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Heather Creek

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Arsenic, 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. Alteration
  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 10308150
Record type Site
Current site name Heather Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -160.61741, 55.17623 (WGS84)
Relative position This prospect is at an elevation of about 600 feet, on Unga Island approximately 5,000 feet due south of the top of Apollo Mountain (Wilson and others, 1988, locality 50). Location is accurate to within 1,200 feet. Heather Creek is not named on the A-2 topographic map.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Aleutians East(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Port Moller A-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Unga Island(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Port Moller(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Cold Bay(hydrologic unit)

Aleutian Islands(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Unga Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Mercury Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The main mineralized zone has been silicified, whereas the wall rocks exhibit strong argillization.

Nearby scientific data

(1) -160.61741, 55.17623
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Peterson and others (1982) described this occurrence as a northeast-striking quartz vein system containing quartz veins less than a foot in width. The system is discontinuous along a 2,500 foot strike length and includes a knob of brecciated and silicified andesite 100 feet wide and 1,000 feet long characterized by numerous quartz-filled vugs and limonitic shears. Pyrite is the only sulfide that has been identified. The veins system cuts andesite flows and tuffs of the late Eocene to early Oligocene Popof volcanic rocks (Wilson and others, 1995). Grab samples from the knob contained as much as 0.23 ppm gold, 10 ppm silver, 390 ppm arsenic, and 0.28 ppm mercury. Channel samples of the veins contained as much as 0.02 ppm gold, 3.8 ppm silver, and 0.35 ppm mercury. Ellis and Apel (1990) described the occurrence as a 50- to 150-foot-wide, totally silicified and brecciated fault zone exhibiting multiple episodes of brecciation and mineralization. The zone extends 7,000 feet on strike from the California vein adit (PM082) west-southwest to Heather Creek. Argillic alteration forms halos 5 to 100 feet wide in tuff or flow wall rock. Samples of silicified breccia collected at approximately 200-foot intervals at selected sites along the trend contained as much as 0.414 ppm gold, more than 100 ppm arsenic, and more than 1.0 ppm mercury.
  • Age = Eocene or younger.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Alaska Peninsula

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Resource Associates of Alaska and UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company mapped and sampled the prospect in 1981and 1982. Grab samples from the knob contained as much as 0.23 ppm gold, 10 ppm silver, 390 ppm arsenic, and 0.28 ppm mercury. Vein channel samples contained as much as 0.02 ppm gold, 3.8 ppm silver, and 0.35 ppm mercury. Battle Mountain Exploration collected 56 rock samples in 1990; these contained as much as 0.414 ppm gold, more than 100 ppm arsenic, and more than 1 ppm mercury.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Webber, B.S., Moss, J.M., Rutledge, F.A., and Sanford, R.S., 1946, Reconnaissance examinations of parts of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands southwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines, unpublished report of investigations, 40 p. (Unpublished report held by the U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage.)

  • Deposit

    Peterson, R.J., Lemmers, J., Handverger, P., Gallagher, J., Pilcher, R., East, J., Macleod, T., Bartels. E., 1982, Geology and precious metals potential Unga, Popof, and Korovin Islands, Shumagin Group, Aleutian Chain, Alaska: UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company report, 127 p., 5 map sheets, various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Wilson, F.H., White, W.H., and DuBois, G.D., 1988, Brief descriptions of mines, prospects, and mineral occurrences in the Port Moller and Stepovak Bay quadrangles, Alaska Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-666, 128 p., scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Ellis, W.T., and Apel, R.A., 1990, Unga/Alaska Peninsula 1990 final report, Battle Mountain Exploration Company report, 49 p., 29 map sheets at various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Wilson, F.H., Detterman, R.L., Miller, J. W., and Case, J.E., 1995, Geologic map of the Port Moller, Stepovak Bay, and Simeonof Island quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigation Series Map I-2272, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Ellis and Apel, 1990

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Epithermal gold veins

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 20-JAN-01 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.