Buried Gold in Alaska

[Crow]

The only known mineral deposit of economic significance in the map area is the placer-gold deposit at Moore Creek, which has yielded over 50,000 troy oz of gold since 1910. The Moore Creek placers occur in fan-terrace, alluvial terrace, and modern stream alluvium. The bedrock source of the Moore Creek placers is a deeply dissected monzonitic plug that crops out on a hillside 1
to 1% mi north-northwest of Moore Creek camp (pl. 1).

The monzonite plug hosts crosscutting sulfide-quartz vein mineralization, including the Broken Shovel silver-gold deposit (pl. 1). Gullies draining the monzonite were mined for placer gold during earlier years. Placer gold has also been found and developed on Fourth of July Creek,
and recent exploration-development activity continues. The Fourth of July deposits appear to be in Holocene alluvium. The source of gold on Fourth of July Creek appears to be the southern rim of the Maybe Creek pluton. Heavy- mineral concentrates in both Moore and Fourth of July Creeks consist of chromite, cinnabar, scheelite, and placer gold. Monzonitic stocks and associated volcanic-hypabyssal

I suspect the deeply dissected monzonitic plug is on the hill above in the left of the picture below.

The site needs to be explored further. And extensive drilling program on the hill if its the remains of a monzonitic plug. Gold is eroding over time into placer Moore creek and other surrounding creeks.

The money ticket may be the hill?

Crow

 

[geowizard]

Crow,

The average human cannot comprehend the potential. I met a prospector in McGrath back in 2010 when the Moore Creek mine was a pay-to-mine op. His initials are KP. We began discussing Moore Creek. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a 30 ounce Gold Nugget.
He detected it in a hole that someone else detected a nugget and dug it, and ran off doing the "Happy Dance". KP poked his detector in the hole! Wooppee! goes the detector.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Crow,

BTW, I'm looking for an investor to jump in at Moore Creek.

A three foot dig in dirt to a Golden fissure 500 feet to 1000 feet wide that runs 40 miles!
- Geowizard

 

[Crow]

Are

Crow,

BTW, I'm looking for an investor to jump in at Moore Creek.

A three foot dig in dirt to a Golden fissure 500 feet to 1000 feet wide that runs 40 miles!
- Geowizard

My apologies I am trying to get my head around it to and trying to build a full picture.. Are we talking about alluvial deposits or quartz reef near surface epithermal deposits? As you know alluvial mining is very different from conventional open cut and underground mine. They too are different beasts from each other. Another factor have you got other the mining leases for the area involved. Also the inpurites in the gold has value in itself. Such as silver etc.

Mine data gives an overview of site.

Location: The Moore Creek Mine is shown on the USGS 1:63,360-scale topographic map. The coordinates are at the center of the mine in the SW1/4, section 15, T. 29 N., R. 42 W., of the Seward Meridian. The location is accurate. The Moore Creek mine is locality 37 of Cobb (1972 [MF 363]); also described in Cobb (1976 [OFR 76-576]).

Geology: The Moore Creek Mine is a placer gold deposit that has worked several ages of ancestral terrace gravels as well as modern stream alluvium. The paystreak, as defined by exploration and mining, is about 2 miles long and 300 to 1,300 feet wide. The fluvial pay gravels, which are composed of rocks of local derivation range from 12 to 20 feet thick and are overlain by 5 to 7 feet of overburden. The principal heavy minerals identified in concentrates include native gold, cinnabar, scheelite, native silver, tetrahedrite, chromite, magnetite, and zircon (Mertie, 1936; Bundtzen and others, 1987, 1988; McGimsey and others, 1988). Concentrates from mining contain up to 35.00 percent chromite, i.e., a low grade chrome resource. A mineral separate of screened, minus-28-mesh material from a 100-kilogram, bulk sample of gravel contained 2,300 parts per million (ppm) chromium, 5,200 ppm titanium, 70 parts per billion (ppb) palladium, 200 ppm nickel, and 8.25 percent iron (Bundtzen, Laird, and Lockwood, 1988). The gold fineness averages about 758, which is low as compared to other deposits in the Innoko or Iditarod districts (Smith, 1941 [B 910]).

Gold nuggets up to 19 ounces in in weight have been found in the deposit. The high chromium content of the placer concentrates is somewhat enigmatic as there are no known masses of ultramafic rock in the area. The source for the gold, silver, tungsten and mercury minerals is probably a mineralized monzonite intrusion and its contact zones about 1.2 mile to the northwest and upstream of the placer deposit (see Broken Shovel lode, ID081). The northeast-trending Iditarod-Nixon Fork fault forms the southern structural boundary of the Moore Creek pluton and Bundtzen, Laird, and Lockwood (1988) have postulated that the Late Tertiary to Pleistocene placer deposits at Moore Creek may have been successively offset right-laterally by transcurrent fault movement and the oldest placers occur southwest of the pluton. From 1911 to 1986, at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces silver have been recovered from the Moore Creek placer deposit (Bundtzen and others, 1988; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). About 1,383 ounces of gold and 64 ounces of silver have been produced from nearby Nevada Gulch, mainly from 1911 to 1929.

