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Bear Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Mercury
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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 10308998
MRDS ID A013421
Record type Site
Current site name Bear Creek
Related records 10283004, 10002484

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -159.77483, 61.05433 (WGS84)
Relative position Bear Creek is a large, northeast headwater tributary to the Tuluksak River. Placer mining took place along about 5.6 miles of Bear Creek from 1.1 miles above the mouth of Bonanza Creek in the Russian Mission A-2 quadrangle, to 4.5 miles below Bonanza Creek. The map site is about half way between Spruce Creek and Bonanza Creek, in the SE1/4 sec. 8, T. 11 N., R. 59 W., of the Seward Meridian. This is locality 20 of Hoare and Cobb (1972, 1977).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Bethel(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Russian Mission A-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Russian Mission SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Russian Mission(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Kuskokwim Delta(hydrologic unit)

Lower Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Calista Corporation(ANCSA Region)

ANCSA Region NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Mercury Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
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) Jab
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Paying quantities of placer gold were discovered on Bear Creek in 1907 or 1908 (Maddren, 1915). Mining has taken place at least discontinuously over about 5.6 miles of the drainage. Continuous dredge tailings have been shown on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps (1952 and 1979 editions) from 1.5 miles below to 1.1 miles above the mouth of Bonanza Creek. The active flood plain of Bear Creek is incised 10 to 100 feet into alluvial valley fill deposits, but the gravels in the flood plain are apparently only 3 to 8 feet thick, at least in places (Maddren, 1915). The flood-plain deposits consist of coarse gravels containing large cobbles and boulders. Much of the mining on Bear Creek was by dredging, which started in 1926 and continued through most years until WWII. Mining restarted after WWII and continued up to about 1964. The most recent mining was from 1973 until at least 1991 (Bundtzen and others, 1991). The dredge concentrates from below the mouth of Bonanza Creek contained considerable cinnabar. Although early reports described bedrock as granitic rock cut by diabase dikes (Maddren, 1915), recent mapping shows most of the drainage to be underlain by Jurassic volcanic rocks locally intruded by mid-Cretaceous granitic rocks (Box and others, 1993). It is possible that small granitic dikes, plugs, or stocks are present in bedrock below alluvium along the creek.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Aniak

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Bear Creek was mined at least intermittently during the periods 1909-1940, 1946-1964, and 1973-1991. Maddren (1915) reports that the early years of mining produced about $35,000 or about 1,750 ounces of gold from Bear Creek and its tributaries.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The deposits were worked by hand methods, open cuts, and dredging. Mining has taken place at least discontinuously over about 5.6 miles of the drainage. Continuous dredge tailings have been shown on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps (1952 and 1979 editions) from 1.5 miles below to 1.1 miles above the mouth of Bonanza Creek. Road and electric transmission lines parallel Bear Creek upstream to Bonanza Creek.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Maddren, A.G., 1915, Gold placers of the lower Kuskokwim with a note on copper in the Russian Mountains: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-H, p. 292-360.

  • Deposit

    Hoare, J M., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-444, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Hoare, J.M., and Cobb, E.H., 1977, Mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bethel, Goodnews, and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-156, 98 p.

  • Deposit

    Box, S.E, Moll-Stalcup, E.J., Frost, T.P., and Murphy, J.M., 1993, Preliminary geologic map of the Bethel and southern Russian Mission quadrangles, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2226-A, 20 p., scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Wood, J.E., Clough, A.H., 1991 (1992), Alaska's Mineral Industry 1991: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 46, 89 p.

  • Deposit

    Hoare, J M., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-444, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Maddren, 1915

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUN-2001 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology
Reporter 10-JUN-2001 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

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.