Iron Creek

The Iron Creek is a tin 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

Name: Iron Creek

State:  Alaska

County:  na

Elevation:

Commodity: Tin

Lat, Long: 65.645, -167.55300

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Satelite image of the Iron Creek

Iron Creek MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Iron Creek


Commodity

Primary: Tin


Location

State: Alaska
District: Port Clarence


Land Status

Not available


Holdings

Not available


Workings

Not available


Ownership

Not available


Production

Not available


Deposit

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


Physiography

Not available


Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Alluvial placer Sn


Orebody

Not available


Structure

Not available


Alterations

Not available


Rocks

Not available


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Cassiterite


Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Heide and Rutledge, 1949; Mulligan, 1965 (USBM RI 6587)

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = One small area (200 x 600 feet in area and 5 feet thick), averages about 0.6 pounds of tin per cubic yard (Heide and rutledge, 1949, p. 15; Mulligan, 1965, p. 24).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = About 1,500 feet of the headwater reach has been hand mined; the pay streak was 4 to 5 feet thick and 15 to 20 feet wide. The USBM completed 22 churn-drill holes along 7 lines spread out over 3,200 feet of the drainage (Heide and Rutledge, 1949) and detrital cassiterite mapping in the headwaters to help define lode occurrences (Mulligan, 1965).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = A small amount of the 1,124 short tons of tin that were produced from alluvial placers in the Potato Mountain area came from Iron Creek (Mulligan, 1965, p. 17).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Alluvial tin placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39e)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Bedrock in the headwaters of Iron Creek is thermally metamorposed thin- bedded metapelite, metasandstone, and minor impure metacarbonate rocks of unknown but probable Paleozoic age. These rocks makeup the relatively resistant upland of Potato Mountain that is interpreted to be underlain at depth by biotite granite (Hudson and Reed, 1997, p. 454). Its headwaters are adjacent to the most significant lode cassiterite mineralization in the area (Mulligan, 1965). This short headwater drainage has thin alluvial gravels, generally 4 to 5 feet thick, and a narrow pay streak that contained up to a few ponds of tin per cubic yard. Hand mining and sluicing took place along 1,500 feet of the creek channel starting about one half mile upstream from the confluence with Sutter Creek.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive


References

Reference (Deposit): Heide, H.E. and Rutledge, F.A., 1949, Investigations of Potato Mountain tin placer deposits, Seward Peninsula, northwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4418, 21 p.

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., 1965, Tin-lode investigations. Potato Mountain area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 6587, 85 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Sainsbury, C.L., 1972, Metallic mineral resource map of the Teller quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-426, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., and Reed, B.L., 1997, Tin deposits of Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral Deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 450-465.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Teller quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-587, 130 p.


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