Potato Creek Prospect, Port Clarence Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Potato Creek Prospect	Prospect
Port Clarence Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Potato Creek extends northward 6 miles from headwaters on the south side of Potato Mountain (TE024) to its mouth on Lopp Lagoon. Although elevations on maps in older USBM reports do not appear to closely match modern topographic maps, the placer tin concentration is reasonably well located by the location of USBM churn-drill holes relative to topographic features along the drainage. Placer tin has been identified between about 150 feet and 250 feet elevation along the drainage. This is locality 26 of Cobb and Sainsbury (1972). Cobb (1975) summarized relevant references under the name 'Potato Cr.'.
Geology: Bedrock in the headwaters of Potato 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). The creek has 0 to 24 feet of overburden on top of 2 to 10 feet of gravel over bedrock. Tin concentrations of 0.05 to 0.54 pounds per cubic yard were identified in churn-drill holes from an elevation of 250 feet downstream to an elevation of about 150 feet.. Tin was not found at higher elevations along the creek. The downstream limits of this placer concentration were not defined by the USBM churn-drilling. The 150 to 200 foot elevation area along this drainage is the approximate location of a Pleistocene strandline that is inferred from the general geomorphic character of the area (Hudson and Reed, 1997, p. 454).
Workings: The USBM completed 30 churn-drill holes along 8 lines spread out over about 1.5 miles of the creek (Heide and Rutledge, 1949).
Age: Quaternary

Commodities (Major) - Sn
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Alluvial tin placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39e)

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	TE018

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References