Purches Creek

The Purches Creek is a gold mine located in Alaska.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Purches Creek
Secondary: Purchase Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Copper

Location

State: Alaska
District: Willow Creek

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Occurrence
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Silver
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Low-sulfide Au-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Two occurrences were reported by Capps and Tuck (1935). The first is a quartz vein exposed in a tributary on the divide between Craigie Creek and Purches Creek drainages (Capps and Tuck locality 4). The vein is 1 ft wide, strikes S 20 W, and dips 30 S, and can be traced for several hundred feet. It is composed of 'bull' quartz and contains chalcopyrite, gold, and silver. The second occurrence is a crushed piece of quartz float from the next tributary to the west (Capps and Tuck locality 5). It contained disseminated pyrite, gold, and silver. At the first locality described above, assays show the vein to contain 0.16 oz/ton Au and 0.2 oz/ton Ag. At the second locality described, the quartz float assayed 0.01 oz/ton Au and 0.2 oz/ton Ag.? These occurrences are located near the contact of the Willow Creek Pluton and an early Paleocene and Late Cretaceous granite body. The Willow Creek Pluton is a Late Cretaceous zoned pluton: the outer part consists of hornblende quartz diorite and lesser hornblende tonalite; the core consists of hornblende-biotite granodiorite, and lesser hornblende-biotite quartz monzodiorite and biotite quartz monzonite. The early Paleocene and Late Cretaceous granite is generally a biotite-muscovite granite with granodiorite and lesser quartz monzonite. Wall-rock alteration within a few inches of the veins is intense, but seldom extends more than 10 to 12 inches beyond the quartz filling. Sericitization and carbonate alteration predominate, but there is some pyritization and in the outer parts of the alteration zone chloritization is present (Ray, 1954).

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous or younger based on the bedrock in the vicinity.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Two occurrences were sampled by Capps and Tuck (1935). At the first locality described above, assays show the vein to contain 0.16 oz/ton Au and 0.2 oz/ton Ag. At the second locality described, the quartz float assayed 0.01 oz/ton Au and 0.2 oz/ton Ag (Capps and Tuck, 1935).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Capps and Tuck, 1935

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Capps and Tuck (1935) also mention that on the lower Purches Creek there are numerous pegmatite dikes, but no minerals of value were found in them. Purches Creek has also been labeled Purchase Creek on some older maps.

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-409, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials in the Anchorage quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1095, 184 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., and Tuck, Ralph, 1935, The Willow Creek-Kashwitna District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-B, p. 95-113.

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