Workings: Gold was discovered on Nevada Gulch, a short tributary of Moore Creek in 1910 (Maddren, 1911) and the Discovery claim on Moore Creek was staked in 1911 (Mertie, 1936). Shallow deposits were worked by opencut scraper and hand methods in the first 20 years of operation. In 1913, some ground was being prepared for a dredge; however, a dredge never operated on Moore Creek. In 1927, a Northwest dragline, one of the first in southwest Alaska (Smith, 1931) was brought into the district for exploration, development, and mining. By the 1930s, mechanized placer mines equipped with draglines and bulldozers dominated activities in the district. The dragline stacked tailings in regular, linear tailing piles up to 6 meters high down the valley of Moore Creek.

In the mid-1930s, the USSR&M company initiated a churn drill program in Moore Creek basin with the idea of developing ground for a large-scale dredging operation (Smith, 1937). Large scale mechanized mining was nearly continuous until Statehood and then intermittent through 1986. Small scale exploration and development activities continued through 2001.

Age: Not dated; however, older terrace deposits are inferred to be Late Tertiary to early Pleistocene, based on similarities with other dated deposits in Interior Alaska (Hopkins and others, 1971). Pleistocene fossils (mammoth and horse bones) in the overburden were dated at 36,000 BP with radiocarbon methods (Jeff Kline written communication, 1986).

Production: From 1911 to 1986, at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces of silver have been produced from the Moore Creek Mine (Bundtzen and others, 1988; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). About 1,383 ounces of gold and 64 ounces of silver have been produced from nearby Nevada Gulch, mainly from 1911 to 1929. Beginning in the early 1930s, Gus Uotila, Charlie Uotila, John Ogriz, and Elmer Keturi operated the first bulldozer-based placer mine and established Moore Creek Mining Company. More than 70 percent of the total historic production occurred from the mid 1930s to about 1955, when a highly successful dragline/bulldozer plant operated by Elmer Keturi and Jules Stuver mined the deposit. Annual production ranged from 2,000 to 6,500 ounces of placer gold throughout the 1930s and the 1950s (unpublished U.S. Mint records). From 1933 to 1937, the Moore Creek Mining Company was the largest producer of gold in the Iditarod District (Smith, 1936, 1936, 1941 [B 926-A]). The best year of production was 1937 when 6,500 ounces of placer gold was produced. Moore Creek Mining Company also found abundant cinnabar during mine operations (Joesting, 1942). Work in the 1980s concentrated on recovering coarse nuggets from tailing piles.
Reserves: Not determined. Early dragline operations did not have nugget collectors and coarse nuggets have been found in tailings in recent years. I understand now why metal detectorists had field day detecting over waste tailing.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ag, Cr, Hg, Ti, W, Zr
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Placer Au deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

The current Moore creek mine is for sale 15 million dollars.

Estimated operational costs.

And retrieval year costs.

If we work on this scenario the current mining operation at Moore Creek.

9600 dollars per day 12 hour operation. Providing no breakdowns. 499200 dollars per year 52 weeks a year. Not assuming winter shut down. For 15 million price tag It would take 30 years to recoup the original investment. 892800 dollars yearly operational costs. Not counting rising inflation. A partnership with mining lease holder. A cash injection partner without the price tag. There is operational issues with site not getting access by road. If of course your area of suspected gold deposits falls within those leases that are currently up for sale. It appears the current operation could do with more efficient mining methods.

Any prospective miner or investor will do their due diligence not just on Geo physical survey alone. True past geological search had been rather piecemeal. A good geologist goes a long way. Clearly you need to team up with a junior miner and have full survey into area consisting of exploration drilling some times you can stumble on a Supergene Polymorphism: lurking nearby In placer or near-surface gold deposits, "polymorphic" layers, composed of a variety of minerals (clay, silica, organic material, and bacterioform, nano-micro-particles of gold), can form on the surface of primary gold grains due to biogeochemical transformation (secondary, supergene growth)

At the Spring zone, Full Metal at Moore creek completed seven trenches spanning 300 meters of the strike length. The best intersect was 8.86 grams per metric ton of gold over a span of 11 meters in Trench 20. All the trenches in the Spring zone encountered gold mineralization along their entire length, leaving the prospect open in all directions.

The Troy zone is just to the north of the Spring zone. Trenching in Troy intersected quartz veins hosting strong, coarse gold mineralization running in a large zone of lower grade mineralization. One quartz vein was sampled in three locations over a 50 meter span of the strike length. One 0.2 meter intersect of this vein had an assay return of 88.53 g/t gold. So they must of been close.

Three trenches were completed at the Broken Shovel prospect about 200 meters north of Troy. All three trenches encountered gold mineralization. The best of the three averaged 0.7 g/t gold along its length. The new JV is planning a 3,000 meter phase-1 drill program. Gibson said Full Metal will drill the Spring and Troy zones on 100 meter centers along strike length. The exploration geologist said gold grades seem to be increasing to the southeast, and step-out drilling is planned in that direction to test for mineralization. The company also hoped to locate the Iditarod-Nixon Fault with the step-out drilling. The huge Donlin Creek gold deposit is located 55 miles from Moore Creek on the other side of the Iditarod-Nixon Fault. ( Is this your Golden fissure 500 feet to 1000 feet wide that runs 40 miles! ) You don't have to answer as it is proprietary information.

Your research is interesting and does much to confirm the source of alluvial gold in Moore creek is flowing from a weathered epithermal deposit. Judging by the coarse gold the gold reef is near by, feeding into Moore Creek? Earlier results in early 2000 was rather disappointing. But technology has changed greatly since then.

But it will come down to cost of extraction to profit margin. Enough the weather gold price fluctuation per ton of ore mined.

