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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Unnamed (lode near Fred Creek)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Arsenic
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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 10307934
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (lode near Fred Creek)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.4388, 64.78179 (WGS84)
Relative position Mineralized schist occurs about 600 feet southwest of upper Fred Creek (Gulch) in the approximate center of the SW1/4NE1/4 section 19, T. 8 S., R. 33 W., Kateel River Meridian. The location is accurate to within 250 feet of the coordinates.

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)

Federal lands

Bering Straits Native Corporation(ANCSA Region)

ANCSA Region NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Arsenic Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Hematite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation; possible development of secondary layered silicates; sulfidation of contact zone.

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) -165.4388, 64.78179
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The basal contact zone of massive marble with schist is mineralized at this locality. The mineralized rock is hematized schist that is anomalous in gold and arsenic; arsenic is inferred to be present in a secondary mineral oxidized from arsenopyrite. This mineralization was found as a result of a soil geochemistry survey, but similar mineralization could exist widely at this stratigraphic and structural contact. The deposit could be the source of most of the gold in the Fred Creek placer (NM064). About 2,400 feet southwest of this prospect are numerous boulders of angular vein quartz float on muskeg soil. The quartz is about on trend with the Penny River fault (branch or main splay) that goes through the California prospect (NM062; C.C. Hawley, written communication, 1995). The metasedimentary schist and overlying massive marble unit (Bundtzen and others, 1994) are 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 mostly 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; structures controlling deposits post-date regional metamorphism - mineralization could be 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 = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The area was explored by Kennecott Exploration Company in 1994. Kennecott extended an earlier soil geochemistry survey that was confined to the immediate area of the California mine (NM062). The extended survey found soils anomalous in gold and arsenic near the basal contact of massive marble in Fred Creek. Quartz boulders were found and mapped along the survey lines. Reconnaissance along the apparent northeast-trend of mineralization led to discovery of old hand placer workings in Boulder Creek, the next (northeast) tributary to Stewart (Ben Porterfield, oral communication, 1995). A trench cut by Kennecott in 1996 found a 200-foot-wide fault zone in the Fred Creek lode prospect area. The area has been further explored by Consolidated Aston.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = This report

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Possible low sulfide, Au-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).
Deposit Other Comments = Basal contact zone of massive marble is a favorable horizon in the Fred Creek area; also a major fault, probably related to the Penny River fault traverses the area.

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.