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Divide Hill

Prospect 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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  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 10307957
Record type Site
Current site name Divide Hill

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.28921, 64.85599 (WGS84)
Relative position The Divide Hill prospect, developed by Cominco American in 1995 and 1996, is the northeast extension of the Divide prospect (NM058). Divide Hill is the north-trending ridge between Boer Creek and Nome River. Its crest is shown as elevation 1546 feet. The prospect is mostly in the E1/2NE 1/4 section 26, T. 7 S., R. 33 W., Kateel River Meridian. The location is the approximate center of four drill hole locations; it is accurate to within 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 D-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
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Albite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Local silicification and more pervasive introduction of pyrite and ankerite in the vicinity of vein systems.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.28921, 64.85599
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Divide Hill prospect is part of a large auriferous area that includes Boer Creek (NM049) and the Divide prospect (NM058). The prospect at Divide Hill was explored by four drill holes (Div-10, -11, -12, -13), all in the E1/2NE 1/4 section 26, T. 7 S., R. 33 W. Significant gold-bearing intercepts were found in holes Div-10 and -12. Hole Div-10 had 25 feet of 0.028 ounce of gold per ton and hole Div-12 contained 52 feet of 0.092 ounce of gold per ton. This appears to be the best drill hole in the Divide-Divide Hill area (Cominco American, written communication, August 22, 1996). The Divide Hill area does not appear to have been trenched. On the basis of descriptions of mineralization at the Divide prospect (NM058) to the south, mineralization here is expected to be gold-bearing, quartz veins along steeply dipping joints and fractures. The veins have albite and local silicified selvages, and larger veins have several feet of selvage with ankerite. In general, pyritization appears to be a favorable indication of nearby gold mineralization. In decreasing order of abundance, the ore minerals in the veins are pyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, stibnite, sphalerite, and jamesonite. The host rocks at the Divide Hill prospect are metasedimentary rocks of retrograde greenschist or lower amphibolite facies, including graphitic and calcareous schist, blue-gray, gray, and black marble, and black quartz schist and quartzite (Hummel,1962 [MF 248]). Hummel (1962 [MF 248]) mapped less graphitic rocks west and northwest of Quartz Gulch, including most of the canyon of Boer Creek. Projection of mapped bedrock geology from the west suggests that some of these metamorphic rocks could be biotite-bearing (Sainsbury, Hummel, and Hudson, 1972; Bundzten and others, 1994). The schistose rocks are mostly phyllonites with slip schistosity approximately parallel to lithologic contacts and original bedding. Schistosity strikes northeast to east-northeast and dips about 30 degrees southeast. The metamorphic rocks here are probably part of the Nome Group derived from Proterozoic to early Paleozoic protoliths (Till and Dumoulin, 1994). The Nome Group underwent regional blueschist facies metamorphism in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous (Sainsbury, Coleman, and Kachadoorian, 1970; Forbes and others, 1984; Thurston, 1985; Armstrong and others, 1986; Hannula and McWilliams, 1995). The blueschist facies rocks were recrystallized to greenschist facies or higher metamorphic grades in conjunction with regional extension, crustal melting, and magmatism in the mid-Cretaceous (Hudson and Arth, 1983; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Miller and others, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995; Hannula and others, 1995; Hudson, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). Lode gold mineralization on Seward Peninsula is related to the higher temperature metamorphism in the mid-Cretaceous (Apodoca, 1994; Ford, 1993 [thesis]; Ford and Snee, 1996; Goldfarb and others, 1997).
  • Age = Mid-Cretaceous; postdates regional metamorphism and is probably similar in age to other lode gold deposits of Seward Peninsula.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Four reverse circulation holes were drilled in 1996 in conjunction with the Cominco American evaluation of the general area between Divide Creek (NM057) and Boer Creek (NM049), both long recognized as placer gold sources in the north Nome River area.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = This report

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low sulfide, Au-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

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.