FOR SALE · REDEMPTION MINING LLC & SMF MINING LLC
A 2,124-acre gold claim block on White Creek and Valdez Creek, Alaska
59 active mining claims, 28 federal and 31 state, beside the historic Valdez Creek Mine, once North America's largest placer gold mine. Next door, an active mine has applied to expand its operation.
Location: 63°11'03"N 147°17'32"W
Property Details — Valdez Creek Mining District
The claims lie in the Valdez Creek Mining District in the Clearwater Mountains of the Alaska Range, about 50 miles east of Cantwell. Access is by the Denali Highway to milepost 79, then Valdez Creek Road; the highway is open about mid-May to 1 October. The block covers 2,124 acres: 28 unpatented federal placer claims held by Redemption Mining LLC (884 acres) and 31 adjacent Alaska State claims held by SMF Mining LLC (1,240 acres), all active.
The neighbouring Valdez Creek Mine was worked by Denali Mining Company from 1979 to 1983, then from 1984 by the Valdez Creek Joint Venture, later led by Cambior (Valdez Creek Mining Co., Inc.). It recovered 459,162 oz of refined gold from 1984 to 1995 before operations stopped. It has no connection to the active mine operating next door today. Historic work on White Creek itself was small and intermittent, and the pay gravel lies deep below the water table, beyond what early miners could pump.
Claim Details
Why this ground
01
Proven District
The neighbouring Valdez Creek Mine was Alaska's largest gold mine for 12 years and North America's largest placer gold mine by 1992.
02
Barely Touched
Historic work on White Creek was small and intermittent. The pay gravel lies deep, below the water table, beyond what early miners could pump.
03
Local Gold Source
A 2023 University of Alaska Fairbanks study matched placer gold from the current operation to hard-rock gold from Lucky Hill, about 1–2 miles from the claims.
Valdez Creek Mining District
Gold was discovered on Valdez Creek in 1903. The district's Valdez Creek Mine, operated by Denali Mining Company (1979–1983), then the Valdez Creek Joint Venture and later Cambior, was Alaska's largest gold mine from 1984 to 1995 before it closed. A separate, unrelated mine has operated beside the claims since 2013 and has applied to expand.
Regional Access
Road access from the Denali Highway at milepost 79, then Valdez Creek Road. The highway is mostly gravel and open about mid-May to 1 October.
Infrastructure
The nearest towns and supply points are Cantwell, about 50 miles west on the Parks Highway, and Paxson on the Richardson Highway.
Exploration History
A 1997 calculation estimated 48,424 troy oz of geologic reserves, and 14 holes were drilled on White Creek in 1999. These are historic figures, not a current mineral resource.
At a Glance
Claims: 28 federal placer claims (BLM) and 31 Alaska State claims (DNR), all active. Area: 2,124 acres (about 3.3 square miles). Location: Fairbanks Meridian T20S R2E, Valdez Creek Mining District. Creeks: White Creek and Valdez Creek, toward Lucky Gulch. Owners: Redemption Mining LLC (federal claims); SMF Mining LLC (state claims).
KEY FACTS
The Case for White Creek and Valdez Creek
Proven track record next door
• Historic era, 1984–1995: the Valdez Creek Mine (also called the Denali Mine), operated by the Valdez Creek Joint Venture and later Cambior, recovered 459,162 oz of refined gold, roughly 18% of Alaska's gold output over those 12 years.
• Record year: nearly 102,000 oz of gold in its best single year.
• Largest of its kind: the largest placer gold mine in North America by 1992, and Alaska's largest gold mine for 12 years.
• Modern era, 2013–present: a separate active mine, with no link to the historic operators, works beside the claims and applied to the BLM in 2025 to expand to 17 claims and 80 acres.
Gold left in the ground
• 627,000 oz were still reported in the historic mine's buried-channel reserves when it paused in 1989.
• A 1953 state mining report named White Creek, Lucky Gulch and Rusty Creek as the source of most of Valdez Creek's gold, and said White Creek "probably still holds a large volume of placer gravel."
• A 1970 USGS study found that not all of the old buried channels were mined out, and that a large volume of bench gravel remained.
Why it was never fully worked
• Most early miners had no mining background and worked only the obvious ground.
• The terrain made hauling heavy equipment in nearly impossible.
• Crews left before snow instead of wintering over, so side creeks went unprospected.
• White Creek's pay gravel lies below the water table and needs constant pumping. Modern pumps make that routine.
Access and setting
• Road access: Denali Highway to milepost 79, near the Susitna River bridge, then Valdez Creek Road to the old Denali mining camp.
• Season: the Denali Highway is mostly gravel and generally open mid-May to about 1 October.
• Regional context: the Golden Zone hard-rock deposit (267,400 oz gold Indicated, 2017) lies about 72 miles west in the same mining district.
THE CLAIMS
The Claims
The offer covers 59 active mining claims forming one continuous block of about 2,124 acres along White Creek and Valdez Creek, Fairbanks Meridian T20S R2E.
- 28 unpatented federal placer claims, Redemption Mining LLC: 884 recorded acres, all active with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM legacy serials AKAA 020174 to AKAA 054323).
- 31 Alaska State mining claims, SMF Mining LLC: 40 acres each, 1,240 acres in total, all active with Alaska DNR (ADL 596402 to ADL 596432, claims G H M 1–32).
Claim boundaries and status from BLM and Alaska DNR records, October 2026. Reference only, not a legal survey. Buyers should confirm title and claim status with BLM and Alaska DNR.
SECURE CLAIM INTEREST
Interested in the White Creek claim block? Tell us a little about yourself and your plans, and we will send the claim documents, maps and drilling data.