Bird Creek

The Bird Creek is a copper, tungsten, 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

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Site Name

Primary: Bird Creek
Secondary: St. Louis Channel

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tin
Secondary: Antimony
Secondary: Bismuth

Location

State: Alaska
District: Yentna

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: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Copper
Ore: Gold
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Scheelite

Comments

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Values on the pay section are up to $50/yard (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Capps (1912) indicates that the present Bird Creek, which flows into Peters Creek, appears to have captured a drainage which at a previous time may have flowed into the ancestral Cache Creek drainage. This Pleistocene glaciofluvial channel, at its base, is almost 100 feet above and sub-parallel to the Bird Creek and rests on broken, decayed slate overlain by a yellow-stained basal gravel and 50 to 75 feet of glacial mud containing angular boulders (Capps, 1912). The channel is auriferous throughout, but especially in the basal gravel (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978; Hawley and Clark, 1973). Concentrates contain pyrite, arsenopyrite, magnetite, scheelite, and a small amount of native copper (Cobb and Reed, 1980). Clark and Hawley (1968) report the fineness of the gold to range between 835 1/2 and 879 1/4, averaging 859. Significant resources may be left in the high channels, bench deposits and tributaries (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). These placer workings probably contain some gold that is the downstream concentration from antimony, tin and bismuth in arsenopyrite-scheelite- gold-quartz veins in the Bradley Scheelite/Bird Creek prospect (TL038). Also see Peters Creek (TL045); other Pleistocene glaciofluvial placer deposits in the district are Windy Creek (TL027) and Nugget Creek (TL035), both tributaries to Cache Creek. C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc. (1978) report that lode deposits also occur in the Colby (TL037) and Nugget Creek (TL035) drainages.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Workings in 1976 consisted of 3 shallow pits, approximately 500 feet by 250 feet, 400 feet by 300 feet, and 400 feet by 200 feet . The St. Louis Channel was mined in the late 1970's and drilled in 1942 by Calumet and Hecla Copper Mining Co. (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Significant resources may be left in the high channels, bench deposits and tributaries (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978).

Comment (Geology): Age = Pleistocene.

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Significant resources may be left in the high channels, bench deposits and tributaries (C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978). These placer workings probably contain some gold that is the downstream concentration from veins in the Bradley Scheelite/Bird Creek prospect (TL038). Also see Peters Creek (TL045); other glaciofluvial deposits in the district are at Windy Creek (TL027);and Nugget Creek (TL035), both tributaries to Cache Creek.

References

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1919, Platinum-bearing gold placers of the Kahiltna Valley: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-D, p. 233-264.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813-A, p. 1-72.

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., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.

Reference (Deposit): Joesting, H.R., 1942, Strategic mineral occurences in interior Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Pamphlet 1, 46 p.

Reference (Deposit): Clark, A.L., and Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-369, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous and selected non-metalliferous mineral deposits in the eastern part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-A, 99 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Robinson, G. D., Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., and Lyon, J. B., 1955, Radioactivity investigations in the Cache Creek area, Yentna district, Alaska 1945: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1024-A, p. 1-23.

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

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., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1933: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 864-A, p. 1-94.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

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., 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): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1928: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 813, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1924, Geology and mineral resources of the region traversed by the Alaska Railroad: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755-C, p. 73-150.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1913, The Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 534, 75 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1914, Mineral resources of Alaska in 1913: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592, p. 340-341.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., and Reed, B.L., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of reference to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Talkeetna quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-884, 106 p.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., Nelson, S.W., Curtin, G.C., and Singer, D.A., 1978, Mineral resources map of the Talkeetna Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-870-D, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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

Reference (Deposit): C.C. Hawley and Associates, Inc., 1978, Mineral appraisal of lands adjacent to Mt. McKinley National Park, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 24-78, 275 p., 7 plates.

Reference (Deposit): Clark, A.L., and Hawley, C.C., 1968, Reconnaissance geology, mineral occurrences, and geochemical anomalies of the Yentna district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 68-35, 64 p.

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