Bear Creeks

Prospect 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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  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 10096774
MRDS ID A011570
Record type Site
Current site name Bear Creeks
Alternate or previous names Bear Creek
Related records 10185368

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -150.9428, 62.62954 (WGS84)
Relative position C. C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Fig. 42.-B(3)) show this placer prospect on Bear Creek, approximately 1.3 miles below confluence of the headwater tributaries, as unpatented placer claims extending from this point to confluence of Bear Creek and Tokositna River. Also shown by Reed and others (1978) as locality 89. This record also includes mineral occurrence at locality 44 of Reed and others (1978) on Bear Creek, below confluence with Wildhorse Creek. Location given here is near the center of the placer.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Talkeetna C-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Talkeetna NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Yentna River(hydrologic unit)

Susitna River(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

Alteration

  • (Local) Hydrothermal alteration is reported by C. C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) at this site. No detailed description of alteration mineralogy is given.

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) -150.9428, 62.62954

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Bench placer of Pleistocene (and older?) unconsolidated sediments (Smith, 1930) overlie bedrock of Mesozoic graywacke and argillite (KJs, Reed and Nelson, 1980). Hydrothermal alteration of the bedrock at head of creek is reported by Hawley C.C. and Associates, Inc. (1978). Hawley and Clark (1973, Plate 1) show the Dutch Creek lineament extending down Bear Creek. This feature represents one of the steeply dipping normal faults that Hawley and Clark (1973) suggest are controlling features for placer gold in the Yentna district. Reed and others (1978) report post-1970 mining activity on Bear Creek. ? Reed and others (1978) indicate that hydrothermally altered zones similar to those at the headwaters of Bear Creek are observed along Dollar (TL031) and Thunder Creeks (TL032, TL058), at the headwaters of Treasure (TL030) and Dutch (TL033) Creeks and at an unnamed locality east of McDoel Peak (TL053).
  • Age = Pleistocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The drainage has been prospected and mined by various surface methods including hand mining and dozer/sluice operations. Reed and others (1978) reported post-1970 mining activity. Current status is unknown.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

  • Deposit

    Hawley, C.C., and Clark, A.L., 1973, Geology and mineral deposits of the upper Chulitna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 758-A, p. 1-10, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000 and 1:500,000.

  • Deposit

    C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p., 7 plates.

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of reference to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-884, 106 p.

  • Deposit

    Reed, B.L., and Nelson, S.W., 1980, Geologic map of the Talkeetna quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-1174, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Smith, 1930

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

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.