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Portage Creek

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Barium-Barite
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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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002110
MRDS ID A013000
Record type Site
Current site name Portage Creek
Related records 10112571

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -154.04156, 60.36249 (WGS84)
Relative position Portage Creek, which flows southward, empties into Lake Clark. Mining extends from the mouth of Portage Creek to about 2.75 km upstream. This is locality 24 of Nelson and others (1985), locality 8 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977), and locality 9 of Cobb (1972). Sec. 7, 17, and 18 T. 3 N., R. 27 W., of the Seward Meridian.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lake and Peninsula(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Lake Clark B-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Lake Clark SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lake Clark C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lake Clark(hydrologic unit)

Kvichak-Port Heiden(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Lake Clark National Preserve(National Preserve)

National Preserve NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Barium-Barite Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Not applicable

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 Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Phyllite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -154.04156, 60.36249
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Bundtzen and Kline (1979) described the Portage Creek placer deposits. The stream gravels in the canyon (upper claims) are undergoing rapid transport by periodic floods which move large amounts of gravel and boulders. The stream gradient in the canyon drops about 500 ft/mile (100 m/km). Downstream from the canyon (lower claims) is a large alluvial fan delta. Former bedrock channels may be 120 ft (40 meters) or more in depth. The stream gradient in fan-delta complex drops about 200 ft/mile (40 m/km). Portage Creek is crossed by the NE-trending Lake Clark fault zone. Bundtzen and Kline (1979) indicate that the placer deposits formed in response to relatively short-term hydraulic events, contrasting with older, more developed heavy mineral placers of interior Alaska. Most or all gravel in the Portage Creek area are thawed.? Bedrock in the vicinity includes Tertiary volcanics (rhyolitic breccia, ash-flow tuff, flows and intrusive rocks - and subordinate mafic to intermediate flows) and late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic metamorphic rocks (Nelson and others, 1983; units Tv and MzPzm).? ?
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Bristol Bay

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = A total production figure for Portage Creek is not available. Probably no more than 1,000 oz of gold was produced since discovery in about 1900 (Bundtzen and Kline, 1979).

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = No reserves

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Early mining work was by primitive pick and shovel methods. Hydraulic methods were used between 1939 and 1958 utilizing an earthen dam, flume, hydraulic pipe, and hydraulically operated winch.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Bundtzen and Kline, 1979

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = Lode source of gold has not been found, but believed to be close. Site is in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 15-JUN-98 M.L. Miller U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 15-JUN-98 D.P. Bickerstaff 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.