Unnamed (on Bear Creek)

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002550
MRDS ID A013493
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (on Bear Creek)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.06333, 65.5394 (WGS84)
Relative position This occurrence is on Bear Creek, about a half-mile above the junction of Bob Creek. The map site is 200 feet north of the north end of the airstrip, in section 25, T. 2 N., R. 12 W., of the Kateel River Meridian. Cobb (1972, MF-389), location 15.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Northwest Arctic(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Candle C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Candle N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Candle(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Buckland River(hydrologic unit)

Northern Seward Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bournonite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Limonite alteration.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.06333, 65.5394

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Miller and Elliott (1969) report that galena, sphalerite and pyrite occur in andesite at the north end of the airstrip on Bear Creek. The sulfides occur in quartz-calcite veinlets and as disseminated grains in the andesite near a mafic syenite dike. The mineralized zone is about 200 feet wide and trends northwest. Gold can be panned from the limonite cap over the mineralized rock. Stream-sediment samples downstream from the mineralized zone indicate a lead-zinc-copper anomaly extending for about a mile. Soil samples from a drainage ditch above the deposit contain anomalous lead and zinc. Placer gold has been intermittently mined on Bear Creek, mostly downstream from the mineralized area. A polished section shows that arsenopyrite, bournonite and a little gold are present in the sulfide aggregate. This occurrence occurs entirely in Jurassic-Cretaceous andesite and has anomalously high values of antimony and gold. ? Seven rock samples were collected and analyzed by Miller and Elliot (1969). Gold values were all anomalous and varied from 0.4 to 3.0 ppm; silver varied from 1.5 to 150 ppm; arsenic varied from 500 to greater than 10,000 ppm; copper ranged from 50 to 1,000 ppm; lead ranged from 200 to greater than 20,000 ppm; and zinc varied from 700 to greater than 10,000 ppm.
  • Age = Jurassic - Cretaceous or younger.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairhaven

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The site has been visited and sampled by U.S. Geological Survey and ADGGS geologists. Several exploration companies have also visited the occurrence.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Miller and Elliott, 1969; Herreid, 1965

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Sulfides in altered andesite.
Deposit Other Comments = Not well enough exposed to evaluate potential of deposit.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 12-JAN-00 Williams, Anita U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.