34 GOLD PLACERS OF RAMPART REGION. 
(Pi. IV, p. 30) cut to a depth of 500 to 700 feet, and so narrow that for over three 
months of the winter the sun can not be seen from the bottom of the valley. a 
The creek follows closely the southern side of the valley through its lower 3 
miles, and mostly the western side above this. It seems likely that the greater 
accumulation of talus on the north side of the creek is due to the greater amount of 
sunshine it receives, resulting in a greater amount of breaking down of bed rock by 
alternate freezing and thawing. 
Gold was first discovered upon the creek in the early nineties by John Minook, 
who is reported to have taken out some gold near the mouth of the creek. The first 
claim, however, was located and worked by Mr. F. S. Langford in 1896, since which 
time the creek has been worked continuously. The total production of the creek is 
calculated, from the best ascertainable figures, to be $486,100, of which $40,000 was' 
taken out during the winter of 1903-4 and $2,900 during the summer of 1904, making 
the output for the season of 1904 $42,900. 
Little Minook Creek heads among slates and quartzites cut by small decomposed 
acid dikes. A little over a mile below the head, the creek is crossed by a belt of 
clayey, nonfossiliferous limestone, accompanied, as is often the case with the Ram- 
part rocks, by green fine-grained slates. Below this there is an indistinct series of 
interbedded quartzites, cherts, siliceous shales, and some sandstones, all greatly con- 
torted and accompanied by large masses of greenstones which form probably the 
larger part of the bed rock of the lower valley. At the foot of the valley walls the 
exposure of igneous rocks seems to be greater than in their upper parts; that is, 
erosion seems to have exposed larger masses of igneous rocks. Small veins of quartz 
and calcite occur in the rocks, but none of great extent. The rocks of the valley 
have a considerable impregnation of iron pyrites, the oxidation of which has stained 
them the familiar rusty brown of iron oxide. 
The placer deposits are all in the stream bed. The valley has been cut down so 
quickly that no bench deposits have formed. The alluvial deposits of Little Minook 
Creek vary in thickness from 7 to 25 feet, of which gravel forms 3 to 12 feet, and 
muck, though occasionally absent, generally 3 to 16 feet. The deposits are shal- 
lowest in the lower part of the creek. The gravels contain fragments of many rocks,, 
of which diabase is probably most abundant, but slate, grit, and much vein quartz 
also occur, and there are many large quartzite bowlders from the bench above. 
Much of the gravel, as would be expected in a weak stream, is subangular. 
In the gravels mammalian bones are said to be found, although none were seen by 
the writer. In places clear ice is uncovered in digging, the structure of the alluvium 
showing how T sudden floods had drifted detritus over the ice in the spring, and had 
thus preserved it. Locally there is much wood in the muck. 
Occurrence and character of the gold. — Values are found in the lower part of the 
gravels through a thickness of 1 to 3 feet, and a width of 50 to 200 feet. The gold 
frequently occurs in the bed rock, particularly the broken diabase, to a depth of 1 
to 2 feet. The pay streaks extend up the creek only as far as the creek has cut 
through the high bench gravels, a distance of about 3 miles. There are sixteen 
1,000-foot claims within these limits. 
The creek has been well prospected throughout its length, and although colors 
are found there is no pay above the line of the high bench. A small amount of 
gold, in which were some large nuggets, has been found in the gulches leading from 
the high bench. The amount of gold carried by the gravels varies greatly, but in 
the pay streak probably runs from $2 to $10 per square yard. The gold is generally 
smooth, chunky, and bright (PI. VI, j, k, 1, p. 38), and shows a large amount of 
wear. In the upper part many nuggets are found weighing 1 to 1 2 ounces apiece, 
but the gold gets finer downstream until near the mouth it is nearly all flat, smooth, 
a Peck, C. W., and Laboskie, Wallie, personal communication. 
