and Eberlein, 1980). Subsequently, there have been active claims in 1976, 1977, and 1980 (Eberlein and others, 1977). The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Pasco Creek as recent as 1986. There is evidence of surficial mining operations, but the period of activity is unknown (Eberlein and others, 1977).
Age: Quaternary
Production: It is unclear how much gold was produced from Pasco Creek.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	BD031

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References