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Rainy Creek Mine (ARDF - BH002), Bethel Mining District, Bethel Census Area, Alaska, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Rainy Creek Mine (ARDF - BH002) | Mine |
| Bethel Mining District | Mining District |
| Bethel Census Area | Census Area |
| Alaska | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
60° 0' 36'' North , 160° 8' 24'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Location: This placer mine is in the southeast corner of the Bethel A-4 quadrangle. It is in the headwaters of Rainy Creek, an east tributary to upper Eek River. The placer mine workings are present over about 3/4 mile of Rainy Creek and the coordinate location is the approximate midpoint of the workings, just downsteam from the mouth of Arsenic Creek (BH001). This is locality 7 of Cobb (1972 [MF 455]) and of Hoare and Cobb (1977). It is in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge and the Togiak Wilderness.
Geology: About 0.7 mile of upper Rainy Creek has been placer mined (Rutledge, 1948, fig. 3). This includes operations both above and below the mouth of Arsenic Creek, a small south tributary to Rainy Creek with identified lode mercury mineralization (BH001). A small part of the placer deposit extends downstream into the Goodnews Bay quadrangle (GO012). The upper drainage does not appear to have been glaciated and the gravels are locally derived. The placer operations recovered both gold and cinnabar. About 2,000 pounds of cinnabar were recovered and shipped, mostly from Rainy Creek below the mouth of Arsenic Creek. Some cinnabar was recovered from above the mouth of Arsenic Creek; a possible bedrock source for this cinnabar was identified on the south side of Rainy Creek, 1.25 miles above the mouth of Arsenic Creek (Rutledge, 1948, p. 7). Bedrock in upper Rainy Creek and its tributaries is clastic sedimentary rocks of the mid-Cretaceous Kuskokwim Group locally cut by mafic dikes or sills (Rutledge, 1948; Box and others, 1993).
Workings: Open-cut placer workings are present along about 0.7 mile of the creek. Mining occurred sometime between 1920 and 1946.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: About 2000 pounds of cinnabar were recovered from the placer operation (Malone, 1962). No figures are available on gold production.
Commodities (Major) - Au, Hg
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au-PGE; with cinnabar (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
2 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Cinnabar Formula: HgS |
| ⓘ Native Gold Formula: Au |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Native Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
| ⓘ | Cinnabar | 2.CD.15a | HgS |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| S | Sulfur | |
|---|---|---|
| S | ⓘ Cinnabar | HgS |
| Au | Gold | |
| Au | ⓘ Native Gold | Au |
| Hg | Mercury | |
| Hg | ⓘ Cinnabar | HgS |
Other Databases
| Link to USGS - Alaska: | BH002 |
|---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Koyukuk ArcsVolcanic Arc
- Walrus-Goodnews DomainDomain
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