North Fork Harrison Creek

Site Name

Primary: North Fork Harrison Creek
Secondary: South Fork Harrison Creek

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tin

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Circle

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

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

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Cassiterite
Ore: Gold

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Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Prospecting and mining occurred in 1905, 1924, and 1953 to 1981. Most of creek has been mined, but production information has not been published.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Gold was reportedly discovered in 1893 on Pitka's Bar (Mertie, 1938). There is some confusion in the literature over the location of Pitka's Bar. U.S.G.S. OFR 83-170B (Menzie and others, 1983) describes the location as at the mouth of the North Fork, but the U.S.G.S. Circle B-2 quadrangle topographic map shows the location of Pitka's Bar at the mouth of Harrison Creek, on Birch Creek. Spurr (1898) reported the first gold discovery to be in 1895(?) near the head of the North Fork (Yeend, 1991).? Before the middle of 1896, all of the North Fork of Harrison Creek was staked. Prospecting and mining occurred in 1905, 1924, and 1953 to 1981. Most of creek has been mined. Hydraulic mining operations were active up to 1980 (Menzie and others, 1983, p. 45). In 1993, on the South Fork of Harrison Creek, Windy Hill Mining completed a geophysical survey (Bundtzen and others, 1993, p. 10).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Yeend, 1991.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The bedrock underlying the North Fork is varied and includes the Upper Quartzite, Middle Schist and Quartzite and the Lower Schist units of Wiltse and others (1995). The southeast flank of Mastodon Dome is underlain by the Upper Quartzite, which is a porphyroblastic albite-chlorite-muscovite-quartz schist with quartzites and micaceous quartzites. The Middle Schist and Quartzite unit is a quartz-muscovite schist, porphyroblastic-albite-quartz-chlorite-muscovite schist, and thickly layered quartzites. The Lower Schist unit is a slightly calcareous quartz-muscovite schist, porphyroblastic albite-quartz-chlorite-muscovite schist and lesser amounts of quartzose porphyroblastic-albite-chlorite schist and chlorite schist.? Gold is frequently concentrated in the lowermost 3 feet of gravel and in the upper foot or two of bedrock (Mertie, 1938). Mined gravel deposits were generally about 3 meters thick and 30 to 45 meters wide (Yeend, 1991). Muck overlying the gravel was rarely encountered during mining (Mertie, 1938). Recovered gold was generally fine, flaky, and bright (Brooks, 1907, p. 188). Nuggets weighing as much as 3 ounces were recovered, but were rare. Gold recovered from the upstream part of the North Fork was often ragged and frequently occurred with attached quartz. Spurr (1898) reported a block of quartz-schist containing a quartz vein 'richly spotted with flakes and specks of gold' in the upper valley of the North Fork (Yeend, 1991). Cassiterite, garnet, and pyrite occur in heavy-mineral concentrates (Brooks, 1907, p. 188; Cobb, 1973, p. 122, [B 1374]). Mean fineness of 13 North Fork assays is 837 Au and 154 Ag (Mertie, 1938).? Gold was reportedly discovered in 1893 on Pitka's Bar (Mertie, 1938). There is some confusion in the literature over the location of Pitka's Bar. U.S.G.S. OFR 83-170B (Menzie and others, 1983) describes the location as at the mouth of the North Fork, but the U.S.G.S. Circle B-2 quadrangle topographic map shows the location of Pitka's Bar at the mouth of Harrison Creek, on Birch Creek. Spurr (1898) reported the first gold discovery to be in 1895(?) near the head of the North Fork (Yeend, 1991).? Before the middle of 1896, all of the North Fork of Harrison Creek was staked. Prospecting and mining occurred in 1905, 1924, and 1953 to 1981. Most of creek has been mined. Hydraulic mining operations were active up to 1980 (Menzie and others, 1983, p. 45). In 1993, on the South Fork of Harrison Creek, Windy Hill Mining completed a geophysical survey (Bundtzen and others, 1993, p. 10).

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References

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1932, Mining in the Circle district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824, p. 155-172.

Reference (Deposit): 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.

Reference (Deposit): Spurr, J.E., 1898, Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska, with an introductory chapter on the history and conditions of the district to 1897 by H.B. Goodrich: U.S. Geological Survey 18th Annual Report, Part 3, p. 87-392.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1936, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 868-A, p. 1-91.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

Reference (Deposit): Menzie, W.D., Foster, H.L., Tripp, R.B., and Yeend, W.E., 1983, Mineral resource assessment of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-170-B, 61 p., 1 sheet, 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 p.

Reference (Deposit): Coonrad, W.L., ed., 1982, The United States Geological Survey in Alaska: Accomplishments during 1980: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 844, 178 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1907, The Alaskan mining industry in 1906: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314, p. 19-39.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Misc. Field Studies Map MF-391, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S. 1939, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1937: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 910-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1939, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1938: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 917-A, p. 1-113.

Reference (Deposit): Ellsworth, C.E., and Parker, G.L., 1911, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480, 325 p.

Reference (Deposit): Yeend, W.E., 1991, Gold placers of the Circle district, Alaska - past, present, and future: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1943, 42 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wiltse, M.A., Reger, R.D., Newberry, R.J, Pessel, G.H., Pinney, D.S., Robinson, M.S., and Solie, D.N., 1995, Bedrock geologic map of the Circle mining district, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 95-02b, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Laird, G.M., and Lockwood, M.S., 1988, Geologic map of the Iditarod C-3 quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 96, 13 p., scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Ellsworth, C.E., 1910, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, 432 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

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