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Nugget Creek

Past 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 10002187
MRDS ID A013085
Record type Site
Current site name Nugget Creek
Related records 10234258

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -136.18212, 59.28974 (WGS84)
Relative position The location of this mine is somewhat arbitrary as gold placer mining occurred at various localities along Nugget Creek. It is plotted approximately 1/2 mile up Nugget Creek from its junction with the Tsirku River. It is in the SE1/4, section 5, T. 30 S., R. 55 E. of the Copper River Meridian. It is shown as location 30 by Cobb (1972 [MF 424]) and sample location 180 by Still and others (1984).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Haines(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Skagway B-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Skagway SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Skagway C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Chilkat-Skagway Rivers(hydrologic unit)

Northern Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(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

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
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -136.18212, 59.28974
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Some gold was mined on Nugget Creek beginning in 1899 and there has been sporadic mining since. Production has probably been small (Hoekzema and others, 1986). Wright (1904 [B 225 and B 236]) describes the deposit as primarily creek-bed gravels and low side-bench gravels. Deposits in the creek occur as rich pockets in potholes. The low- bench deposits are usually very narrow and from the bottom upward, typically consist of a 2-foot layer of glacial mud, a foot or more of cemented slate wash, a 10-foot bed of pay dirt, and a few feet of colluvium. Many large blocks of diorite occur in the pay gravels and substantially add to the cost of mining. However, Hoekzema and others (1986) also cite the presence of abandoned channels at higher elevations on the east side of the creek and an alluvial fan at the mouth of the creek. They report that alluvium in the lower canyon is 12 to 20 feet deep and that gold is found on or near bedrock,; little gold is found in the overlying gravels. the best value obtained by the U.S. Bureau of Mines contained 0.0138 ounces of gold per cubic yard in a sample collected from an abandoned channel adjacent to the Tsirku River. Gravel resources in the existing stream channel are small but have been shown to contain coarse gold by recent suction dredge operations. The average stream gradient is over 900 feet per mile.? the Nugget Creek placer mineralization lies within a northwest-trending zone of quartz-sulfide veining in sediments and slates in the Skagway B-4 quadrangle described by Wright (1904 [B 225 and B 236], Eakin (1918 and 1919), and MacKevett and others (1974) and considered to be the source of placer gold in this area.
  • Age = Quaternary placer.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Juneau (Skagway subdistrict)

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Approximately 350 ounces of gold was produced by small hydraulic operations between 1902 and 1909 (Eakin, 1919).

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = A significant but untested, identified resource exists in the alluvial fan at the mouth of the creek which coalesces with the fan at the mouth of Cottonwood Creek to the west. Abandoned channels that may host placer gold have been identified in the fan between Cottonwood and Nugget Creeks (Hoekzema and others, 1986).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer gold was discovered in 1899 but there was no development until 1902 (Wright, 1904 [B 236]). Sporadic mining occurred in 1902 to 1913, 1929, and since 1980 (Hoekzema and others, 1986). Remains of a small hydraulic plant exist on east side of creek 1.5 miles above junction with Tsirku River. A flume was used to divert the creek between 1902 and 1909 for hydraulic methods (Hoekzema and others, 1986). Gravels in the lower section of the Nugget Creek canyon were tested with suction dredges between 1980 and 1985 with encouraging results. The alluvial fan at the mouth of Nugget Creek was patented in 1934 (Hoekzema and others, 1986).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Hoekzema and others, 1986

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Alluvial fan and paleo-channel placer deposits (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-FEB-2001 T.C. Crafford T. Crafford & Associates

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.