Bear Creek (ARDF #JU219) Asbestos

Bear Creek

Prospect, Probably inactive

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Asbestos
Ore minerals	tremolite asbestos

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	JU
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	B-3
Latitude	58.2593
Longitude	-134.8102
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	The Bear Creek prospect is at an elevation of about 200 feet on a north-flowing tributary of Bear Creek. It is 3.5 miles south of Lone Mountain and 2 miles east of the head of Funter Bay. It is near the center of the NE1/4 section 5, T. 42 S., R. 65 E. of the Copper River Meridian. The location is accurate within 1/4 mile.

Geologic setting

Geologic description This prospect is in amphibole-mica schist, and consists of a vertical layer, 18 inches thick of tremolite asbestos that strikes N 45 W and can be traced on the surface for 60 feet (Race and Rose, 1967; Wells and others, 1986). The deposit contains veins of cross-fiber asbestos 0.75 inch thick and 6 to 8 inches long (Cobb, 1978 [OFR 78-374]). Prior to 1930, the Alaska Asbestos Company, Inc. dug an opencut across the belt of tremolite schist, and constructed a road from the beach to the property (Roehm, 1943). The rocks in the general area are mainly Ordovician and Devonian to Triassic clastic units, mafic-intermediate volcanic rocks, and subordinate limestone. The bedded rocks are intruded and locally metamorphosed by Cretaceous granodiorite (Gehrels and Berg, 1994).
Geologic map unit	(-134.811990546486, 58.2589653628682)

Geologic description

This prospect is in amphibole-mica schist, and consists of a vertical layer, 18 inches thick of tremolite asbestos that strikes N 45 W and can be traced on the surface for 60 feet (Race and Rose, 1967; Wells and others, 1986). The deposit contains veins of cross-fiber asbestos 0.75 inch thick and 6 to 8 inches long (Cobb, 1978 [OFR 78-374]). Prior to 1930, the Alaska Asbestos Company, Inc. dug an opencut across the belt of tremolite schist, and constructed a road from the beach to the property (Roehm, 1943).

The rocks in the general area are mainly Ordovician and Devonian to Triassic clastic units, mafic-intermediate volcanic rocks, and subordinate limestone. The bedded rocks are intruded and locally metamorphosed by Cretaceous granodiorite (Gehrels and Berg, 1994).

Geologic map unit

(-134.811990546486, 58.2589653628682)

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	Prior to 1930, the Alaska Asbestos Company, Inc. dug an opencut across the belt of tremolite schist, and constructed a road from the beach to the property (Roehm, 1943).
Indication of production	None

References

References Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Juneau quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-374, 155 p. Gehrels, G.E., and Berg, H.C., 1994, Geology of southeastern Alaska, in Plafker, George, and Berg, H. C., eds., The geology of Alaska: Geological Society of America, DNAG, The geology of North America, Vol. G-1, p. 451-467. Race, W.H., and Rose, A.W., 1967, Geochemical and geological investigations of Admiralty Island, southeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Geochemical Report 8, 45 p. Roehm, J.C., 1943, Strategic and critical mineral occurrences in southeastern Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 191-5, 98 p., 11 sheets. Wells, D.E., Pittman, T.L., Brew, D.A. and Douglass, S.L., 1986, Map and description of the mineral deposits in the Juneau, Taku River, Atlin, and part of the Skagway quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 85-717, 332 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reporters	J.C. Barnett and L.D. Miller (Juneau, Alaska )
Last report date	12/15/2001