Big Squaw Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Molybdenum, Lead, Antimony, Thorium, Uranium

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Materials information
Mineral occurrence model information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
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	10001764
MRDS ID	A012552
Record type	Site
Current site name	Big Squaw Creek
Alternate or previous names	Squaw Creek
Related records	10282151

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-148.22329, 67.53973 (WGS84)
Relative position	Big Squaw Creek (Squaw Creek on the modern topographic map) drains the area of the Chandalar gold lodes and terminates at Squaw Lake. The reference point for this property is on the upper creek approximately 4 miles south of Squaw Lake and 0.7 mile southwest of Little Squaw Peak (sec. 4, T. 32 N., R. 3 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian). The location is accurate within a 1/4-mile radius.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chandalar C-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Chandalar N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chandalar C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country	State
United States	Alaska

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary
Silver	Secondary
Molybdenum	Secondary
Lead	Secondary
Antimony Critical	Secondary
Thorium	Secondary
Uranium	Secondary

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Gold	Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code	119
USGS model code	39a
Deposit model name	Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number	54

Host and associated rocks

Host or associated Host

Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Host or associated	Host
Rock type	Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-148.22329, 67.53973	ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

Geologic Description = Squaw Creek cuts through the Chandalar lode gold district, and the placer gold occurrences in this area are generally attributed to direct weathering of the gold-bearing veins. In spite of the proximity of Squaw Creek to the gold-bearing veins, most of the placer mining activity on this creek appears to have been limited to an area near the head of the creek (Chipp, 1970). This area on the upper creek, just below the Jupiter claim on the Eneveloe prospect (CH046), was mined, although there was little gravel in the creek bed and in places the creek was running on bedrock. On the lower creek early efforts at mining the deeper gravels were thwarted as the gravels were thawed and the shafts were flooded. The gold that has been produced was in thin gravels along an irregular bedrock surface. The gravels are coarse and subangular with numerous greenstone boulders and slabs of schist. Glacial damming and disruption of drainage has created both pre- and post-glacial generations of placers. the placer concentrates contain gold, pyrite, arsenopyrite, stibnite, monazite, uranothorianite, galena, molybdenite, and zircon.
Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic

Comments on exploration

Status = Not determined

Mining district

District name	Chandalar

Comments on the production information

Production Notes = No production data available.

Comments on the workings information

Workings / Exploration = Small-scale surface workings, by hand methods only. Mining in 1923 was in gravel 3 to 4 feet deep. Mining was reported as late as 1928, but there is no information on any later activity.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A012552
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	CH047

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Maddren, A.G., 1913, The Koyukuk-Chandalar region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 532, 119 p.
Deposit

Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1925, Geology and gold placers of the Chandalar district, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 215-263.
Deposit

Smith, P.S., 1926, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1924: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783-A, p. 1-39.
Deposit

Reed, I.M., 1929, Report on mining conditions in the Chandalar district: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-3, 5 p.
Deposit

Reed, I.M., 1930, Report on the Little Squaw area of the Chandalar mining district: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 31-4, 18 p.
Deposit

Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813, p. 1-72.
Deposit

Roehm, J.C., 1949, Report of mining activities in the Chandalar district, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Itinerary Report 31-2, 1 p.
Deposit

Nelson, A.E., West, W.S., and Matsko, J.J., 1954, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in eastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 348, 21 p.
Deposit

Overstreet, W.C., 1967, The geologic occurrence of monazite: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 530, 327 p.
Deposit

Heiner, L.E., and Wolff, E.N., eds., 1968, Mineral resources of northern Alaska, Final report, submitted to the NORTH Commission: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska, Report 16, 306 p.
Deposit

Chipp, E.R., 1970, Geology and geochemistry of the Chandalar area, Brooks Range, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 42, 39 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:36,000.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-457, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

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

Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Chandalar and Wiseman quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-340, 205 p.
Deposit

Eakins, G.R. and Forbes, R.B., 1976, Investigation of Alaska's uranium potential: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 12, 372 p., 5 sheets, scale 1:1,000,000.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1977, Placer deposit map of central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168B, 64 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.
Deposit

DeYoung, J.H., Jr., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-878-B, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Dillon, J.T., 1982, Source of lode and placer gold deposits of the Chandalar and upper Koyukuk Districts: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 158, 25 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., and Cruz, E.L., 1983, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Chandalar quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-278, 91 p.
Deposit

Bundtzen, T.K., Green, C.B., Deagen, J., and Daniels, C.L., 1987, Alaska's mineral industry, 1986: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 40, 68 p.
Deposit

Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T.K., and Wood, J.E., 1991, Alaska's Mineral Industry 1990: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 45, 78 p.
Deposit

Swainbank, R.C., Bundtzen, T. K., Clough A.H., and Henning, M.W., 1997, Alaska's mineral industry 1996: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 51, 68 p.

Comments on the references

Primary Reference = Mertie, 1925

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit	Other Comments = A sediment sample from the middle fork of Big Squaw Creek showing 0.001 percent eU contained trace monazite, uranothorianite, pyrite, galena, and rare molybdenite, and zircon (Nelson and others, 1954, p. 16, 18, table 10, sample 4638). This creek was called 'Big Squaw Creek' by A.G. Maddren (1913) in 1909. Uranothorianite in concentrates indicates a possible uraniferous lode deposit in the drainage; potentially mineable U and/or Th deposits are not known in the quadrangle. See also: Little Squaw Creek (CH039).

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Deposit

Other Comments = A sediment sample from the middle fork of Big Squaw Creek showing 0.001 percent eU contained trace monazite, uranothorianite, pyrite, galena, and rare molybdenite, and zircon (Nelson and others, 1954, p. 16, 18, table 10, sample 4638). This creek was called 'Big Squaw Creek' by A.G. Maddren (1913) in 1909. Uranothorianite in concentrates indicates a possible uraniferous lode deposit in the drainage; potentially mineable U and/or Th deposits are not known in the quadrangle. See also: Little Squaw Creek (CH039).

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	17-NOV-1999	J.M. Britton	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

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