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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Niukluk River

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. 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 10001818
MRDS ID A012628
Record type Site
Current site name Niukluk River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -163.73523, 64.90127 (WGS84)
Relative position This mine is a segment of the Niukluk River floodplain that starts at the mouth of Ophir Creek (SO053) and extends 1.3 miles downstream; there is another segment that extends 0.8 miles upstream from Council. These two dredged segments are apparently separated by an unmined segment 0.7 mile long. The lower of the two segments may be slightly elevated with respect to the active floodplain. It is locality 121 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Solomon D-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Solomon C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Council 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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Garnet Gangue
Magnetite Gangue

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) Qs
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Gold was originally discovered on the bars of the Niukluk River in 1865 when a survey crew for a telegraph line passed through the area (Collier and others, 1908). These two areas, with a combined length of 2.1 miles, were extensively dredged over widths up to 2,000 feet. Heavy mineral concentrates from the river contain garnet, pyrite, and magnetite (Collier and others, 1908). The surface elevation varies from about 85 to 150 feet here and the depth to bedrock is not known. Gold was present throughout the gravel but concentrated on bedrock. Some gravels were reported to be thick and bedrock to be at elevations below sea level in what were interpreted to be old river channels (Smith, 1908). The downstream segment included here may be slightly elevated, at the surface, relative to the active floodplain of the river. This part of the Niukluk River is located proximally to the coastal lowlands of Golovin Bay and at low enough elevations to have been influenced by Quaternary sea level fluctuations.
  • Age = Quaternary; the elevation and location of these placers suggest that they are the result of more than one cycle of erosion and deposition and that sea level fluctuations influenced their development.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active?

Mining district

District name Council

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = An area totalling 2.1 miles long and up to 2,000 feet wide, has been dredged, from before WW I to as recently as the 1980's.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Collier, A. J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1908, Investigations of mineral deposits of Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 345, p. 206-250.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Collier and others, 1908

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 19-AUG-1999 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.