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Port Heiden

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Iron, Titanium, Gold
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10001675
MRDS ID A012454
Record type Site
Current site name Port Heiden

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -159.10249, 56.79928 (WGS84)
Relative position This site represents 20 miles of beach placers on the northwest coast of the Alaska Peninsula between the Seal Islands and Port Heiden (Cobb, 1973: B-1374, locality 5; MacKevett and Holloway 1977, locality 4; Cobb, 1980: OFR 80-909, locality 4).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chignik D-4 SE(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Chignik NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chignik(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Titanium Critical Primary
Gold Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 121
USGS model code 39c
Deposit model name Shoreline placer Ti

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -159.10249, 56.79928
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This occurrence consists of beach placer deposits of ilmenite and titaniferous magnetite in narrow spits and bars along the outer shores of low-lying mudflats. The beaches are sandy gravel, often loosely packed.? Twenty-four auger samples were collected along this 20-mile section (Berryhill, 1963). They were screened, tabled, and run through a magnetic separator. In the magnetic fraction iron content ranged from 2.2 to 103.6 pounds per cubic yard, and the titanium oxide content ranged from 0.6 to 21.9 pounds. In the non-magnetic fraction the titanium oxide content ranged from 0 to 1.2 pounds per cubic yard. A trace of flour gold was present in 5 samples.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Alaska Peninsula

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The magnetic fraction of 24 auger samples collected in 1963 contained 2.2 to 103.6 pounds iron and 0.6 to 21.9 pounds titanium oxide per cubic yard. The non-magnetic fraction contained 0 to1.2 pounds titanium oxide per cubic yard.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Berryhill, R.V., 1963, Reconnaissance of beach sands, Bristol Bay, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 6214, 48 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in fifteen quadrangles in southwestern and west-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-909, 103 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Chignik quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-374, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Berryhill, 1963

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Shoreline placer titanium (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39c)
Deposit Other Comments = This site is located on state land, part of which is in the Port Heiden Critical Habitat Area.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 08-FEB-2000 S.H. Pilcher U.S. Geological Survey

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.