Prospect Creek

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Bismuth, Copper, Lead, Tungsten
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 10308950
MRDS ID A012829
Record type Site
Current site name Prospect Creek
Related records 10282362, 10001985

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.45488, 64.62978 (WGS84)
Relative position This small alluvial placer gold mine is on Prospect Creek, a small east tributary to Snake River. This placer is upstream of the Snake River road crossing of Prospect Creek and 1.5 miles west-southwest of Mount Byrnteson. The map site is in the south-central part of section 10, T. 10 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian and includes localities 41 and 96 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]). The location 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 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)

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
Bismuth Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Tungsten Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Scheelite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.45488, 64.62978

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Small amounts of placer gold and scheelite occur in Prospect Creek gravels (Anderson, 1947; Thorne and others, 1948). One claim (the Terri) was surveyed for patent in 1976, and patent was granted in 1977 (U.S. Mineral Survey No. 2270. The Terri claim and an unpatented adjacent claim were mined for about 300 feet, probably by the claim owner, William Ullrich. Bedrock in the area is graphitic schist that probably of early Paleozoic protolith age (Hummel, 1962 [MF 247]; Sainsbury, Hummel, and Hudson, 1972 [OFR 72-326]; Till and Dumoulin, 1994; Bundtzen and others, 1994). Anderson (1947) reported a galena- and bismuth-bearing quartz vein on Prospect Creek, but the exact location of the vein is unknown.
  • Age = The placer deposit is Quaternary. The vein cuts schist metamorphosed during the mid-Cretaceous.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = One pit was mined on the upper Terri claim, possibly in the 1960s or 1970s. The claim was patented in 1977.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Anderson, 1947

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Polymetallic vein(?); alluvial placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 22c and 39a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUL-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.