Nome Beach and Abrasion Deposits

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Tungsten

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Materials information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10000554
MRDS ID	A010761
Record type	Site
Current site name	Nome Beach and Abrasion Deposits
Related records	10160547

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-165.39049, 64.52511 (WGS84)
Relative position	Four main gold-bearing beaches, Present Beach (NM255), Second Beach (NM256), Third Beach (NM258), and locally preserved Fourth Beach (NM259), constitute true strandline gold placer deposits of the Nome coastal plain; they are developed between Cape Nome and Cape Rodney. Present Beach is essentially continuous throughout this distance, the Second beach is almost continuous, and Third Beach is discontinuous. Discontinuous deposits such as Intermediate (NM287), Monroeville (NM-257) Submarine Beach (NM285), and Center Creek (NM286), occur in the same general area, but fthey ormed on submarine abrasion platforms offshore of the strandline deposits. The map location is the approximate center of the area of all onshore marine and beach deposits. It is in the NW1/4 section 24, T. 11 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian.? The deposits described in this record are essentially the same as the Nome Beaches of Cobb (1978 [OFR 78-93, p. 119-124]). Cobb's Nome Beaches category includes locality numbers 129, 135, 137-139, and 141-143 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463]). Note that location 138 has been described previously (NM251).

Geographic coordinates:

-165.39049, 64.52511 (WGS84)

Relative position

Four main gold-bearing beaches, Present Beach (NM255), Second Beach (NM256), Third Beach (NM258), and locally preserved Fourth Beach (NM259), constitute true strandline gold placer deposits of the Nome coastal plain; they are developed between Cape Nome and Cape Rodney. Present Beach is essentially continuous throughout this distance, the Second beach is almost continuous, and Third Beach is discontinuous. Discontinuous deposits such as Intermediate (NM287), Monroeville (NM-257) Submarine Beach (NM285), and Center Creek (NM286), occur in the same general area, but fthey ormed on submarine abrasion platforms offshore of the strandline deposits. The map location is the approximate center of the area of all onshore marine and beach deposits. It is in the NW1/4 section 24, T. 11 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian.? The deposits described in this record are essentially the same as the Nome Beaches of Cobb (1978 [OFR 78-93, p. 119-124]). Cobb's Nome Beaches category includes locality numbers 129, 135, 137-139, and 141-143 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463]). Note that location 138 has been described previously (NM251).

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
Silver	Primary
Gold	Primary
Tungsten Critical	Secondary

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Arsenopyrite	Ore
Gold	Ore
Hematite	Ore
Ilmenite	Ore
Magnetite	Ore
Pyrite	Ore
Scheelite	Ore
Garnet	Gangue

Host and associated rocks

Host or associated Host

Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Host or associated	Host
Rock type	Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1)	Qs	ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

