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Nelson

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Lead, Zinc
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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. Alteration
  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 10001961
MRDS ID A012801
Record type Site
Current site name Nelson

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.39219, 64.76151 (WGS84)
Relative position The Nelson prospect is in Steep Creek, a tributary of Gold Bottom Creek, at an elevation of about 1,050 feet. It is about 0.7 mile south-southwest of Mount Distin. The prospect is locality 13 of Hummel (1962 [MF 248]), locality 23 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]); it is shown on figure 17 of Cathcart (1922).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Nome D-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nome(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bering Straits Native Corporation(ANCSA Region)

ANCSA Region NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Marble was bleached at the prospect.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.39219, 64.76151
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Nelson zinc-lead prospect contains sphalerite, galena, and pyrite in veinlets subparallel to layering in marble and in stockwork-like fracture zones; it includes a galena veinlet 2 inches thick (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, P. 425-449]; Cathcart, 1922). When the prospect was visited by Cathcart in 1920, mineralization was exposed over about a 6-foot width in an open cut near a contact of marble and mica schist; the schist had a strike of N 15 W and dipped 18 degrees west. The marble was bleached in the mineralized zone. An adit, reportedly 55-feet long (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]), was caved and inaccessable to Cathcart (1922). The prospect was visited in 1995 by C.C. Hawley, but the exposures were badly sloughed and the nature of the mineralization could not be observed. The Nelson propect is within the main marble mass of Mount Distin where thin mica schist layers occur (Hummel, 1962 [MF 248]; Bundtzen and others, 1994). Layering in the marble and the schist is generally north-dipping and the prospect is about one-half mile south of the east-west axis of the Mount Distin syncline of Hummel (1962 [MF 248]).
  • Age = Probably mid-Cretaceous or younger; appears to postdate regional metamorphism of mid-Cretaceous age.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Developments included a 55-foot adit, an open cut, and several pits; all are now badly sloughed. The site does not appear to have been active since before 1920. Hummel and Chapman (1960) did not find anomalous zinc in stream sediment samples collected from Steep Creek about a mile below the Nelson prospect.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Cathcart, 1922

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Carbonate-hosted, lead-zinc deposit.
Deposit Other Comments = the Nelson prospect is on Bering Straits Native Corporation selected lands.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 22-OCT-99 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 22-OCT-99 Travis L. Hudson Hawley Resource Group

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.