Watana Creek Prospect, Valdez Creek District, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, USA
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Location: This placer prospect is located on Watana Creek, 1.8 miles upstream from it mouth on the Susitna River. It is in the NW1/4 sec. 19, T. 32 N., R. 7 E., Seward Meridian. The location is accurate to within 1/2 mile.
Geology: Gold occurs in alluvial gravel in Watana Creek which drains a variety of rock types. The lower part of the creek drains an area of Tertiary fluvial conglomerate, sandstone and claystone; the upper parts drain Triassic basalt, Lower Cretaceous argillite and lithic graywacke, and some Tertiary granodiorite (Kurtak and others, 1992). Tertiary conglomerate two miles upstream from the Susitna River is similar to gold- and platinum-bearing conglomerate in the Tyone River area, 55 miles to the southeast; it is a possible source of the gold and platiinum-group metal in this placer(Kurtak and others, 1992). A sediment sample collected near the conglomerate on Watana Creek contains 20 parts per billion (ppb) platinum and 8 ppb palladium (Balen, 1990). The richest sediment sample from the upper part of Watana Creek contains 0.0016 ounce of gold per cubic yard; a placer sample from the west fork of the creek, 11 miles above the Susitna River, contains 4 ppb palladium and 25 ppb platinum (Balen, 1990). Other stream-sediment samples contain up to 8.5 parts per million gold. Placer concentrates contain abundant magnetite. Placer claims were staked in 1979 and abandoned in 1981.
Workings: Placer claims were staked in 1979 and abandoned in 1981. Stream sampling by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (Balen, 1990).
Age: Quaternary placer.
Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Pd, Pt
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Mineral List
2 entries listed. 2 valid minerals.
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References
Balen, M.D., 1990, Geochemical sampling results from the Bureau of Mines investigations in the Valdez Creek mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 34-90, 218 p., 2 plates, scale 1:250,000. Csejtey, Bela, Jr., Nelson, W.H., Jones, D.L., Silberling, N.J., Dean, R.M., Morris, M.S., Lanphere, M.A., Smith, J.G., and Silberman, M.L, 1978, Reconnaissance geologic map and geochronology, Talkeetna Mountains quadrangle, northern part of Anchorage quadrangle, and southwest part of Healy quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-558-A, 60 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Kurtak, J.M., Southworth, D.D., Balen, M.D., and Clautice, K.H., 1992, Mineral investigations in the Valdez Creek mining district, south-central Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-92, 659 p., 2 plates, scale 1:250,000.