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Shungnak Rivers

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Asbestos, Copper, Jade
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10001169
MRDS ID A011867
Record type Site
Current site name Shungnak Rivers
Alternate or previous names Shingnek Creek

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -157.23846, 67.03064 (WGS84)
Relative position Located in canyon between Bismark Mountain and Shungnak Mountain near confluence with Bismark Creek in T. 19 N., R. 7 E., Kateel River Meridian. Shown as locality 19 in Mayfield and Grybeck (1978). Accurate to within 1000 ft. (300 m).?

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Northwest Arctic(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ambler River A-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Ambler River SE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ambler River C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Kobuk River(hydrologic unit)

Kobuk-Selawik Rivers(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

NANA Regional Corporation, Incorporated(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
Silver Secondary
Asbestos Secondary
Copper Secondary
Jade Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = Copper (native)
  • Ore Material = Silver (native)

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Asbestos Ore
Nephrite Ore
Copper Ore
Silver Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -157.23846, 67.03064
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Creek and bench placers. Creek gravels 1-3 ft. (0.3-1 m) deep in canyon; Au occurs in pockets in bedrock and lower 1 ft. (0.3 m) of gravel. Nephrite jade float along banks of river; nephrite and low-grade asbestos in greenstone and serpentine along river. Gold also occurs on false bedrock above Pleistocene till near confluence with Bismark Creek. Stream gravels are coarse, subangular with abundant boulders up to 3 ft. (1 m) in diameter.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Shungnak

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Intermittent production during the period 1894 to 1940. May have produced as much as 10,000 oz (311 kg) of gold (Fritts, 1970, p. 54-55).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Most of gravel is not frozen, in benches up to 25 ft. (9 m) above the river; prospect pits in gravel downstream from canyon did not reach bedrock; 40 ft. (13 m) drill hole in gravels below canyon did not reach bedrock (Reed, 1931, p. 15)

Reference information

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Fritts, 1970

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer
Deposit Other Comments = Concentrates mainly magnetite along with rare nuggets of copper and silver (Anderson, 1945, p. 24-46).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 06-MAY-1997 K.R. Leonard U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 06-MAY-1997 R.L. Elliott U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 06-MAY-1997 J.M. Schmidt U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 06-MAY-1997 S.W. Nelson U.S. Geological Survey

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.