Quartz Creek; Homestake Bar Mine, Hot Springs Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Quartz Creek; Homestake Bar Mine	Mine
Hot Springs Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The Quartz Creek-Homestake Bar placer mine is approximately a quarter mile west of, and at elevation of 60-75 feet above, the modern channel of Quartz Creek. For this record, the site is on Quartz Creek approximately 1 mile above the junction of Sullivan Creek, in the north half of section 6, T. 3 N., R. 16 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The location is accurate within half a mile. The site corresponds to location 24 of Cobb (1972), and very roughly to the site for Quartz Creek, U.S. Bureau of Land Management MAS number 0020480014, but the MAS site is about 1 mile downstream.
Geology: The country rocks in the area of this site include Mesozoic marine clastic sedimentary strata, and Cretaceous granitic plutons, mainly on Roughtop Mountain, that intrude and contact metamorphose the sedimentary rocks (Mertie, 1934; Chapman and others, 1982; Reifenstuhl and others, 1998). The bedded rocks are also cut by diverse faults, including regional-scale, east-northeast-striking thrust faults (Reifenstuhl and others, 1998). A carbonate sill(?) is in the Triassic section of these strata, and there are exposures of serpentinized Cretaceous(?) mafic and ultramafic rocks, mainly on Serpentine Ridge. Quartz Creek drains Serpentine Ridge and Roughtop Mountain, and crosses a north-dipping regional thrust fault. The gradient of the creek is about 100 feet per mile. The mined area on Quartz Creek was Homestake Bar, a bench approximately a quarter mile from the creek. Eakin (1913) reported that the bedrock surface dips towards the creek at a lesser angle than the ground surface. The uphill extent of the richer portion of the deposit is marked by a steepening of the bedrock surface. The overlying sediments consist of three to four feet of gravels, with only the basal foot well worn. These gravels in turn are overlain by 3 feet of silt. Waters (1934) reported that the heavy minerals in his samples of the placer included ilmenite, pyrite, zircon, gold, xenotime, tourmaline, and a few grains of cassiterite. Wayland (1961) reported differences between Quartz Creek and Tofty tin belt gold and cassiterite, suggesting that they were of different origins. In particular, the Quartz Creek gold was greener and more angular than that of the tin belt, and the Quartz Creek cassiterite was clear [rather than opaque] brown. In 1940, Cleary Hill Mines Co. ran a 185-hole drill program in the Quartz Creek area. No mention of cassiterite was made in any of the drill logs. Delima Placers mined Quartz Creek in 1998 (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999).
Workings: The workings at Quartz Creek were surficial. Mining and prospecting was reported in the area, including at Homestake Bar, between 1908 and 1914, as well as in 1930 (Cobb, 1977). Cleary Hill Mines Co. ran an 185-hole drill program in the area in 1940. Delima Placers mined Quartz Creek in 1998 (Szumigala and Swainbank, 1999).
Age: Quaternary.

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

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	TN090

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References