Geologic Description = Three main strandline beach deposits exist at Nome, Present (also First or Modern), Second, and Third. With reference to modern sea level, these beaches formed, respectively, at current sea level, 38 feet and about 70 feet in elevation There is some evidence of a fourth beach at an elevation of 120 feet, and there appear to be other fossil beachlines under the sea. The other so-called beaches (Monroeville, Intermediate, Submarine, and Center Creek) appear to have developed offshore on the seaward abrasion platforms of the beaches. The following general descriptions are largely based on Metcalfe and Tuck (1942).? Present Beach extends from Cape Nome to Cape Rodney. It was auriferous throughout, but it was richest near Nome. It formed by reworking marine sedimentary deposits that range from about 10 feet to more than 100 feet in thickness. Gold was characteristically very fine grained and commonly had to be saved by amalgamation. It occurred mainly in lens-like concentrations. Garnet was abundant, black sand less so.? Second Beach is nearly continuous, but interrupted by stream erosion at Penny River, Snake River, Nome River, and Hastings Creek. It has an average elevation of about 38 feet and occurred from a few hundred feet to 3,000 feet inland of Present Beach. Second Beach also formed mainly by reworking marine sediment. At Nome and near Snake and Penny Rivers, Second Beach appears to have formed on sand spits. West of Hastings Creek and at other places, this beach formed as the sea was encroaching on headlands composed of marine sediments. Most of the gold in Second Beach deposits, except near Otter Creek, was fine grained.? the highly productive Third Beach is discontinuous and is complex in origin. To the east of Nome near Hastings Creek, it apparently formed in an environment of lagoons and barrier bars and is not well developed or very productive. Near Irene and Cunningham Creeks and from Macdonald to near Little Creeks, it formed as a narrow strandline deposit against gravel headlands. It has been removed by erosion on Snake River, but it exists near Sunset Creek in the Nome C-2 quadrangle; it is productive only in a small area. Third Beach is present, but has not been productive,west of Sunset Creek.? Some other beach-like deposits, specifically the Intermediate, Monroeville, Submarine, and Center Creek deposits, appear to have formed in an offshore abrading environment as the sea advanced onto the shoreline. Sulfides, principally pyrite and arsenopyrite, are much more abundant in platform than in the strandline deposits. The lens-shaped beach deposits of gold in garnet or black sand characteristic of the strandline beaches are not well developed in the abrading marine environment. In general, gold in the marine abrasion platforms is coarser than in the strandline deposits. Several of the deposits have complex origins. The richest part of Submarine Beach could have formed near the mouth of ancestral Anvil Creek (Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942).
Age = Late Pliocene and Pleistocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Producer
Commodity type	Metallic

Comments on exploration

Status = Active

Mining district

District name	Nome

Comments on the production information

Production Notes = Most of the production of the Nome district (NM250) has come from the strandline deposits and their related offshore abrasion deposits.

Comments on the reserve resource information

Reserves = Resources locally remain in the remnants of the beach and abrasion deposits that have not been previously mined.

Comments on the workings information

Workings / Exploration = Gold was discovered on Present Beach in 1899 and immediately gave rise to extensive production. Second Beach was discovered in 1902 and Third Beach was discoved in 1904. In 1906, Nome had its most productive year when more than 295,000 ounces of gold were produced (Bundtzen and others, 1994). The Intermediate Beach was discovered in 1906 and Submarine Beach in 1907. By 1908, the richest parts of the beaches were worked out, but major production continued in the abrasion areas seaward from the true beaches.? In general, production from the submerged deposits was by drift-mining and by large-scale hydraulic operations, until the development of cold-water thawing in the 1920's. The first two large dredges and thaw-fields were installed in 1923 (Brooks, 1925, p. 49). Extensive development by dredging did not take place until about 1930 as defects were worked out of the thawing process. The great dredging era was from about 1927 (Smith, 1930 [B 810]) until World War II (Smith, 1942). Dredges were reactivated after World War II and operated until about 1965. Two dredges operated after 1975 in the Dry Creek and Submarine Beach areas (Kastelic, 1975). From 1996 until 1998 all operations were truck-shovel open pits, with summertime washing.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A010761
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	NM252

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Brooks, A.H., 1925, Alaska's mineral resources and production, 1923: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 773, p. 3-52.
Deposit

Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.
Deposit

Metcalfe, J.B., and Tuck, Ralph, 1942, Placer gold deposits of the Nome district, Alaska: Report for U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co., 175 p.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Kastelic, W.R., 1975, Gold placer exploration, Nome, Alaska: Colorado Mining Association, 1975 Mining Yearbook, p. 85-90.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.
Deposit

Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Comments on the references

Primary Reference = Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	Model Name = Lensoid deposits of fine gold associated with black and ruby sands in the true beach strandlines; disseminated and crudely stratabound concentrations formed in an offshore abrading environment.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	10-JUL-00	Hawley, C.C.	Hawley Resource Group
Reporter	10-JUL-00	Travis L. Hudson	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

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