Tibbs Creek; Lucky Star Mine, Goodpaster Mining District, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Tibbs Creek; Lucky Star Mine	Mine
Goodpaster Mining District	Mining District
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Tibbs Creek drains north into the Goodpaster River, approximately 60 miles northeast of Delta Junction. The creek is approximately 11 miles long and has numerous small tributaries including Last Chance Creek (BD022), Granite Creek (BD020), Antimony Creek, Wolverine Creek, Johnson Creek, and King Creek. Placer workings are concentrated near the confluences with Last Chance Creek, Granite Creek, Antimony Creek, Wolverine Creek, and the Lucky Star mouth of Tibbs Creek (Menzie and Foster, 1979). The approximate center of the mining activity is in SW1/4NW1/4 section 19, T. 6 S., R. 18 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. A winter trail from the South Fork of the Goodpaster River provides access up Divide Creek and over Black Mountain to the east. It is locality 19 of Cobb and Eberlein (1980), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Tibbs Creek'.
Geology: The area arounding the Tibbs Creek placers is characterized by rounded hills and flat-topped ridges (Thomas, 1970). The most prominent ridge is Black Mountain, which trends about 12 miles in a northerly direction and is underlain by Cretaceous granodiorite (Weber and others, 1978). Several creeks flow westward off Black Mountain in steep, parallel, V-shaped valleys to form the headwaters of Tibbs Creek. A combination of augen gneiss, gneissic schist, and schist are to the west of Black Mountain. There is intense shearing and faulting in the contact between the metamorphic and intrusive rocks. This shearing is observed in the underground workings and at the surface as pronounced saddle-like depressions across the spurs separating the westward flowing tributaries of Tibbs Creek. This shear zone trends roughly N15E and dips 65 degrees NW. Tibbs Creek is thought to lie in a structural zone. Quartz veins along the creek contain gold, jamesonite, molybdenite, and stibnite (Cobb and Eberlein, 1980). The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. Thomas (1970) reports a stampede of prospectors in 1915 that ended soon after, due to low grade deposits. In the early 1930's, gold bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek drainage. From 1936 to 1941, the area was mined for lode gold at the Blue Lead and Blue Lead Extension (BD003), Grizzly Bear (BD018), and Gray Lead (BD017) mines. Joesting (1938) reports that Tibbs Creek was churn drilled near the landing field near the mouth of Wolverine Creek. Cobb (1973; B 1374) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. No production figures for Tibbs Creek are available.
Workings: The Goodpaster region was first explored for placer gold in 1915. Thomas (1970) reports a stampede of prospectors in 1915 that ended soon after, due to low-grade deposits. In the early 1930's, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the upper Tibbs Creek drainage. From 1936 to 1941, the area was mined for lode gold at the Blue Lead and Blue Lead Extension (BD003), Grizzly Bear (BD018), and Gray Lead (BD017) mines. Joesting (1938) reports that Tibbs Creek was churn drilled near the landing field near the mouth of Wolverine Creek.
Age: Quaternary
Production: Cobb (1973; B 1374) reports insignificant placer gold production from the Goodpaster region. No production figures for Tibbs Creek are available.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	BD040

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References