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Boulder Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Tin, Tungsten, REE, REE
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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 10308724
Record type Site
Current site name Boulder Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -167.98343, 65.61125 (WGS84)
Relative position Boulder Creek drains northward to Lopp Lagoon from headwaters on the north flank of Cape Mountain, the upland promatory at Cape Prince of Wales. Detrital cassiterite is present from the upper reaches of the main drainage down to an elevation of about 100 feet. This is locality 23 of Cobb and Sainsbury (1972). Cobb (1975) summarized relevant references under the name 'Boulder Cr.'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Teller C-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Teller NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Teller(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Shishmaref(hydrologic unit)

Northern Seward Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Wales Native Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tin Critical Primary
Tungsten Critical Secondary
REE Critical Secondary
REE Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Monazite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Xenotime Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 123
USGS model code 39e
Deposit model name Alluvial placer Sn

Nearby scientific data

(1) -167.98343, 65.61125
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Boulder Creek drains across the north contact of the Late Cretaceous (78.8 +/- 2.9 my; Hudson and Arth, 1983. p. 769) Cape Mountain biotite granite where it intrudes Mississippian marble and limestone (Sainsbury, 1972). Detrital cassiterite is present throughout the steep and boulder-clogged headwater reaches but the placer deposits are best developed at lower elevations (100 to 250 foot surface elevations) where the stream gradient decreases and the drainage enters onto the coastal lowland. The upstream portions of this placer in Boulder Creek valley characteristically have a well defined, narrow (less than 80 feet wide) pay streak with an average tin content of one pound tin per cubic yard (based on 22 churn-drill holes; Mulligan, 1996, p. 19). The lower part of the placer, where the drainage enters onto the coastal lowland, is more dispersed, both laterally and vertically. Here pay can be 30 to 40 feet thick and 1,200 feet or more in width. The tin content of this more dispersed, lower part of the placer is less; 54 churn-drill holes indicate average grades of 0.5 pounds (or less) tin per cubic yard. This lower grade part of the deposit does not extend downstream below about 100 feet surface elevation. Beach deposits with shell fragments were encountered in some churn-drill holes from lower parts of the placer deposit (at about 80-100 feet elevation). Reworking of alluvial deposits by beach processes may be reponsible for the more dispersed character of this part of the placer (Mulligan and Thorne, 1959, p. 47-48). Some of the placer concentrates are radioactive. Seven samples had eU contents of 0.003 to 0.021 %. This radioactivity is approximately porportional to the amount of monazite and xenotime that is present. Most of the radioactivity may be due to thorium but traces of uranium were identified in the samples (Mulligan, 1966, p. 62).
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Port Clarence

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Not defined

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Churn-drill programs by USBM and a private company (Zender Gold Mining Company) were reported by Mulligan and Thorne (1959) and Mulligan (1966). The lower reach of Boulder Creek, from about 100 feet elevation to the stream mouth at Lopp Lagoon and including some adjacent parts of Lopp Lagoon, were explored by Molybdenum Corporation of America in 1938. This churn-drilling program reportedly found little tin (Mulligan, 1966, 21).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Heide and Sanford, 1948; Mulligan and Thorne, 1959; Mulligan, 1966

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Alluvial tin placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39e)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-MAY-1998 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.