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Sunset Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold
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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. 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 10002030
MRDS ID A012877
Record type Site
Current site name Sunset Creek
Related records 10257663

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.56411, 64.60178 (WGS84)
Relative position Sunset Creek is a northwest tributary to lower Snake River. Patented mining claims are present along Sunset Creek from an elevation of about 250 feet downstream for about 3 miles to Snake River; the coordinates are about the center of the area that was mined. A dredge cut immediately south of the Nome-Teller road at an elevation of about 100 feet probably develops an ancient beach approximately equivalant to Third Beach that is extensively developed in the Nome C-1 quadrangle. The location is accurate within about 500 feet. This is locality 79 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 C-2(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

Sitnasuak 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) -165.56411, 64.60178
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This is probably a complex placer deposit developed, in part, by beach reworking of gold-bearing alluvium on the edge of the coastal plain where it is cut by Sunset Creek. The deposit was correlated with Third Beach deposits by 1907 (Smith, 1908, p. 214). The mine was operated on a small scale until 1934 when a dredge was brought here from Osborn Creek. The dredge began to operate late in the 1934 season and operated continuously into a short season in 1939.? the upper part of Sunset Creek flows southeasterly through the metaturbidite schist unit of Bundtzen and others (1994). Sunset Creek is the southernmost of a series of gold-bearing creeks that flow east to the Snake River valley. The others include Monument ((NM172), Sledge, (NM169), and Boulder (NM168) Creeks.
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Early small-scale workings occurred in 1907 (Smith, 1908) and 1924 (Smith, 1926). A dredge was moved here from Osborn Creek ,and the deposit was mined from 1934 to 1939 (Cobb, 1978 [OFR 78-93]).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Smith, 1908

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 12-MAR-00 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 12-MAR-00 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.