Christian Creek

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, 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 10002062
MRDS ID A012913
Record type Site
Current site name Christian Creek
Related records 10209334

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.20358, 64.79485 (WGS84)
Relative position Christian Creek is a west-flowing tributary to Nome River; it enters Nome River between Sulphur Creek and Rocky Mountain Creek (NM082). The location is accurate; it is the approximate mid-point of tailings on the lower creek about a quarter of a mile above its confluence with Nome River. This is locality 42 of Hummel (1975) and locality 106 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).

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)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Scheelite Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.20358, 64.79485

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Christian Creek has been placer mined for gold over about 1,000 feet of its length starting a half-mile upstream of its confluence with Nome River. This mining may have taken place after WW II. The occurrence of scheelite in a nearby lode (NM075) suggests that scheelite could be found in the concentrates of Christian Creek. Christian Creek appears to be the northern limit of a zone of scheelite deposits that can be traced as far south as Nelson Gulch (NM083). Bedrock in the Christian Creek drainage is mostly calcareous schist and marble that is close to the axis of the Mount Distin syncline defined by Hummel (1962 [MF 248]). Hummel mapped a prominent north-trending lineament across Christian Creek at about the lower end of the placer tailings.
  • Age = Holocene.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Shallow mechanical placer mining took place along about 1,000 feet of the creek, possibly after WW II.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Hummel, C.L., 1962, Preliminary geologic map of the Nome D-1 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-248, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

  • 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

    Hummel, C.L., 1975, Mineral deposits and occurrences, and associated altered rocks, in southwest Seward Peninsula, western Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-2, 1 sheet, scale 1:125,000.

  • 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.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = This report

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 22-OCT-99 Hawley, C.C. Hawley Resource Group
Reporter 22-OCT-99 Travis L. Hudson 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.