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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Fourth Beach

Occurrence 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. 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 10002099
MRDS ID A012963
Record type Site
Current site name Fourth Beach

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.3891, 64.55011 (WGS84)
Relative position Fourth Beach is the highest elevation auriferous strandline now known on the Nome coastal plain (Hopkins and others, 1960; Nelson and Hopkins, 1972; Tagg and Greene, 1973; Cobb, 1973 [B 1374, figure 29, p. 87]). The elevation of the Fourth Beach strandline is 125 feet. It is preserved at the base of Anvil Mountain, where it is buried by colluvium. The map location is about on Cooper Gulch at a surface elevation of 250 feet. It is in the west-central part of section 12, T. 11 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian. The location is accurate within about 500 feet.

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-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)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Garnet 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 > Sand and Gravel
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.3891, 64.55011
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Fourth Beach represents the farthest advance of the sea in Quaternary time, and it has been recognized only at the base of Anvil Mountain. It formed as a true strandline beach by waves impinging upon bedrock. Unlike Third Beach, which terminates landward on a prominent scarp marked by long-continued erosion at that sea level, Fourth Beach is an inconspicuous strandline that evidently formed during a relatively short seastand. It is not generally rich enough to mine. Probably some of the gold that was concentrated at Fourth Beach sea level was eroded seaward before the beach was buried by mass-wasting deposits. Hopkins and others (1960, p. 47-48) noted that the sediments of Fourth Beach are overlain by drift of the Nome River glaciation and that the seaward edge of the deposits is truncated at the Third Beach escarpment. They postulated that Fourth Beach may have formed during some part of Submarine Beach time or during an otherwise unidentified interglacial interval. Nelson and Hopkins (1972) diagrammatically show Fourth Beach at the base of Anvil Mountain (also see Cobb, 1973 [B 1374, figure 29]).
  • Age = Pleistocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = There is no substantial production from Fourth Beach. Gold originally concentrated on this beach could have been eroded and reconcentrated in alluvial deposits below the beach.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Nelson and Hopkins, 1972

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au; buried, strandline beach deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit Other Comments = Considered too low grade to be of economic interest.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUL-00 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 10-JUL-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.