Fairview Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002011
MRDS ID A012856
Record type Site
Current site name Fairview Creek
Related records 10184799

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -166.29748, 64.81649 (WGS84)
Relative position Fairview Creek flows west-northwest to its mouth in a lagoon at the Bering Sea coast about 3.5 miles northeast of Cape Woolley. The location given is the approximate mid-point of placer mining claims shown in State of Alaska files (Heiner and Porter, 1972). The gold-bearing part of Fairview Creek extends for about 3 miles below an unnamed mined tributary informally called Tomboy Creek (NM008). This is locality 57 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).

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-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Nome N(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nome C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

King Island Native Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) Qs

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Gold colors were reported to be locally present on Fairview Creek by Collier and others (1908), and placer mining claims have been located over about 3 miles of its length (Heiner and Porter, 1972). Fairview Creek is wider and more braided downstream where it flows onto the coastal plain. Concentrations of gold, in company with black or ruby sands, would be likely to occur in river bars or points where river velocity changes.? Fairview Creek flows near a contact between metavolcanic and metasedimentary units, but it also reworks glacial deposits along its central portion and headwaters (Sainsbury, Smith, and Kachadoorian, 1972). Gold in Fairview Creek may have a somewhat distant source, although the paystreak on its tributary, Tomboy Creek (NM008), was on decomposed chloritic schist bedrock, a possible bedrock source.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Exploration by pan and rocker back to about 1900. Placer mining claims were active as recently as 1972.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • 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

    Heiner, L.E., and Porter, Eve, 1972, Alaska Mineral Properties, volume 2: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report 24, 669 p.

  • Deposit

    Sainsbury, C.L., Smith, T.E., and Kachadoorian, Reuben, 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Nome D-3 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-327, 14 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Heiner and Porter, 1972

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

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.

Authoritative Alaska resources

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