Nugget Discovery

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 10307231
Record type Site
Current site name Nugget Discovery

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -146.5009, 64.84269 (WGS84)
Relative position The Nugget Discovery prospect is located on Nugget Creek, which drains west into the South Fork of the Chena River. The creek is roughly 2.5 miles long. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system reports placer mining at the base of Nugget Creek. The approximate center of the mining activity is in SW1/4NW1/4 section 11, T. 1 S., R. 6 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. It is locality 28 of Menzie and Foster (1979), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Nugget Discovery'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta D-6(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Big Delta NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Big Delta(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

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) -146.5009, 64.84269

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Nugget Creek flows into the South Fork of the Chena River. Weber and others (1978) described the bedrock in the drainage as primarily marble, quartzite, argillite and phyllite of unknown age. Locally, there is an extensive cover of windblown silt and sand that ranges from 0.1 to 50 meters in thickness. In addition, much of the ground in the swampy lowlands of the Chena River and its tributaries is permanently frozen (Foster and others, 1979). Menzie and Foster (1979) reported that the creek was an active gold placer claim from 1976 to 1978. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Nugget Creek as recent as 1984. There are no indications of production for the Nugget Discovery prospect.
  • Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = There is no record of production for the Nugget Discovery prospect.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Menzie and Foster (1979) reported that the creek was an active gold placer claim from 1976 to 1978. The Alaska Division of Mining Kardex file system records active claims on Nugget Creek as recent as 1984.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Menzie and Foster, 1979

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 26-APR-99 Cameron S. Rombach Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

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.