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Washington 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. 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 10097532
MRDS ID A012941
Record type Site
Current site name Washington Creek
Alternate or previous names Washington Gulch
Related records 10209016

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.20687, 64.52235 (WGS84)
Relative position Washington Creek is a small east tributary to lower Nome River. It appears to have been placer mined over most of its less than 1 mile length. The map location is on lower Washington Creek at a surface elevation of about 50 feet. It is in the NE1/4 section 23, T. 11 S., R. 33 W., Kateel River Meridian.

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)

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
Magnetite 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 Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.20687, 64.52235
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Gold was discovered in Washington Creek by 1900. It was reported to be fine gold accompanied by magnetite and garnet on a clay bottom (Brooks and others, 1901). Moffit (1913) reported that gold was recovered on bedrock from a 10-inch-thick layer of fine sand resembling beach sand. Washington Creek appears to have been placer mined along most of its length at surface elevations between about 50 and 125 feet. The low elevation and physiographic setting suggest that coastal plain deposits could be present in parts of this drainage. The placer gold thus could be derived from reworking the coastal plain deposits. The Washington Creek placer is probably related in part to similar deposits on Stevens, Moss, and Laurada Creeks (NM274-276) that, in their lower elevations, appear to have developed on a weakly defined Third Beach formed on the bedrock of Army Peak (Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942, p. 32).
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Placer mining tailings are present along the creek between surface elevations of about 50 to 125 feet; the deposit at about 70 to 75 feet elevation may be a weak Third Beach developed on Army Peak.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., Richardson, G. B., and Collier, A. J., 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay regions, Alaska, in 1900: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, p. 1-180.

  • Deposit

    Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

  • Deposit

    Metcalfe, J.B., and Tuck, Ralph, 1942, Placer gold deposits of the Nome district, Alaska: Report for U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co., 175 p.

  • 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 = Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942

General comments

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

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.