Montana Creek

The Montana Creek is a gold and silver 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: Montana Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Tin
Secondary: Titanium
Secondary: Zirconium

Location

State: Alaska
District: Innoko

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

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

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Shoreline placer Ti

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Zircon
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Cassiterite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See Colorado Creek (MD014).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The prospect was first mentioned by Mertie (1936). According to Steve Neirod and Ron Rosander (oral commun., 1982), a reconnaissance churn drilling program in the 1950s conducted by Strandberg and Sons Mines Inc. encountered a low grade gold-bearing paystreak of unknown extent.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Montana placer prospect consists of a left-limit bench on Montana Creek over a distance of about 2 miles (3.2 km). Overburden ranges from 20 to 40 feet (6 m to 12 m) thick, and auriferous gravels average about 10 feet (3 m) thick. Reconnaissance drilling suggests that most values are on bedrock. The auriferous gravels are overlain by Quaternary eolian and colluvial deposits (Thorson and Guthrie, 1982). The Montana Creek Placer deposit is inferred to be Pleistocene, based on isotopically dated Quaternary units in Colorado Creek (Thorson and Guthrie, 1982).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = No production records have been found. In 1996 and 1997, a small exploration camp was being assembled at Colorado Creek for a placer drilling program on Montana Creek.

Comment (Geology): Age = the Montana Creek Placer deposit is inferred to be Pleistocene, based on isotopically dated Quaternary units in Colorado Creek (Thorson and Guthrie, 1982).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model no. 39c)

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Bundtzen and others, 1997

References

Reference (Deposit): Thorson, R.M., and Guthrie, R.D., 1982, Stratigraphy of the Colorado Creek Mammoth locality, Alaska: Quaternary Research, vol. 37, p. 214-278.

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1936, Mineral deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-C, 115-245.

Reference (Deposit): Patton, W.W., Jr., Moll, E.J., Dutro, J.T., Jr., Silberman, M.L., and Chapman, R.M., 1980, Preliminary geologic map of Medfra quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-811-A, 1 sheet, scale l:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Pinney, D.S., and Laird, G.M., 1997, Preliminary geologic map and descriptive data tables from the Ophir C-1 and western Medfra C-6 quadrangles, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Public Data File Report 97-46, 10 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

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