Unnamed (northeast of lower Sue Creek)

Location: Alaska, United States (61.632, -158.444 approx.)

Commodities: cerium; lanthanum; samarium; thorium; uranium; tungsten; zirconium; gold; copper; mercury; lead; silver

Deposit model: REE-Th bearing veins · Th-REE veins

Geology

The Sue Creek prospect (fig. 13: map no. 39: table 7: fig. 1) consists or a distinctive zone of tourmaline-ferricrete flooding in hornfels adjacent to granodioirite porphyry of the Horn Mountains pluton, just west of Sue Creek canyon. The mineralization, which covers an irregularly shaped 75 m by 65 m area, consistently yields weak polymetallic mineralization (i.e., maximum values of 570 ppm zinc, 140 ppb gold. 7K8 ppm arsenic. 337 ppm antimony, 102 ppm tungsten 33 ppm tin). Although all samples contain sub-economic grades, the apparent size and extent of the mineralized zone may indicate a larger, possibly more promising deposit at depth. (Bundtzen and others (1999))

Recorded production

• Unnamed (northeast of lower Sue Creek), New York Creek Placer Mine: produced 0.0 metric tons of gold (Au), containing about 0.0 metric tons Au, 1914–1937 (Bundtzen and others (1999), Page 25, Table 8)
• Unnamed (northeast of lower Sue Creek), New York Creek Placer Mine: produced 0.0 metric tons of silver (Ag), containing about 0.0 metric tons Ag, 1914–1937 (Bundtzen and others (1999), Page 25, Table 8)

Exploration and site history

• Production: The New York Creek gold placers were developed around 1910 and have intermittently produced gold since then. Total New York Creek production. from 1910 to 1937, was at least 48 kg (1,543 oz) gold; an unknown amount of production has taken place to the present day (Bundtzen and others (1999))
• History: In 1910, prospectors Nick Miljevic. A. Perledo, and J. Hittewlth discovered coarse placer gold about 6 km (4 mi) above the mouth of New York Creek. Hydraulic mining was initiated in 1915, and by the 1920s and 1930s, several tributaries including Murray Gulch and Mary Creek had been mined on a small scale. (Bundtzen and others (1999))
• History: In 1908. Gordon Bettles explored the deposit with an adit and mined and produced mercury from high-grade cinnabar zones on a small scale. In 1908. Gordon Bettles explored the deposit with an adit and mined and produced mercury from high-grade cinnabar zones on a small scale. The last production occurred during 1969 1970. Spurred in part by high prices during the Vietnam War. When the Rhehart-Holoday partnership mined and shipped cinnabar concentrations that were processed in a 10 tonne/day mill. In addition this partnership conducted an exploratory program at the Kolmakof mine from 1969-72 (Fackler, 1972). (Bundtzen and others (1999))
• Production: The Rhyolite and Kolmakof mercury (stibnite) deposits were explored and developed and modest amounts of mercury were produced from both deposits. Total production from the Kolmakof mine is estimated to be no more than 8.618 kg (250 flasks) of mercury (Bundtzen and others (1999))
• Site: During the 1990, 1991, and 1992 field seasons, four 1:63.360-scale quadrangles were geologically mapped in the Sleetmute Quadrangle or southwestern Alaska (fig. 1). The 2.089 km2 (16 mi2) area consists or broad lowlands, which are filled with unconsolidated sediment, interspersed with rounded ridgelines and small mountain massifs. Relief ranges from 85 m (280 ft.) along the Kuskokwim River to 1,072 m (3,515 ft.) atop an unnamed peak in the Horn Mountains. Most of the streams and rivers in the study area empty into the Kuskokwim River, which flows through the southern part of the map area and is Alaska’s second largest river drainage. In the northwestern part or 1he study area. The Iditarod River flows northeastward through the Sleetmute D-8 Quadrangle, and eventually empties into the Innoko River and Yukon River drainage basins. Although much of the study area is unglaciated, the rugged Horn Mountains and adjacent low lands experienced at least four separate Pleistocene glaciations. (Bundtzen and others (1999))
• Exploration — In 1910, prospectors Nick Miljevic. A. Perledo, and J. Hittewlth discovered coarse placer gold about 6 km (4 mi) above the mouth of New York Creek, 1910 (Bundtzen and others (1999))
• Active — Production, 1914–1937 (Bundtzen and others (1999))

Record imported from USGS USMIN ver. 4.0 (June 2019). Developments after that date appear on facility records, not here; see the methodology.