Crow

 

[geowizard]

Are

My apologies I am trying to get my head around it to and trying to build a full picture.. Are we talking about alluvial deposits or quartz reef near surface epithermal deposits? As you know alluvial mining is very different from conventional open cut and underground mine. They too are different beasts from each other. Another factor have you got other the mining leases for the area involved. Also the inpurites in the gold has value in itself. Such as silver etc.

View attachment 2245064

Mine data gives an overview of site.

Location: The Moore Creek Mine is shown on the USGS 1:63,360-scale topographic map. The coordinates are at the center of the mine in the SW1/4, section 15, T. 29 N., R. 42 W., of the Seward Meridian. The location is accurate. The Moore Creek mine is locality 37 of Cobb (1972 [MF 363]); also described in Cobb (1976 [OFR 76-576]).

Geology: The Moore Creek Mine is a placer gold deposit that has worked several ages of ancestral terrace gravels as well as modern stream alluvium. The paystreak, as defined by exploration and mining, is about 2 miles long and 300 to 1,300 feet wide. The fluvial pay gravels, which are composed of rocks of local derivation range from 12 to 20 feet thick and are overlain by 5 to 7 feet of overburden. The principal heavy minerals identified in concentrates include native gold, cinnabar, scheelite, native silver, tetrahedrite, chromite, magnetite, and zircon (Mertie, 1936; Bundtzen and others, 1987, 1988; McGimsey and others, 1988). Concentrates from mining contain up to 35.00 percent chromite, i.e., a low grade chrome resource. A mineral separate of screened, minus-28-mesh material from a 100-kilogram, bulk sample of gravel contained 2,300 parts per million (ppm) chromium, 5,200 ppm titanium, 70 parts per billion (ppb) palladium, 200 ppm nickel, and 8.25 percent iron (Bundtzen, Laird, and Lockwood, 1988). The gold fineness averages about 758, which is low as compared to other deposits in the Innoko or Iditarod districts (Smith, 1941 [B 910]).

Gold nuggets up to 19 ounces in in weight have been found in the deposit. The high chromium content of the placer concentrates is somewhat enigmatic as there are no known masses of ultramafic rock in the area. The source for the gold, silver, tungsten and mercury minerals is probably a mineralized monzonite intrusion and its contact zones about 1.2 mile to the northwest and upstream of the placer deposit (see Broken Shovel lode, ID081). The northeast-trending Iditarod-Nixon Fork fault forms the southern structural boundary of the Moore Creek pluton and Bundtzen, Laird, and Lockwood (1988) have postulated that the Late Tertiary to Pleistocene placer deposits at Moore Creek may have been successively offset right-laterally by transcurrent fault movement and the oldest placers occur southwest of the pluton. From 1911 to 1986, at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces silver have been recovered from the Moore Creek placer deposit (Bundtzen and others, 1988; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). About 1,383 ounces of gold and 64 ounces of silver have been produced from nearby Nevada Gulch, mainly from 1911 to 1929.

Workings: Gold was discovered on Nevada Gulch, a short tributary of Moore Creek in 1910 (Maddren, 1911) and the Discovery claim on Moore Creek was staked in 1911 (Mertie, 1936). Shallow deposits were worked by opencut scraper and hand methods in the first 20 years of operation. In 1913, some ground was being prepared for a dredge; however, a dredge never operated on Moore Creek. In 1927, a Northwest dragline, one of the first in southwest Alaska (Smith, 1931) was brought into the district for exploration, development, and mining. By the 1930s, mechanized placer mines equipped with draglines and bulldozers dominated activities in the district. The dragline stacked tailings in regular, linear tailing piles up to 6 meters high down the valley of Moore Creek.

In the mid-1930s, the USSR&M company initiated a churn drill program in Moore Creek basin with the idea of developing ground for a large-scale dredging operation (Smith, 1937). Large scale mechanized mining was nearly continuous until Statehood and then intermittent through 1986. Small scale exploration and development activities continued through 2001.

Age: Not dated; however, older terrace deposits are inferred to be Late Tertiary to early Pleistocene, based on similarities with other dated deposits in Interior Alaska (Hopkins and others, 1971). Pleistocene fossils (mammoth and horse bones) in the overburden were dated at 36,000 BP with radiocarbon methods (Jeff Kline written communication, 1986).

Production: From 1911 to 1986, at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces of silver have been produced from the Moore Creek Mine (Bundtzen and others, 1988; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). About 1,383 ounces of gold and 64 ounces of silver have been produced from nearby Nevada Gulch, mainly from 1911 to 1929. Beginning in the early 1930s, Gus Uotila, Charlie Uotila, John Ogriz, and Elmer Keturi operated the first bulldozer-based placer mine and established Moore Creek Mining Company. More than 70 percent of the total historic production occurred from the mid 1930s to about 1955, when a highly successful dragline/bulldozer plant operated by Elmer Keturi and Jules Stuver mined the deposit. Annual production ranged from 2,000 to 6,500 ounces of placer gold throughout the 1930s and the 1950s (unpublished U.S. Mint records). From 1933 to 1937, the Moore Creek Mining Company was the largest producer of gold in the Iditarod District (Smith, 1936, 1936, 1941 [B 926-A]). The best year of production was 1937 when 6,500 ounces of placer gold was produced. Moore Creek Mining Company also found abundant cinnabar during mine operations (Joesting, 1942). Work in the 1980s concentrated on recovering coarse nuggets from tailing piles.
Reserves: Not determined. Early dragline operations did not have nugget collectors and coarse nuggets have been found in tailings in recent years. I understand now why metal detectorists had field day detecting over waste tailing.

