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Ophir Creek Placer

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. Nearby scientific data
  8. Ore body information
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10107528
MRDS ID A012630
Record type Site
Current site name Ophir Creek Placer
Related records 10282095

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -163.73162, 64.92794 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position TRIB. TO NIUKLUK RIVER., Reference Point In Major Placer Area, Reference Point In Major Placer Area

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)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS DISCOVERY CLAIM, AT MOUTH OF SWEETCAKE CR.; DREDGE TAILING SHOWN ON D4 QUAD. EXTEND 1 MILE DOWNSTREAM TO FLATS OF NIUKLU R. AND ABOUT 7 MILES UPSTREAM TO THE MOUTH OF CROOKED CR. IN BENDELEBEN QUAD.; NEARLY CONTINUOUS. LAND STATUS VALUE CALCULATED 6-94 USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS WITH BLM 1:2,500,000 SCALE OWNERSHIP STATUS MAP (1991).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

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

Analytical data

Result AU WORTH $18.49/OZ, [PRICE OF AU = $20.67/FINE OZ], USGS BULLETIN 263, P. 209

Nearby scientific data

(1) -163.73162, 64.92794
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Length 12874.4M
    Width 365.76M

Comments on the geologic information

  • GRANITE CLASTS 1-8 IN IN DIAMETER IN GRAVEL; GRANITE AND GNEISS CROP OUT AT HEAD OF CREEK IN BENDELEBEN QUAD. ; MAJOR.UNITS: QUARTZ MICA SCHIST, CHLORITIC SCHIST, CALCAREOUS SCHIST AND LIMESTONE; CUT BY SMALL QUARTZ, CALCITE VEINS CARRYING PYRITE AND VISIBLE AU. ; REG.COM: SOME GOLD RECONCENTRATED FROM TERRACE GRAVELS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1898
Year of first production 1899

Comments on the production information

  • CALCULATED BY DIVIDING DOLLAR VALUES BY $20.67, (PRICE OF AU/FINE OZ IN EARLY 1900'S); VALUES IN FINE OZ EQUIVALENTS.

Comments on the workings information

  • DEVELOPMENTS BY 1920 INCLUDED 11 MI. DITCH AND HYDROELECTRIC PLANT; AVERAGE CAPACITIES OF 3 DREDGES MINING IN 1903: 1600 CY/DAY, 1800 CY/DAY, AND 800 CY/DAY.

Comments on development

  • MINED BY SMALL-SCALE HAND METHODS, HORSE-DRAWN SCRAPERS AND WINTER DRIFTING, 1898-1904; LARGE-SCALE HYDRAULIC OPERATIONS AND 1-3 DREDGES OPERATED IN MOST YEARS BETWEEN 1904 AND 1940; ONE DREDGE OPERATED IN 1968; ONE DREDGE REPORTED ACIVE IN 1975; NO DATA ON MORE RECENT ACTIVITY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SOME MINING WAS IN BENDELEBEN QUAD.; UPPER COURSE OF OPHIR CR. WAS ARTIFICALLY DIVERTED TO NIUKLUK R. IN EARLY 1900'S, CUTTING OFF THE LOWERMOST 1 MILE IN NIUKLUK FLATS; SEE ALSO: (NIUKLUK RIVER). ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit THIS SITE NAME WAS CREATED BY THE REPORTER OR OTHER USGS EMPLOYEE BASED ON PROXIMITY TO SOME MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE.
Deposit CREEK GRAVEL'S SHALLOW, RICHEST PORTIONS MINED OUT BY 1903; BENCH GRAVELS GENERALLY RANGE FROM 5 FT TO 14 FT THICK, UNDERNEATH 1-8 FT OF OVERBURDEN, OVER WIDTHS BETWEEN 100-1200 FT; AU IN BENCH GRAVELS, CONCENTRATED ON IMPERMEABLE CLAY LAYERS, BEDROCK SURFACE, AND BEDROCK CREVICES GENERALLY 1-3 FT DEEP, BUT UP TO 6 FT DEEP LOCALLY.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-87 Leonard, Kenneth R. (Huber, Donald F.) 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.