Bear Creek

The Bear 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: Bear Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury

Location

State: Alaska
District: Aniak

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

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

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Cinnabar
Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The deposits were worked by hand methods, open cuts, and dredging. Mining has taken place at least discontinuously over about 5.6 miles of the drainage. Continuous dredge tailings have been shown on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps (1952 and 1979 editions) from 1.5 miles below to 1.1 miles above the mouth of Bonanza Creek. Road and electric transmission lines parallel Bear Creek upstream to Bonanza Creek.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Bear Creek was mined at least intermittently during the periods 1909-1940, 1946-1964, and 1973-1991. Maddren (1915) reports that the early years of mining produced about $35,000 or about 1,750 ounces of gold from Bear Creek and its tributaries.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maddren, 1915

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Paying quantities of placer gold were discovered on Bear Creek in 1907 or 1908 (Maddren, 1915). Mining has taken place at least discontinuously over about 5.6 miles of the drainage. Continuous dredge tailings have been shown on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps (1952 and 1979 editions) from 1.5 miles below to 1.1 miles above the mouth of Bonanza Creek. The active flood plain of Bear Creek is incised 10 to 100 feet into alluvial valley fill deposits, but the gravels in the flood plain are apparently only 3 to 8 feet thick, at least in places (Maddren, 1915). The flood-plain deposits consist of coarse gravels containing large cobbles and boulders. Much of the mining on Bear Creek was by dredging, which started in 1926 and continued through most years until WWII. Mining restarted after WWII and continued up to about 1964. The most recent mining was from 1973 until at least 1991 (Bundtzen and others, 1991). The dredge concentrates from below the mouth of Bonanza Creek contained considerable cinnabar. Although early reports described bedrock as granitic rock cut by diabase dikes (Maddren, 1915), recent mapping shows most of the drainage to be underlain by Jurassic volcanic rocks locally intruded by mid-Cretaceous granitic rocks (Box and others, 1993). It is possible that small granitic dikes, plugs, or stocks are present in bedrock below alluvium along the creek.

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

References

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Swainbank, R.C., Wood, J.E., Clough, A.H., 1991 (1992), Alaska's Mineral Industry 1991: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Special Report 46, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Box, S.E, Moll-Stalcup, E.J., Frost, T.P., and Murphy, J.M., 1993, Preliminary geologic map of the Bethel and southern Russian Mission quadrangles, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2226-A, 20 p., scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Maddren, A.G., 1915, Gold placers of the lower Kuskokwim with a note on copper in the Russian Mountains: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-H, p. 292-360.

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J M., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-444, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J.M., and Cobb, E.H., 1977, Mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bethel, Goodnews, and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-156, 98 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hoare, J M., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-444, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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