View attachment 2245068

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ag, Cr, Hg, Ti, W, Zr
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Placer Au deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

The current Moore creek mine is for sale 15 million dollars.

View attachment 2245065

Estimated operational costs.

View attachment 2245066

And retrieval year costs.

View attachment 2245067

If we work on this scenario the current mining operation at Moore Creek.

9600 dollars per day 12 hour operation. Providing no breakdowns. 499200 dollars per year 52 weeks a year. Not assuming winter shut down. For 15 million price tag It would take 30 years to recoup the original investment. 892800 dollars yearly operational costs. Not counting rising inflation. A partnership with mining lease holder. A cash injection partner without the price tag. There is operational issues with site not getting access by road. If of course your area of suspected gold deposits falls within those leases that are currently up for sale. It appears the current operation could do with more efficient mining methods.

Any prospective miner or investor will do their due diligence not just on Geo physical survey alone. True past geological search had been rather piecemeal. A good geologist goes a long way. Clearly you need to team up with a junior miner and have full survey into area consisting of exploration drilling some times you can stumble on a Supergene Polymorphism: lurking nearby In placer or near-surface gold deposits, "polymorphic" layers, composed of a variety of minerals (clay, silica, organic material, and bacterioform, nano-micro-particles of gold), can form on the surface of primary gold grains due to biogeochemical transformation (secondary, supergene growth)

At the Spring zone, Full Metal at Moore creek completed seven trenches spanning 300 meters of the strike length. The best intersect was 8.86 grams per metric ton of gold over a span of 11 meters in Trench 20. All the trenches in the Spring zone encountered gold mineralization along their entire length, leaving the prospect open in all directions.

The Troy zone is just to the north of the Spring zone. Trenching in Troy intersected quartz veins hosting strong, coarse gold mineralization running in a large zone of lower grade mineralization. One quartz vein was sampled in three locations over a 50 meter span of the strike length. One 0.2 meter intersect of this vein had an assay return of 88.53 g/t gold. So they must of been close.

View attachment 2245070

Three trenches were completed at the Broken Shovel prospect about 200 meters north of Troy. All three trenches encountered gold mineralization. The best of the three averaged 0.7 g/t gold along its length. The new JV is planning a 3,000 meter phase-1 drill program. Gibson said Full Metal will drill the Spring and Troy zones on 100 meter centers along strike length. The exploration geologist said gold grades seem to be increasing to the southeast, and step-out drilling is planned in that direction to test for mineralization. The company also hoped to locate the Iditarod-Nixon Fault with the step-out drilling. The huge Donlin Creek gold deposit is located 55 miles from Moore Creek on the other side of the Iditarod-Nixon Fault. ( Is this your Golden fissure 500 feet to 1000 feet wide that runs 40 miles! ) You don't have to answer as it is proprietary information.

Your research is interesting and does much to confirm the source of alluvial gold in Moore creek is flowing from a weathered epithermal deposit. Judging by the coarse gold the gold reef is near by, feeding into Moore Creek? Earlier results in early 2000 was rather disappointing. But technology has changed greatly since then.

But it will come down to cost of extraction to profit margin. Enough the weather gold price fluctuation per ton of ore mined.

Crow

Crow,

Yes, the history of Moore Creek is interesting! I have read the history and agree with you!

I want to make history rather than read about it!

$15 million buys the existing mine. The mine is mined out. The seller wants to forecast future production based on past production. I read that stuff all the time! I know the sellers. Sellers are all the same. A second entity is a well known detector seller that ran the pay-to-mine. Moore Creek Mining is Selling their claims. Pretty pictures and a great history doesn't put $$$ in the bank unfortunately.

My company, Alaska Gold Exploration, LLC has been able to determine the location of NEW Gold.

It's buried!

The money is in NEW ground and the present owners do not know where to find it. The fissure is actually in compression at the present claim block. The Gold came from somewhere else! I would spend 1 percent of that money and open up the new ground. The Fissure has secondary enrichment near the surface. Contact me offline for more details.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Crow,

Yes, the history of Moore Creek is interesting! I have read the history and agree with you!

I want to make history rather than read about it!

$15 million buys the existing mine. The mine is mined out. The seller wants to forecast future production based on past production. I read that stuff all the time! I know the sellers. Sellers are all the same. A second entity is a well known detector seller that ran the pay-to-mine. Moore Creek Mining is Selling their claims. Pretty pictures and a great history doesn't put $$$ in the bank unfortunately.

My company, Alaska Gold Exploration, LLC has been able to determine the location of NEW Gold.

It's buried!

The money is in NEW ground and the present owners do not know where to find it. The fissure is actually in compression at the present claim block. The Gold came from somewhere else! I would spend 1 percent of that money and open up the new ground. The Fissure has secondary enrichment near the surface. Contact me offline for more details.

- Geowizard

Full Metal Mining jumped in and an East Indian miner named Hybury jumped in, spent money and left.

It's frustrating for me to see the hard work and money expended in hit and miss exploration based on geology of buried Gold. Nobody can infer geology in buried ground. The geophysics is self evident and repeatable at Moore Creek. The data is convincing and overwhelming evidence of where the shovel needs to hit the ground.

