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Last Chance Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities PGE, Chromium
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002304
MRDS ID A013210
Record type Site
Current site name Last Chance Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.71268, 58.93925 (WGS84)
Relative position Last Chance Creek is a 0.6-mile-long west tributary to Salmon River. It is between Boulder (HG026) and Squirrel Creek (HG013). It is included in locality 8 of Cobb (1972 [MF 362]; 1980 [OF 80-909]).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
PGE Primary
Chromium Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = Platinum-group metal (PGM) alloys

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 120
USGS model code 39b
BC deposit profile C01. C02
Deposit model name Placer PGE-Au

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Alluvium
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Till

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.71268, 58.93925
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Platinum-bearing alluvium is reported to be present in this creek, but apparently not in mineable grades or volumes (Mertie, 1976). A Defense Minerals Exploration Administration contract funded drilling of 50 exploration holes in alluvium along the east side of Red Mountain between Last Chance and Dowry Creeks in 1953. The depths of these drill holes ranged from 5 to 51 feet and the PGM content ranged from 0 to 0.0085 ounce of PGM per cubic yard (Fechner, 1988). Last Chance Creek flows across Paleozoic or Mesozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks that are intruded by the Jurassic Red Mountain ultramafic pluton (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). The border zone of this pluton is within a few hundred feet of the upstream limit of the creek.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Goodnews Bay

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = A Defense Minerals Exploration Administration contract funded drilling of 50 exploration holes in alluvium along the east side of Red Mountain between Last Chance and Dowry Creeks in 1953. The depths of these drill holes ranged from 5 to 51 feet and the PGM content ranged from 0 to 0.0085 ounce of PGM per cubic yard (Fechner, 1988, p. 80).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A013210
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF HG029

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1976, Platinum deposits in the Goodnews Bay district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 938, 42 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1977, Placer deposit map of central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168B, 64 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in fifteen quadrangles in southwestern and west-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-909, 103 p.

  • Deposit

    Fechner, S.A., 1988, Bureau of Mines mineral investigation of the Goodnews Bay mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-88, 230 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Mertie, 1976

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer PGE-Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39b)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 18-MAR-2001 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology