Pass Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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. 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 10003595
MRDS ID A106353
Record type Site
Current site name Pass Creek
Alternate or previous names Cash Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -154.6966, 60.74637 (WGS84)
Relative position Prospect is along an east to southeast flowing tributary of Bonanza Creek. This locality is plotted according to Jasper's (1961) map of the Bonanza Creek area. The Pass Creek on the USGS Lake Clark D-5 topographic map is labeled by Jasper (1961) as Cash Creek. This is locality 8 of Cobb (1972) and locality 7 of MacKevett and Holloway (1977). NE1/4 sec. 34, T. 8 N., R. 31 W., of the Seward Meridian. Location accurate to within 800 m.

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 C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

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

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

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Mulchatna River(hydrologic unit)

Nushagak River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -154.6966, 60.74637

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Pass Creek is a placer gold deposit. Jasper (1961) reported: evidence indicates that glacial scouring was not an important erosional factor in this area, it is believed that pre-glacial alluvials were undisturbed, and that placer gold concentrations remain more or less as originally deposited along the creek . The valley surface width varies from 300 to 700 feet with an average width of 400 feet. The valley alluvials are mostly uniform gravels with some boulders, interpreted as reworked glacial deposits. Bedrock is shale, argillite, and graywacke cut by porphyritic granitic dikes. The sediments strike N 40 to 45 E, and dip varies from 60 to 75 SW.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Bristol Bay

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Details unknown.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = No reserves

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Jasper (1961) reports a little ground sluicing. Pass (Cash) Creek reportedly (unconfirmed) has the coarsest gold in the Bonanza Creek area.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • 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 Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-485.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska - Supplement to Open-File Report 76-485: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-1343-A, 25 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Iliamna, Lake Clark, Lime Hills, and McGrath quadrangles, Alaska - Supplement to Open-File Report 76-485: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-1343-B, 20 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.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Jasper, 1961

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = Some confusion may occur from mistaken tributary names. Pass Creek on the USGS Lake Clark D-5 topographic map is labeled by Jasper (1961) as Cash Creek. Essentially part of the Bonanza Creek placer deposit.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 15-JUN-1998 D.P. Bickerstaff U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.