Shallow strip mining on the fissure can be replicated over the course of the fissure. Because Gold eroded from the fissure, buried "Colluvial" Gold will be encountered in the alluvial gravels above the fissure.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Colluvial gravels (or colluvium) are loose, unsorted, and angular rock fragments, soil, and debris deposited at the base of slopes or in depressions, primarily transported by gravity (mass wasting) and, to a lesser extent, surface wash. These deposits are common in mountainous regions, often forming colluvial aprons or fans from material weathered from cliffs above.

Colluvium vs Alluvium - Geospatial Laboratory for Soil Informatics

UPDATE: The tremendous response to this blog post led to an international and interdisciplinary survey on how these terms are/should be defined. The results of that survey were combined with an in-depth review of the literature to produce an article that has now been published in Earth-Science...

www.agron.iastate.edu

- Geowizard

 

[99thpercentile]

Here is something that might be of interest.

View attachment 2243540

Helicopters and aircraft have been used for years, helping pinpoint areas of high mineralization.

View attachment 2243541

Drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs) are increasingly used for the detection of magnetic anomalies in prospecting
, representing a significant advancement in geophysical exploration. They are highly effective for mapping mineral deposits (such as iron ore, nickel, and copper) and identifying geological structures by flying low-altitude, high-resolution magnetic surveys.

Drones can fly 5–50 meters above ground level, which is much lower than manned aircraft, resulting in magnetic data that is often five times clearer than conventional aerial surveys.

View attachment 2243542

Drones are ideal for surveying areas that are inaccessible or hazardous to ground crews, such as dense forests, steep mountainous regions, swamps, and contaminated sites. Drone-based surveys can be 4–10 times faster and up to 10 times cheaper than traditional ground-based methods. Drones use radar or laser altimeters combined with high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to maintain a constant height above ground, which is essential for accurate magnetic mapping. But there is problems to overcome Post-processing techniques, including diurnial correction and noise filtering, are required to compensate for drone-generated noise.

While gold itself is not magnetic, it is often associated with geological structures (such as iron-rich formations, faults, or quartz veins) that have a distinct magnetic signature.

Crow

That helicopter system was flow by personnel from Oak Ridge National Laboratory for unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection, not for gold mapping surveys. That system was often flow approximately 2 m above the ground surface for wide area assessment of UXO. It makes no sense to have that many magnetometers on the system when flying at 20 or 30 m elevation as they can't separate targets at that height. I fly drone, or unmanned aerial system (UAS) magnetometers for work all of the time.

 

[russau]

Sounds like it's getting exciting up there ! GOOD LUCK on your adventure !

 

[geowizard]

Zero percent true;

It was and still is flown by Fugro, now CGG. I can't link commercial sites here. Search DIGHEM.

It's been flown on all of the mining districts in Alaska. Search Alaska DGGS and Geophysical surveys!

Editorial revision 9-13-2026:

It isn't clear which helicopter is in discussion. Crow said, has nothing to do with DIGHEM. Without a specific helicopter on a specific mission, it is not possible to comment accurately. I hope my reference to DIGHEM is abundantly clear.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Crow,

Thanks for that post! It deserves a Trophy! Sorry for the late reply.

No, have not teamed up with a miner. I am always looking for Miners! I have many very well documented
Gold mining projects waiting for miners to jump in and go to work! I provide the coordinates and deposit sizes for Moore Creek and many others all over Alaska.

And, yes many lode gold deposits are hiding in plain sight.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Crystalline gold;

is a rare form of natural gold that grows in sharp, distinct geometric shapes rather than smooth, weathered nuggets.

What is Crystalline Gold?

Definition: Raw gold featuring visible, defined crystal structures like cubes, leaves, wires, or branches.

Formation: Grows deep underground when hot, gold-rich hydrothermal fluids cool slowly inside cracks and cavities in rock, often alongside quartz.

Rarity: Accounts for only about 1% of all the gold found on Earth because most natural gold is worn smooth by rivers, glaciers, and erosion.

Why It Matters to Collectors

Value: Highly prized as natural art and mineral specimens rather than just metal weight, selling for many times the spot price of standard gold or regular nuggets.
Fragility: Extremely delicate due to sharp, intricate crystal branches that easily break if mishandled.

Sources: Famous high-grade specimens come from historic mining regions like California (such as the Oriental Mine in Sierra County or Mariposa County), Moore Creek Alaska and Colorado. You can view high-end collector options through specialized sellers like Nuggets By Grant.

Check out the many videos on YouTube!.

- Geowizard

 

[Assembler]

Crystalline gold;

is a rare form of natural gold that grows in sharp, distinct geometric shapes rather than smooth, weathered nuggets.

What is Crystalline Gold?

Definition: Raw gold featuring visible, defined crystal structures like cubes, leaves, wires, or branches.

Formation: Grows deep underground when hot, gold-rich hydrothermal fluids cool slowly inside cracks and cavities in rock, often alongside quartz.

Rarity: Accounts for only about 1% of all the gold found on Earth because most natural gold is worn smooth by rivers, glaciers, and erosion.

Why It Matters to Collectors

Value: Highly prized as natural art and mineral specimens rather than just metal weight, selling for many times the spot price of standard gold or regular nuggets.
Fragility: Extremely delicate due to sharp, intricate crystal branches that easily break if mishandled.

Sources: Famous high-grade specimens come from historic mining regions like California (such as the Oriental Mine in Sierra County or Mariposa County), Moore Creek Alaska and Colorado. You can view high-end collector options through specialized sellers like Nuggets By Grant.

