Matanuska River

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10003487
MRDS ID A106245
Record type Site
Current site name Matanuska River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -148.48266, 61.77957 (WGS84)
Relative position Fine placer gold can be found along the entire length of the Matanuska River. Latitude and longitude coordinates provided place the occurrence near the midpoint of the Matanuska River. The river flows through the Anchorage D-3, D-4, D-5, C-5, and C-6 1:63,360-scale topographic maps.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Anchorage D-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Anchorage NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Anchorage C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Matanuska(hydrologic unit)

Knik Arm(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Nearby scientific data

(1) -148.48266, 61.77957

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Mendenhall (1900) reports that all along the Matanuska River fine colors of placer gold can be found.
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Willow Creek

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Stream sediment sampling.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Mendenhall, W.C., 1900, A reconnaissance from Resurrection Bay to the Tanana River, Alaska, in 1898: U.S. Geological Survey 20th Annual Report, part 7, p. 265-340.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials in the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1095, 184 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mendenhall, 1900

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = Very general location and deposit information.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 30-JUL-1998 D.P. Bickerstaff U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 30-JUL-1998 S.W. Huss 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.