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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Nome River

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 10307944
Record type Site
Current site name Nome River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.28738, 64.64559 (WGS84)
Relative position Nome River is auriferous downstream from its confluence with Buffalo Creek, an east headwater tributary (Nome D-1 quadrangle), to the mouth of the river east of Nome (on Nome B-1 quadrangle). The location shown is the approximate mid-point of the auriferous deposit on the Nome C-1 quadrangle. The total length of the auriferous section is about 26 miles. Close to the mouth of Nome River, alluvial deposits merge with beach-type gold deposits to form a very complex series of placer gold deposits.

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

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) -165.28738, 64.64559
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Nome River floodplain is gold-bearing downstream from its confluence with Buffalo Creek (Nome D-1 quadrangle) to the mouth of Nome Creek (Nome B-1 quadrangle) (Collier and others,1908, plate X). Almost certainly some placer gold was mined from the Nome River with rockers and pans on transient gold deposits on river bars in the early days of the district. In later years, large-scale mechanical placer mining occurred in Nome River flood plain at the mouth of Sparkle Creek, also at the mouth of Dexter Creek (both on the Nome C-1 quadrangle) (Bundtzen and others, 1994, sheet 1). .Gold-bearing tributaries to upper Nome River on the D-1 quadrangle include Boer Creek (NM049), Divide Creek (NM057), Dorothy Creek (NM057), Christian Creek (NM073), and Rocky Mountain Creek (NM082). On the C-1 quadrangle, gold-bearing tributaries include Basin (NM301), Sparkle (NM302), Dexter (NM303), Buster (NM304), and Osborn Creeks (NM305).
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Production from Nome River may have been reported with that of its gold-bearing tributaries, such as Dexter Creek.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Unknown, but the floodplain between Sparkle and McDonald Creeks is a gold resource.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Small-scale placer mining by rocker or pan almost certainly occurred in the early years of the 20th century on river bar deposits of Nome River. Parts of the Nome River flood plain near the mouths of auriferous tributaries were mined mechanically in later years. These flood-plain operations include those near the mouths of Sparkle and Dexter Creeks and below the mouth of Nil Desperandum Gulch on the right limit (west side) of Nome River. On the basis of the distribution of patented placer claims, Nome River was explored systematically and covered by patented claims from just above Sparkle Creek to about McDonald Creek, which is the approximate location of the so-called 'Third-Beach' deposits.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Collier and others, 1908

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 22-OCT-99 Hawley, C.C. and Hudson, Travis L. 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.