Check out the many videos on YouTube!.

- Geowizard

It is possible that the percentage is higher than 1% if most is still in rock formations.

 

[geowizard]

Yes, the 1% is based on 1% of the gold that has been found.
What's the percent of gold that has not been found?
How much has been found and not been documented? It's probably a reasonably close estimate!
- Geowizard

 

[99thpercentile]

Zero percent true;

It was and still is flown by Fugro, now CGG. I can't link commercial sites here. Search DIGHEM.

It's been flown on all of the mining districts in Alaska. Search Alaska DGGS and Geophysical surveys!

- Geowizard

I see all of you posts on this forum that look like they were generated by AI. Most of them don't show any actual knowledge of the topic. I don't like to call people out, but this has been frustrating as I see more and more of your posts.

The helicopter that was shown in the previous picture was flown for UXO detection, not by Fugro. If you know this subject you can tell by the shape of the sensor mounting which system it was and how many sensors were in it.

 

[Prairie Gazingfox]

I see all of you posts on this forum that look like they were generated by AI. Most of them don't show any actual knowledge of the topic. I don't like to call people out, but this has been frustrating as I see more and more of your posts.

The helicopter that was shown in the previous picture was flown for UXO detection, not by Fugro. If you know this subject you can tell by the shape of the sensor mounting which system it was and how many sensors were in it.

Maybe your observations are correct !
But why would an AI entity be posting so much detailed and vast research in order to try to get people involved to do the mechanical digging/ drilling in inner Alaska regions ?? That few have ventured so far like he kept repeating....he was mentioned somewhere he is handicapped.
Also mentioned in the early 2000s used to fly ATM or something like that ...money with a chopper out of Arizona or maybe Southern California. I Don't remember the city....

 

[geowizard]

I see all of you posts on this forum that look like they were generated by AI. Most of them don't show any actual knowledge of the topic. I don't like to call people out, but this has been frustrating as I see more and more of your posts.

The helicopter that was shown in the previous picture was flown for UXO detection, not by Fugro. If you know this subject you can tell by the shape of the sensor mounting which system it was and how many sensors were in it.

99thpercentile,

In reply to your query;

1. "I see all of you posts on this forum that look like they were generated by AI."

This statement is partly true. I use AI as a quick source of generic searchable information. Google AI is a robust search engine. That's all. Google AI is most reliable because it cites the sources for the statements made. I always have a source. The sources are listed with the AI statements for readers to drill deeper into a given topic. If I am the source, AI cannot search or have access to personal knowledge and experience. I share what I know that is unpublished for the benefit of readers and viewers like you.

2. "Most of them don't show any actual knowledge of the topic."

This statement is not true. It is much easier and efficient to use AI to do research on topics I have knowledge of and re-researching the topic would take time to source the sources to support the topic. Having references gives the reader assurance and a form of "insurance" that I am not blowing smoke on a topic. Again, I provide references to the statements I make. There's no blowing smoke (BS). I have been researching this topic longer than you have been alive and am a living repository of knowledge on the subject. On the other hand, you have a limited field of view and although you have gone to school and have obtained an advanced degree, you demonstrate two forms of naivite' that one experienced in the art would object to. 1. You come across as all-knowing and present yourself as having total knowledge on the subject. That is Naive. As you go through life, you should be willing to listen and learn to enable yourself a more complete understanding. You may "know" but you do not yet "understand". I suggest viewing lectures by Richard Feynman for reference.

I am a life-long learner and encourage others to grow their understanding.

3. "I don't like to call people out, but this has been frustrating as I see more and more of your posts."

"Calling people out" is not a discussion. It is an affront. I never call people out unless they call me out. If you call me out you better be cocked and loaded! If you have a point that contradicts a statement made by me, please feel free to bring your reference(s) or personal notes that we can share so we and our readers can understand the reasons behind your differing view. If you have a "frustration", please be kind enough to share that frustration.

4. "The helicopter that was shown in the previous picture was flown for UXO detection, not by Fugro. If you know this subject you can tell by the shape of the sensor mounting which system it was and how many sensors were in it."

Myself and other readers and commenters would appreciate your input more fully if you would cite more specific details. Your statement compares UXO to a company name. That has no logic in comparison. It is impossible to compare the two. Please, at least, kindly, be specific.

There is nothing to be gained by random cherry picking of content that is not connected to a specific point in a specific topic. I respect your input and in an adult forum prefer a friendly discussion among gentlemen.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Maybe your observations are correct !
But why would an AI entity be posting so much detailed and vast research in order to try to get people involved to do the mechanical digging/ drilling in inner Alaska regions ?? That few have ventured so far like he kept repeating....he was mentioned somewhere he is handicapped.
Also mentioned in the early 2000s used to fly ATM or something like that ...money with a chopper out of Arizona or maybe Southern California. I Don't remember the city....

Please see post 37 on this thread.

Agree with whom-ever you wish. This isn't a contest with winners and losers!

The losers are those commenters that rather than adding content or clarity chose to add confusion and unsupported opinions that scramble meaningful content. If you have a valid point or comment, please share it in a way that we can all gain greater understanding.

- Geowizard

 

[geowizard]

Are

My apologies I am trying to get my head around it to and trying to build a full picture.. Are we talking about alluvial deposits or quartz reef near surface epithermal deposits? As you know alluvial mining is very different from conventional open cut and underground mine. They too are different beasts from each other. Another factor have you got other the mining leases for the area involved. Also the inpurites in the gold has value in itself. Such as silver etc.

