Bear Creek (ARDF #CA026) Au

Bear Creek

Mine, Inactive

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Au
Other commodities	Ag; Ir; Os; Pb; Pd; Pt; Rh; Ru; Zn
Ore minerals	gold; platinum; pyrite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	CA
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	C-5
Latitude	65.55
Longitude	-161.08
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	The Bear Creek placer mine is along about a mile of Bear Creek between Polar and Bob Creek. The coordinates are for the camp at the junction of Split Creek, on the boundary of sections 23 and 24, T. 2 N., R. 12 W., of the Kateel River Meridian. Cobb, 1972 (MF-389), locations 29 and 30. Also see Additional comments.

Geologic setting

Geologic description Bedrock in the mine area is predominately altered, Jurassic andesitic tuff and greenstone which are cut by mafic and felsic dikes. Quartz and calcite veins carry disseminated sulfides. Breccia zones in greenstones also carry disseminated sulfides and have a thin, oxidized cap which carries some gold. Abundant heavy, red, cherty rock in the placer concentrate occurs as crosscutting veins and irregular masses in greenstone. At the Bear Creek gold placer flaky gold and platinum occur on bedrock or in cracks in upper several inches of bedrock. During mining bedrock must be thoroughly cleaned since much of the gold is close to or in cracks in bedrock. The bedrock surface is very irregular. Concentrates contained gold, platinum, magnetite, hematite, pyrite, garnet and chrome spinel (Harrington, 1919). The gold was flaky and worth $19.20 per ounce in 1905. Analysis of platinum minerals from placer concentrate gave the following results: 72.82% Pt; 15.58% Ir, 8.17% Os, 2.29% Ru, 0.78% Rh, and 0.36% Pd (Moffit, 1905).
Geologic map unit	(-161.082656756044, 65.5493315272769)
Mineral deposit model	Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Mineral deposit model number	39a
Age of mineralization	Quaternary.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	Small-scale placer mining has been done on Bear Creek since the early 1900s, continuing intermittently until at least the 1960s. Most of the mining has been above and below Split Creek (Herreid, 1965).
Indication of production	Yes; small
Additional comments Some of the names associated with early mining claims are: Douglass and Edwards, Douglass and Milligrock, Hoxie, Tendness and Barr, Porter, and Wright. Prospecting work was done near the airstrip in 1964 (Herreid, 1965).

References

MRDS Number	A015716; M045826
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Cass, J.T., 1959, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Candle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-287, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Cathcart, S.H., 1920, Mining in northwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-G, p. 185-198. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Candle Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-389, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p. Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Candle, Holy Cross, Norton Bay, Nulato, and Unalakleet quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-866, 102 p. Eakin, H.M., 1915, Placer mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-I, p. 366-373. Gault, H.R., Killeen, P.L., West, W.S., and others, 1953, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in the northeastern part of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 1945-47 and 1951: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 250, 31 p. Harrington, G.L., 1919, The gold and platinum placers of the Kiwalik-Koyuk region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-G, p. 369-400. Harrington, G.L., 1921, Mining on Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714-F, p. 229-237. Henshaw, F.F., 1909, Mining in the Fairhaven precinct: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379-F, p. 355-369. Herreid, G.H., 1965, Geology of the Bear Creek area, Seward Peninsula, Candle quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geological Report 12, 16 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:40,000. Martin, G.C., 1919, Alaska Mining Industry in 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-A, p. 11-42. Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52. 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Smith, P.S., 1908, Investigations of mineral deposits of Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 345-E, p. 206-250. Smith, P.S., 1926, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1924: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 783-A, p. 1-30. Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927 and Administrative Report: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64. Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72. Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81. Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83. Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82. Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94. Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868 A, p. 1-91. Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880 A, p. 1-95. Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897 A, p. 1-107. Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910 A, p. 1-113. Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113. Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926 A, p. 1-106. Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102. Smith, P.S., and Eakin, H.M., 1910, Mineral resources of the Nulato-Council region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442-H, p. 316-352. 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Reporters	Anita Williams (Anchorage, AK)
Last report date	1/12/2000