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Bird Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Tungsten, Bismuth, Antimony, Tin
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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 10309028
MRDS ID A011576
Record type Site
Current site name Bird Creek
Alternate or previous names St. Louis Channel
Related records 10185428, 10100570

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -150.90779, 62.56954 (WGS84)
Relative position C. C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978, Fig.4.2-B(3)) locate the Bird Creek high channel deposit (St. Louis Channel) on a tributary to Peters Creek in the southeast quarter of Section 26 , T. 29 N., R. 9 W., of the Seward Meridian.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Matanuska-Susitna(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Talkeetna C-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Talkeetna NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Talkeetna(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Yentna River(hydrologic unit)

Susitna River(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Tungsten Critical Primary
Bismuth Critical Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary
Tin Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Copper Ore
Gold Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Scheelite 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) -150.90779, 62.56954
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Capps (1912) indicates that the present Bird Creek, which flows into Peters Creek, appears to have captured a drainage which at a previous time may have flowed into the ancestral Cache Creek drainage. This Pleistocene glaciofluvial channel, at its base, is almost 100 feet above and sub-parallel to the Bird Creek and rests on broken, decayed slate overlain by a yellow-stained basal gravel and 50 to 75 feet of glacial mud containing angular boulders (Capps, 1912). The channel is auriferous throughout, but especially in the basal gravel (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978; Hawley and Clark, 1973). Concentrates contain pyrite, arsenopyrite, magnetite, scheelite, and a small amount of native copper (Cobb and Reed, 1980). Clark and Hawley (1968) report the fineness of the gold to range between 835 1/2 and 879 1/4, averaging 859. Significant resources may be left in the high channels, bench deposits and tributaries (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). These placer workings probably contain some gold that is the downstream concentration from antimony, tin and bismuth in arsenopyrite-scheelite- gold-quartz veins in the Bradley Scheelite/Bird Creek prospect (TL038). Also see Peters Creek (TL045); other Pleistocene glaciofluvial placer deposits in the district are Windy Creek (TL027) and Nugget Creek (TL035), both tributaries to Cache Creek. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that lode deposits also occur in the Colby (TL037) and Nugget Creek (TL035) drainages.
  • Age = Pleistocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Yentna

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Values on the pay section are up to $50/yard (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Significant resources may be left in the high channels, bench deposits and tributaries (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Workings in 1976 consisted of 3 shallow pits, approximately 500 feet by 250 feet, 400 feet by 300 feet, and 400 feet by 200 feet . The St. Louis Channel was mined in the late 1970's and drilled in 1942 by Calumet and Hecla Copper Mining Co. (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = Significant resources may be left in the high channels, bench deposits and tributaries (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). These placer workings probably contain some gold that is the downstream concentration from veins in the Bradley Scheelite/Bird Creek prospect (TL038). Also see Peters Creek (TL045); other glaciofluvial deposits in the district are at Windy Creek (TL027);and Nugget Creek (TL035), both tributaries to Cache Creek.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-AUG-1998 Madelyn A. Millholland Millholland & Associates

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.