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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Bear Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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. 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 10308974
MRDS ID A015005
Record type Site
Current site name Bear Creek
Related records 10160410, 10002570

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -156.13481, 63.56936 (WGS84)
Relative position Bear Creek is a small, northeast-flowing headwater tributary to Graham Creek. The coordinates are for the approximate midpoint of mining at Bear Creek, on a bench between Bear Creek and Cripple Creek in sec. 22, T. 22 S., R. 14 E., Kateel River Meridian. Bear Creek is locality 7 of Cobb (1972 [MF 367]). The location is accurate within 1/2 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Yukon-Koyukuk(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

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

Ophir NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ophir(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

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -156.13481, 63.56936
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Bear Creek area is underlain by chert, argillite, and volcaniclastic rocks. The upper portion of Cripple Creek, a nearby tributary to Graham Creek, is underlain by volcanic graywacke and conglomerate. The headwaters of Cripple Creek drain a small monzonite pluton. The rocks along the lower part of Cripple Creek are chert, argillite, and volcaniclastic strata; in the upper part of the creek, these rocks are in fault contact with structurally overlying volcanic graywacke and conglomerate (Chapman and others, 1985). Mining along Bear Creek took place on a bench between Cripple and Bear creeks. Placer mining was intermittent from 1922 until 1961, and again from 1970 until at least 1991(Brooks and Capps, 1924; Smith, 1939 [B 910-A]; Smith, 1942; White and Killeen, 1953; Cobb, 1972 [MF 367]; Cobb, 1973 [OFR 76-576]; Bundtzen and others, 1990; Bundtzen and others, 1992). The average fineness of gold is 901 (Metz and Hawkins, 1981). Production from Bear Creek prior to 1961 was at least 10,412 ounces of gold and 1,150 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Innoko

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Production from Bear Creek prior to 1961 was at least 10,412 ounces of gold and 1,150 ounces of silver (Bundtzen and others, 1987).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer mining was intermittent from 1922 until 1961, and again from 1970 until at least 1991(Brooks and Capps, 1924; Smith, 1939 [B 910-A]; Smith, 1942; White and Killeen, 1953; Cobb, 1972 [MF 367]; Cobb, 1973 [OFR 76-576]; Bundtzen and others, 1990; Bundtzen and others, 1992).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1976 (OFR 76-576)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = See also Cripple Creek (OP005).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 07-AUG-01 Cameron, C.E. Northern Associates Inc.

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.