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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

White 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 10308530
Record type Site
Current site name White River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -142.18216, 60.07175 (WGS84)
Relative position Placer gold mining occurred locally along a 2-mile segment of White River starting about 2 miles upstream of the mouth. The map site is at the approximate midpoint of this segment at an elevation of about 75 feet in the N1/2 section 28, T 21 S, R 19 E, of the Copper River Meridian. This is locality 4 of Cobb (1972 [MF 373]; 1979 [OF 79-1246]). The location is probably accurate to within 1 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valdez-Cordova(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bering Glacier A-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Bering Glacier SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bering Glacier C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Bering Glacier(hydrologic unit)

Gulf of Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(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) -142.18216, 60.07175
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Placer gold occurs in glaciofluvial bench deposits along this part of White River. The gold is mostly fine, light, and flaky, but some small nuggests that weighed as much as 0.15 ounce were also recovered (Maddren, 1914). The deposits are 15 to 40 feet above the river, 8 or more feet thick, and as much as 500 feet wide (Brooks, 1912; Maddren, 1914). Hydraulic mining took place as early as 1908 and continued in most years up to 1916 (Maddren, 1914; Cobb, 1979 [OF 79-1246]). A 9,000-foot-long flume was constructed in 1913 to enable larger scale hydraulic operations. The present river also contains placer gold, but it was not accessible to mining. The gold may be derived from reworking of marine-glacial deposits of the Cenozoic Yakataga Formation (Reimnitz and Plafker, 1976). The White River placers produced a small part of the 15,000 to 16,000 ounces of gold estimated to have been recovered in the Yakataga district (Cobb, 1979 [OF 79-1246]). Bedrock in the White River drainage is Tertiary sedimentary rocks (Miller, 1971).
  • Age = Quaternary.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Yakataga

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = The White River placers produced a small part of the 15,000 to 16,000 ounces of gold estimated to have been recovered in the Yakataga district (Cobb, 1979 [OF 79-1246]).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Hydraulic mining took place as early as 1908 and continued in most years up to 1916 (Maddren, 1914; Cobb, 1979 [OF 79-1246]). A 9,000-foot-long flume was constructed in 1913 to enable larger scale hydraulic operations.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Brooks, A.H., 1912, The Alaska mining industry in 1911, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1911: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520, p. 17-44.

  • Deposit

    Maddren, A.G., 1914, Mineral deposits of the Yakataga district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-E, p. 119-153.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bering Glacier, Icy Bay, Middleton Island, and Yakutat quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1246, 41 p.

  • Deposit

    Miller, D.J., 1971, Geologic map of the Yakataga district, Gulf of Alaska Tertiary Province, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-610, scale 1:125,000.

  • Deposit

    Reimnitz, Erk, and Plafker, George, 1976, Marine gold placers along the Gulf of Alaska margin: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1415, 16 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Bering Glacier quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-373, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Maddren, 1914

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 12-DEC-2001 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.