PLACERS OF THE RAMPART REGION. 91 
BENCH WEST OF RHODE ISLAM) CREEK. 
A spur on the west side of Rhode Island Creek, similar to the one 
on the west side of Eureka Creek, has a well-defined bench cut upon 
it, extending about one-half mile to Omega Creek Valley. The bench 
is about 300 feet above the bed of Rhode Island Creek and is covered 
with subangular gravel, through which gold is said to be found. It 
is about on a level with* Shirley Bar. 
OMEGA CREEK. 
General description. — Omega Creek, another small stream, heads 
in a ridge about 2 miles southwest of the head of Minook Creek and 
about one-half mile west of Seattle Creek, flows almost south for 
one-half mile or more, and then swings gradually to the west. As 
soon as it takes a westerly course the shape of its valley becomes 
similar to that of Eureka Creek, having a steep hill on the south, 
against which the stream flows, and on the north side a gentle slope- 
to the ridge above, rising more steeply in its upper portion. 
Gold was discovered in Omega Creek in 1899, but the first pay was 
found in 1901. The creek has been worked in only a small way, and 
the production has been small. The bed rock is a black, fissile, much- 
broken slate, and a yellowish, somewhat schistose grit. It has 
a strike of N. 70° E., with a high northerly dip. The gravel is about 
7 feet deep, very angular and fine, and is made up of the country 
rock with a small amount of quartzite. There is little or no muck 
over the gravel, but there is a sticky clay through it which probably 
carries off some of the fine gold. 
Values and mining. — The pay is known to extend for about 1 mile 
down the creek from a point due west of the mouth of Seattle Creek. 
The width of the pay is unknown. One cut 30 feet wide has been 
taken out, and it is known that the pay extends to both sides, rising 
on a low bench on the right (northwest). This cut is at the upper 
end of the pay streak. The gold is distributed through the gravel 
both to]) and bottom. It is w * shotty " and coarse, and much of it 
is very rough. Many pieces show crystal faces, and all the larger 
pieces and many of the smaller pieces contain quartz. In color the 
gold is more brassy than most of the gold of the region. A great 
many small crystals of pyrites occur in the 1 concentrates with the gold. 
So far the claim has been worked only by an open cut. but some 
of the gravel was thought to be deep enough to be workable by drift- 
ing and this method was to be tried during the winter of 1904-5. 
The water supply is small and a dam has been put in to collect the 
water so that sluicing can be carried on about half the time during 
an ordinary season. 
