Ptarmigan Creek Tributary of Birch Creek

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Mineral occurrence model information
Nearby scientific data
Ore body information
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10003669
MRDS ID	A106440
Record type	Site
Current site name	Ptarmigan Creek Tributary of Birch Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-145.52183, 65.43972 (WGS84)
Relative position	SEE LOCATION COMMENTS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Circle B-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Circle SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Circle C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country	State
United States	Alaska

Comments on the location information

PTARMIGAN CREEK IS A TRIBUTARY OF BIRCH CREEK. IT FLOWS SOUTH FROM PORCUPINE DOME AND CROSSES THE STEESE HIGHWAY IN THE NW1/4 NE1/4 SEC. 17, T. 7 N., R. 11 E.

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary

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)	PzPxyqs	ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

General form SEE DEPOSIT DESCRIPTION COMMENTS

General form	SEE DEPOSIT DESCRIPTION COMMENTS

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Occurrence
Commodity type	Metallic
Significant	No

Comments on exploration

Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name	Circle

Comments on the workings information

KNOWN YEARS OF ACTIVITY ARE 1925, 1953, 1954 AND 1969 THROUGH 1982 (MENZIE AND OTHERS, 1983, P. 51).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A106440
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	CI048

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Burand, W. M., 1965, A geochemical investigation between Chatanika and Circle hot springs, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geochemical Report 5, 11 p.
Deposit

Menzie, W. D., Foster, H. L., Tripp, R.B., and Yeend, W. E., 1983, Mineral resource assessment of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-170-B, 61 p., 1 sheet, 1:250,000.
Deposit

Wiltse, M. A., Reger, R. D., Newberry, R. J, Pessel, G. H., Pinney, D. S., Robinson, M. S., and Solie, D. N., 1995, Bedrock geologic map of the Circle mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 95-2b, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.
Deposit

Lampright, R. L., 1996, Gold placer deposits near Fairbanks Alaska: Iron Fire Publications, Nederland, Colorado, 135 p.

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	HEADWATERS OF PTARMIGAN CREEK ARE ON THE SOUTH SLOPES OF PORCUPINE DOME. BEDROCK UNDERLYING PTARMIGAN CREEK IS THE UPPER QUARTZITE AND UPPER SCHIST UNITS MAPPED BY WILTSE AND OTHERS (1995). THE UPPER QUARTZITE CONSISTS OF PORPHYROBLASTIC-ALBITE-CHLORITE-MUSCOVITE-QUARTZ SCHIST, QUARTZITES AND MICACEOUS QUARTZITES. THE UPPER SCHIST IS A MIXED UNIT DOMINATED BY VARIABLY GARNETIFEROUS, PELITIC QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST, MUSCOVITE-QUARTZ SCHIST AND CHLORITE-QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST WITH DISTINCT INTERVALS OF GARNETIFEROUS CALCAREOUS ALBITE-PORPHYROBLASTIC MUSCOVITE-CHLORITE SCHIST. SEDIMENTS ARE SAID TO CONTAIN LARGE AMOUNTS OF COPPER (BURAND, 1965). GOLD CAN BE READILY PANNED FROM THE THIN VENEER OF GRAVELS ON THE BEDROCK IN PTARMIGAN CREEK JUST UPSTREAM FROM ITS JUNCTION WITH EAGLE CREEK (LAMPRIGHT, 1996, P. 75). KNOWN YEARS OF ACTIVITY ARE 1925, 1953, 1954 AND 1969 THROUGH 1982 (MENZIE AND OTHERS, 1983, P. 51).

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

HEADWATERS OF PTARMIGAN CREEK ARE ON THE SOUTH SLOPES OF PORCUPINE DOME. BEDROCK UNDERLYING PTARMIGAN CREEK IS THE UPPER QUARTZITE AND UPPER SCHIST UNITS MAPPED BY WILTSE AND OTHERS (1995). THE UPPER QUARTZITE CONSISTS OF PORPHYROBLASTIC-ALBITE-CHLORITE-MUSCOVITE-QUARTZ SCHIST, QUARTZITES AND MICACEOUS QUARTZITES. THE UPPER SCHIST IS A MIXED UNIT DOMINATED BY VARIABLY GARNETIFEROUS, PELITIC QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST, MUSCOVITE-QUARTZ SCHIST AND CHLORITE-QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST WITH DISTINCT INTERVALS OF GARNETIFEROUS CALCAREOUS ALBITE-PORPHYROBLASTIC MUSCOVITE-CHLORITE SCHIST. SEDIMENTS ARE SAID TO CONTAIN LARGE AMOUNTS OF COPPER (BURAND, 1965). GOLD CAN BE READILY PANNED FROM THE THIN VENEER OF GRAVELS ON THE BEDROCK IN PTARMIGAN CREEK JUST UPSTREAM FROM ITS JUNCTION WITH EAGLE CREEK (LAMPRIGHT, 1996, P. 75). KNOWN YEARS OF ACTIVITY ARE 1925, 1953, 1954 AND 1969 THROUGH 1982 (MENZIE AND OTHERS, 1983, P. 51).

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	01-SEP-1998	C.J. Freeman, J.R. Guidetti Schaefer, A.S. Clements	Avalon Development Corporation

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

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