View attachment 2245064

Mine data gives an overview of site.

Location: The Moore Creek Mine is shown on the USGS 1:63,360-scale topographic map. The coordinates are at the center of the mine in the SW1/4, section 15, T. 29 N., R. 42 W., of the Seward Meridian. The location is accurate. The Moore Creek mine is locality 37 of Cobb (1972 [MF 363]); also described in Cobb (1976 [OFR 76-576]).

Geology: The Moore Creek Mine is a placer gold deposit that has worked several ages of ancestral terrace gravels as well as modern stream alluvium. The paystreak, as defined by exploration and mining, is about 2 miles long and 300 to 1,300 feet wide. The fluvial pay gravels, which are composed of rocks of local derivation range from 12 to 20 feet thick and are overlain by 5 to 7 feet of overburden. The principal heavy minerals identified in concentrates include native gold, cinnabar, scheelite, native silver, tetrahedrite, chromite, magnetite, and zircon (Mertie, 1936; Bundtzen and others, 1987, 1988; McGimsey and others, 1988). Concentrates from mining contain up to 35.00 percent chromite, i.e., a low grade chrome resource. A mineral separate of screened, minus-28-mesh material from a 100-kilogram, bulk sample of gravel contained 2,300 parts per million (ppm) chromium, 5,200 ppm titanium, 70 parts per billion (ppb) palladium, 200 ppm nickel, and 8.25 percent iron (Bundtzen, Laird, and Lockwood, 1988). The gold fineness averages about 758, which is low as compared to other deposits in the Innoko or Iditarod districts (Smith, 1941 [B 910]).

Gold nuggets up to 19 ounces in in weight have been found in the deposit. The high chromium content of the placer concentrates is somewhat enigmatic as there are no known masses of ultramafic rock in the area. The source for the gold, silver, tungsten and mercury minerals is probably a mineralized monzonite intrusion and its contact zones about 1.2 mile to the northwest and upstream of the placer deposit (see Broken Shovel lode, ID081). The northeast-trending Iditarod-Nixon Fork fault forms the southern structural boundary of the Moore Creek pluton and Bundtzen, Laird, and Lockwood (1988) have postulated that the Late Tertiary to Pleistocene placer deposits at Moore Creek may have been successively offset right-laterally by transcurrent fault movement and the oldest placers occur southwest of the pluton. From 1911 to 1986, at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces silver have been recovered from the Moore Creek placer deposit (Bundtzen and others, 1988; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). About 1,383 ounces of gold and 64 ounces of silver have been produced from nearby Nevada Gulch, mainly from 1911 to 1929.

Workings: Gold was discovered on Nevada Gulch, a short tributary of Moore Creek in 1910 (Maddren, 1911) and the Discovery claim on Moore Creek was staked in 1911 (Mertie, 1936). Shallow deposits were worked by opencut scraper and hand methods in the first 20 years of operation. In 1913, some ground was being prepared for a dredge; however, a dredge never operated on Moore Creek. In 1927, a Northwest dragline, one of the first in southwest Alaska (Smith, 1931) was brought into the district for exploration, development, and mining. By the 1930s, mechanized placer mines equipped with draglines and bulldozers dominated activities in the district. The dragline stacked tailings in regular, linear tailing piles up to 6 meters high down the valley of Moore Creek.

In the mid-1930s, the USSR&M company initiated a churn drill program in Moore Creek basin with the idea of developing ground for a large-scale dredging operation (Smith, 1937). Large scale mechanized mining was nearly continuous until Statehood and then intermittent through 1986. Small scale exploration and development activities continued through 2001.

Age: Not dated; however, older terrace deposits are inferred to be Late Tertiary to early Pleistocene, based on similarities with other dated deposits in Interior Alaska (Hopkins and others, 1971). Pleistocene fossils (mammoth and horse bones) in the overburden were dated at 36,000 BP with radiocarbon methods (Jeff Kline written communication, 1986).

Production: From 1911 to 1986, at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces of silver have been produced from the Moore Creek Mine (Bundtzen and others, 1988; Miller, Bundtzen, and Gray, 2005). About 1,383 ounces of gold and 64 ounces of silver have been produced from nearby Nevada Gulch, mainly from 1911 to 1929. Beginning in the early 1930s, Gus Uotila, Charlie Uotila, John Ogriz, and Elmer Keturi operated the first bulldozer-based placer mine and established Moore Creek Mining Company. More than 70 percent of the total historic production occurred from the mid 1930s to about 1955, when a highly successful dragline/bulldozer plant operated by Elmer Keturi and Jules Stuver mined the deposit. Annual production ranged from 2,000 to 6,500 ounces of placer gold throughout the 1930s and the 1950s (unpublished U.S. Mint records). From 1933 to 1937, the Moore Creek Mining Company was the largest producer of gold in the Iditarod District (Smith, 1936, 1936, 1941 [B 926-A]). The best year of production was 1937 when 6,500 ounces of placer gold was produced. Moore Creek Mining Company also found abundant cinnabar during mine operations (Joesting, 1942). Work in the 1980s concentrated on recovering coarse nuggets from tailing piles.
Reserves: Not determined. Early dragline operations did not have nugget collectors and coarse nuggets have been found in tailings in recent years. I understand now why metal detectorists had field day detecting over waste tailing.

