Second Beach (near the mouth of Cripple River)

Past Producer 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 10307981
Record type Site
Current site name Second Beach (near the mouth of Cripple River)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.79218, 64.62508 (WGS84)
Relative position A placer mine near the mouth of Cripple River was reported by Sainsbury and others (1972 [OFR 72-321]). The location is on the west side of Cripple River, about 1,500 feet inland from the mouth. The site, inferred to be on the so called Second Beach, is located within about a third of a mile.

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-2(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

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) -165.79218, 64.62508

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = A placer mine near the mouth of Cripple River was reported by Sainsbury and others (1972 [OFR 72-321]). The location is on the west side of Cripple River, about 1,500 feet inland from the mouth. It is inferred to be on a westward extension of Second Beach that was mined at many places on the coastal plain to the east. Second Beach deposits were originally marked by a moss-covered gravel escarpment about 35 feet above modern sea level. It contains quartz sand deposits with driftwood, fragments of walrus tusks, and marine shells (Collier and others, 1908; Moffitt, 1906, 1907). There was more garnet in Second Beach deposits than in those of Third Beach. Second Beach is commonly buried by a few feet of material that is commonly frozen. The raised beach deposit is essentially at the landward limit of the Pelukian marine transgression mapped by Bundtzen and others (1994). The amount of production is unknown at this site.
  • Age = Late Pleistocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Some surface workings or dumps from drifting must be present.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Sainsbury and others, 1972 (OFR 72-321)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Beach placer Au.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 12-MAR-00 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.

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.