No Name Creek
No Name Creek is a deposit with published resource estimates in Alaska, recorded in the USGS USMIN rare earth element occurrence database (ver. 4.0, June 2019).
Location: Alaska, United States
Commodities: rare earth elements; tin; tungsten; uranium; niobium; titanium; tungsten; zirconium; gold
Deposit model: alluvial placer Sn · unclassified
Geology
Monazite is a least four times more abundant than xenotime, except on upper No Name Creek where this ratio is reversed. (Barker (1991b)) Cassiterite is most highly concentrated where alluvium has been most intensively reworked. Principal placers are present in alluvium of modern floodplains and in low fluvial terraces. Tin is also widespread but less concentrated in high-level terraces and is absent in the white-weathering gravels. (Barker (1991b))
Published resource estimates
| Material | Class | Amount | Grade | Contained | As of | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tin dioxide (SnO2) | Inferred | ≈16,100,000 t | 0.186111 kilograms per cubic meter | 2,360 metric tons Sn | Jan 1, 1991 | Barker (1991), Page 53, Table 10 — Barker, J.C., 1991, Investigation of tin-rare earth element placers in the Ray River watershed: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 34-91, 63 p. |
| rare-earth elements (REE) | Inferred | ≈772,000 t | 0.358111 kilograms per cubic meter | 277.1 metric tons REE | Jan 1, 1991 | Barker (1991), Page 53, Table 10 — Barker, J.C., 1991, Investigation of tin-rare earth element placers in the Ray River watershed: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 34-91, 63 p. |
| rare-earth elements (REE) | Inferred | ≈16,100,000 t | 0.025511 kilograms per cubic meter | 411.1 metric tons REE | Jan 1, 1991 | Barker (1991), Page 53, Table 10 — Barker, J.C., 1991, Investigation of tin-rare earth element placers in the Ray River watershed: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 34-91, 63 p. |
| tin dioxide (SnO2) | Inferred | ≈772,000 t | 0.793111 kilograms per cubic meter | 482.1 metric tons Sn | Jan 1, 1991 | Barker (1991), Page 53, Table 10 — Barker, J.C., 1991, Investigation of tin-rare earth element placers in the Ray River watershed: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 34-91, 63 p. |
Exploration and site history
- Site: Sample data indicate successively lower channels became increasingly rich in cassiterite as gravels in higher channels were repeatedly reworked. The present buried channel of No Name Creek would therefore be the product of still further reworking. (Barker (1991))
- History: Investigations of mineral resources in the Ray River and Ft. Hamlin Hills area has been conducted intermittently by the U.S. Bureau of Mines during the years 1975 through 1989. Initially the work was part of a broader Trans-Alaska pipeline corridor reconnaissance conducted at the time of excavations associated with pipeline construction. The region contains very poor bedrock exposure and little was known of the geology prior to the construction. (Barker (1991))
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey · published Jun 1, 2019 · retrieved Aug 12, 2026 · archive unavailable: Wayback snapshot 20260427015518 of the ScienceBase item exists but the archive service returned 503 on verification 2026-08-12; recheck on a weekly pass