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Solomon River (lower)

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Tungsten
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001792
MRDS ID A012596
Record type Site
Current site name Solomon River (lower)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -164.38715, 64.61125 (WGS84)
Relative position Solomon River is a major drainage that flows south to its mouth on Norton Sound at Solomon. The lower part of Solomon River has been extensively dredged for a distance of 4 miles starting 2 miles above Solomon. This dredged area is between elevations of 25 and 75 feet. This is locality 101 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Solomon C-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Solomon(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Scheelite Ore
Garnet Gangue
Ilmenite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -164.38715, 64.61125
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Placer gold was discovered in 1899 and mining started in 1900 when about $10,000 (or 485 fine ounces) were produced (Brooks and others, 1901). Most of the active flood along this part of the river has been extensively worked by dredges starting as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908). Stream gravels are generally 3 to 9.5 feet thick with a maximum thickness of 30 feet, and the pay streak was several hundred to over 1,000 feet wide. Locally preserved benches had 8 to 12 feet of gravel with pay thicknesses of 1 to 4 feet over clay layers and bedrock. Gravels were well rounded and generally less than 6 to 8 inches in diameter. A dredge concentrate from about a mile below the mouth of Shovel Creek contained 22 ounces of gold and 9.1 pounds of scheelite per cubic yard (Coats, 1944). Other minerals in dredge concentrates include magnetite, ilmenite, and garnet (Smith, 1910). Dredges operated on various parts of the lower Solomon River up to as recently as 1963. Lu and others (1968) compiled reported production and determined that more than about $2,500,000 dollars, or 125,000 ounces at $20 per ounce, had been produced from the general Solomon River area. This is a minimum estimate of production. Bedrock here is part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage that includes a distinctive black, very fine-grained, graphitic schist (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 511; Till and others, 1986).
  • Age = Quaternary; the location and elevation (25 to 75 feet) of this area indicate it was affected by Quaternary sea level fluctuations.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Placer gold was discovered in 1899 and mining started in 1900 when about $10,000 (or 485 fine ounces) were produced (Brooks and others, 1901). Lu and others (1968) compiled reported production and determined that more than about $2,500,000 dollars, or 125,000 ounces at $20 per ounce, had been produced from the greater Solomon River area. This is a minimum estimate of production.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Most of the active flood along this part of the river has been extensively worked by dredges starting as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., Richardson, G. B., and Collier, A. J., 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay regions, Alaska, in 1900: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, p. 1-180.

  • Deposit

    Collier, A. J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1910, Geology and mineral resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 433, 234 p.

  • Deposit

    Lu, F.C.J., Heiner, L.E., and Harris, D.P., 1968, Known and potential ore reserves, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report 11, 107 p.

  • Deposit

    Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, R., and Marsh, W.R., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic maps of the Solomon D-5 and C-5 quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 511, 12 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.

  • Deposit

    Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Coats, R.R., 1944, Occurrences of scheelite in the Solomon district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 4, 4 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cobb, 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a); possibly reworked coastal plain deposits.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 19-AUG-1999 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.