Birch Creek Placer

The Birch Creek Placer is a tin and 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Birch Creek Placer

Commodity

Primary: Tin
Primary: Gold
Tertiary: Bismuth
Tertiary: Silver
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: Rhenium
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: Thorium

Location

State: Alaska
District: Ruby

Land Status

Land ownership: State
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1914
Discovery Year: 1914
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Iron Derived From The Oxidation Of Pyrite.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: FINENESS 872 PARTS AU AND 120 PARTS AG. YEILD FROM 88,000 FT.2 OF BEDROCK MINED WAS .5 LB. CASSITERITE AND $.75 TO $1.50 IN GOLD PER FT.2 (AU AT $20.67 OZ.). A HALF TON OF CASSITERITE ASSAYED 62% SN.

Materials

Ore: Bismuth
Ore: Gold
Ore: Cassiterite
Gangue: Sphene
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Anatase
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Zircon
Unknown: Malachite

Comments

Comment (Location): USGS MF-405, LOC. 9. DEPOSIT ON BENCH WEST OF BIRCH CR. FROM CONFLUENCE WITH STRAIGHT CR. DOWNSTREAM FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES. LAND STATUS VALUE CALCULATED 6-94 USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS WITH BLM 1:2,500,000 SCALE OWNERSHIP STATUS MAP (1991).

Comment (Geology): MAJOR.UNITS: BEDROCK GRANITE NEAR HEAD AND BLACK PYRITIC SLATE FARTHER DOWNSTREAM.

Comment (Deposit): PAY STREAK IN GRAVEL BENCH ON WEST SIDE OF CREEK; GOLD ON OR NEAR BEDROCK. GROUND MINED WAS 70 TO MORE THAN 90 FT. DEEP. GOLD FOUND FOR MORE THAN 2 MILES ALONG LOWER BIRCH CREEK AND BETWEEN STRAIGHT AND CROOKED CREEKS. NATIVE BISMUTH ALSO FOUND. CASSITERITE FOUND HALF A MILE BELOW THE MOUTH OF CROOKED CREEK.

Comment (Workings): MINING AND PROSPECTING RENDERED DIFFICULT BY THAWED GROUND AND LIVE WATER, WHICH MAY BE ENCOUNTERED BELOW 80 FT. THE AMOUNT OF WATER AND THE DEPTH MAKE IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO PROSPECT WITHOUT A RATHER LARGE PLANT HAVING SUFFICIENT BOILER CAPACITY TO DO THE NECESSARY PUMPING.

Comment (Deposit): STREAM GRADIENT UNDER 50 FEET PER MILE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Deposit): THIS SITE NAME WAS CREATED BY THE REPORTER OR OTHER USGS EMPLOYEE BASED ON PROXIMITY TO SOME MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE.

Comment (Development): CREEK FIRST STAKED IN 1914. PLACER GOLD MINED AT VARIOUS TIMES BETWEEN 1914 AND 1936. 3 MINES WORKED, 1914-15, AND OTHER PROSPECTING. MINED BY UNDERGROUND METHODS BETWEEN STRAIGHT AND CROOKED CREEKS.

References

Reference (Deposit): USGS MF-405 (B-5), LOC. 9

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 642, P. 246-247.

Reference (Deposit): USGS OF 239, P. 37, 40, 42-44.

Reference (Deposit): USGS OF 81-170, P. 16, 17.

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These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.