Peterson Creek Mine, Hope Mining District, Anchorage, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Peterson Creek Mine	Mine
Hope Mining District	Mining District
Anchorage	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: This placer mine is in the N1/2 section 11, T. 9 N., R. 2 E., of the Seward Meridian. Peterson Creek flows southwest into Turnagain Arm between Girdwood and Portage. The mine extends from tidewater to about three-fourths of a mile upstream. This is location 3 of Cobb and Richter (1972), location 3 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977), location 3 of Cobb and Tysdal (1980), and location P-96 of Jansons and others (1984). The location is accurate to within a quarter of a mile.
Geology: Peterson Creek occupies a steep narrow avalanche-debris-filled valley with numerous small waterfalls and cascades. There is little accumulation of alluvial gravels until it approaches tidewater. Bedrock in this area is the Valdez Group of Late Cretaceous age (Nelson and others, 1985) and consists of massive greenstone and greenstone tuff, along with small amount of interbedded shale. The greenstone is typically a dense, fine-grained, green rock enclosing abundant small, angular fragments of slate (Capps, 1916). There has been hand mining and small-scale suction dredging from the mouth of Peterson Creek upstream for about 4,000 feet. Concentrate samples from near the mouth of the Creek contained scheelite, chalcopyrite, native copper, and gold . Total production is less than 800 ounces (Cobb and Tysdal, 1980).
Workings: A hand-sorted rock pile and suction dredge pit remain at the site. Placer mining has yielded less than 800 ounces of gold (Cobb and Tysdal, 1980). A concentrate sample from near the mouth of the creek contained scheelite, chalcopyrite, native copper, and gold. Significant quantities of gold reportedly occur on bedrock and in bedrock fractures, but samples collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines contained only trace amounts of gold (Jansons and others, 1984). There are also underground workings that were driven by prospectors seeking lode gold (SR052). Two cabins associated with these workings are in the valley above the creek (Capps, 1916).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Production is estimated at less than 800 ounces of gold (Jasper, 1967). The U.S. Bureau of Mines reported only minor production (Jansons and others, 1984).

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SR051

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References