Flat Creek Occurrence, Kantishna Mining District, Denali Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Flat Creek Occurrence	Occurrence
Kantishna Mining District	Mining District
Denali Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Flat Creek, one of the larger creeks in the Kantishna Hills placer area, rises on the northwest flank of Wickersham Dome. The location is in the NW1/4 of section 23, T. 15 S., R. 18 W., Fairbanks Meridian. Flat Creek lies between Glacier Creek (MM048) to the east and Moose Creek (MM132) to the west. It joins Glacier Creek about 8 miles below Wickersham Dome.
Geology: Flat Creek rises on the northwest flank of Wickersham Dome in a canyon cut in rocks of the Birch Creek Schist (Thornsberry, McKee, and Salisbury, 1984, figs. K-2 and K-3). The creek leaves the hills at an elevation of about 2000 feet, then flows north and northwesterly on an outwash(?) plain for about 2 miles. Bedrock on lower Flat Creek is unknown, but lower Glacier Creek, about 1 1/2 miles to the east, flows across Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and weakly indurated, Tertiary sedimentary rocks. Flat Creek has not been mined. One sluice sample, collected on alluvial bars in the SW1/4 section 25, was gold-bearing, and the creek has alluvial, bench, and terrace deposits that could contain gold. Levell (1984, v. 2) estimated about 2.6 million cubic yards of material of moderate potential along Flat Creek. Flat Creek lies between Moose Creek (MM132) and Glacier Creek (MM048), which are significant gold placer creeks. Flat Creek, however, rises in Birch Creek Schist, a unit not as favorable for gold lode deposits as the Spruce Creek sequence rocks extensively drained by Glacier and Moose Creeks (Levell, 1984, v. 1). There are only a few lode deposits in the drainage area of Flat Creek, which accounts for its lower placer gold potential than that of Glacier and Moose Creeks.
Workings: Flat Creek probably was prospected for gold in about 1905-06, when the first placer discoveries were made and there was a stampede to the new district. There is no significant evidence of past mining in the creek. In 1983, two localities were sampled. One of the samples was lost, but a sluice concentrate sample contained 0.0036 ounce of gold per cubic yard (Levell, 1984: v. 2).
Age: Quaternary.
Reserves: A volume of about 2,600,000 cubic yards of bench deposits, stream alluvium, and terrace gravels exists in Flat Creek (Levell, 1984, v. 2). This volume has moderate potential for economic placer gold deposits. One sample of stream alluvium contained 0.0036 ounce of gold per cubic yard. No churn drill holes were dug during Levell's evaluation.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	MM041

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References