View attachment 2245068

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ag, Cr, Hg, Ti, W, Zr
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Placer Au deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

The current Moore creek mine is for sale 15 million dollars.

View attachment 2245065

Estimated operational costs.

View attachment 2245066

And retrieval year costs.

View attachment 2245067

If we work on this scenario the current mining operation at Moore Creek.

9600 dollars per day 12 hour operation. Providing no breakdowns. 499200 dollars per year 52 weeks a year. Not assuming winter shut down. For 15 million price tag It would take 30 years to recoup the original investment. 892800 dollars yearly operational costs. Not counting rising inflation. A partnership with mining lease holder. A cash injection partner without the price tag. There is operational issues with site not getting access by road. If of course your area of suspected gold deposits falls within those leases that are currently up for sale. It appears the current operation could do with more efficient mining methods.

Any prospective miner or investor will do their due diligence not just on Geo physical survey alone. True past geological search had been rather piecemeal. A good geologist goes a long way. Clearly you need to team up with a junior miner and have full survey into area consisting of exploration drilling some times you can stumble on a Supergene Polymorphism: lurking nearby In placer or near-surface gold deposits, "polymorphic" layers, composed of a variety of minerals (clay, silica, organic material, and bacterioform, nano-micro-particles of gold), can form on the surface of primary gold grains due to biogeochemical transformation (secondary, supergene growth)

At the Spring zone, Full Metal at Moore creek completed seven trenches spanning 300 meters of the strike length. The best intersect was 8.86 grams per metric ton of gold over a span of 11 meters in Trench 20. All the trenches in the Spring zone encountered gold mineralization along their entire length, leaving the prospect open in all directions.

The Troy zone is just to the north of the Spring zone. Trenching in Troy intersected quartz veins hosting strong, coarse gold mineralization running in a large zone of lower grade mineralization. One quartz vein was sampled in three locations over a 50 meter span of the strike length. One 0.2 meter intersect of this vein had an assay return of 88.53 g/t gold. So they must of been close.

View attachment 2245070

Three trenches were completed at the Broken Shovel prospect about 200 meters north of Troy. All three trenches encountered gold mineralization. The best of the three averaged 0.7 g/t gold along its length. The new JV is planning a 3,000 meter phase-1 drill program. Gibson said Full Metal will drill the Spring and Troy zones on 100 meter centers along strike length. The exploration geologist said gold grades seem to be increasing to the southeast, and step-out drilling is planned in that direction to test for mineralization. The company also hoped to locate the Iditarod-Nixon Fault with the step-out drilling. The huge Donlin Creek gold deposit is located 55 miles from Moore Creek on the other side of the Iditarod-Nixon Fault. ( Is this your Golden fissure 500 feet to 1000 feet wide that runs 40 miles! ) You don't have to answer as it is proprietary information.

Your research is interesting and does much to confirm the source of alluvial gold in Moore creek is flowing from a weathered epithermal deposit. Judging by the coarse gold the gold reef is near by, feeding into Moore Creek? Earlier results in early 2000 was rather disappointing. But technology has changed greatly since then.

But it will come down to cost of extraction to profit margin. Enough the weather gold price fluctuation per ton of ore mined.

Crow

Crow,

You asked. "My apologies I am trying to get my head around it to and trying to build a full picture.. Are we talking about alluvial deposits or quartz reef near surface epithermal deposits?"

Great question!

I operate an exploration company called Alaska Gold Exploration, LLC. My mission is to explore all of the mining districts in Alaska using geophysical data from a system called DIGHEM. The system is explained and is under discussion in various threads on this forum. Readers should do a search on the forum.

The short answer is that as the result of 12 years compiling and analysis of data from Alaska DGGS, I have been able to succeed in locating Precious metals and making discoveries that meet all definitions of a precious metal deposit, lode, placer, epithermal, VMS, alluvial, colluvial to name a few. Metals all have a characteristic conductivity and phase. With years of experience, correlating undiscovered lode gold deposits with existing and past producing placer gold mines one's confidence grows. It's the same as metal detecting. I am willing to share what I have learned and reveal important discoveries to readers here on TreasureNet.

I like reading history. I am more interested in writing history!

- Geowizard

 

[Carl-NC]

Metals all have a characteristic conductivity and phase.

This is where you are mistaken. Yes, a given metal has a characteristic conductivity, but it varies with alloy. Natural gold is never pure; it is always alloyed with something, and the something and the ratio can change the conductivity considerably. So you can't say that natural gold, in general, has a characteristic conductivity.

And, no, "metals" do not have a characteristic phase. An individual target can. The phase is highly dependent on shape, size, thickness, and alloy. Ferinstance, placer gold can have phase responses from <1° to 30-40° @10kHz, probably more if they're big enough. I'd love to know the phase response of the Hand of Faith. And phase also varies with frequency, so it doesn't even make sense to say that a target has such-and-such a phase shift when dealing with a multi-frequency system such as DIGHEM. At 900Hz, phases will be pushed toward zero (and most gold is probably undetectable at 900Hz anyway) while at 56kHz the phases will be much higher. Finally, complex targets like a gold vein in quartz can have multiple phase responses as it will likely have multiple eddy domains. Furthermore, those phases can vary in dominance over frequency.

In short, things are way more complicated than you seem to assume. There is no line you can draw on a graph and say, "Everything below this line is gold." Besides that, as I stated in another thread, I doubt that DIGHEM is even detecting the actual gold itself, but rather the overall matrix. Maybe Ryan can clarify.