Kougarok River

Site Name

Primary: Kougarok River
Secondary: Washington Creek

---

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tin
Secondary: Lead

---

Location

State: Alaska
District: Kougarok

---

Land Status

Not available

---

Holdings

Not available

---

Workings

Not available

---

Ownership

Not available

---

Production

Not available

---

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

---

Physiography

Not available

---

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

---

Orebody

Not available

---

Structure

Not available

---

Alterations

Not available

---

Rocks

Not available

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Cassiterite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold

---

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; placer deposits on the active floodplains of the area are probably the result of at least two cycles of erosion and placer developement.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Open-cut placer workings, including extensive areas of dredging, are continuous along the upper 2 miles of Kougarok River and the lower almost 3 miles of Washington Creek.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Brooks (1901) reported initial production at the turn of the century of $50,000 (about 3,000 ounces at $18 per ounce); thisis an indication of the richness of the upper Kougarok River area. Most of the more than 240,000 ounces of known production from the Kougarok district (Hudson and DeYoung, 1978) is from the upper part of Kougarok River.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Placer mining claims cover much of the upper Kougarok River area, including the area south of Taylor (BN035). Placer mining has continued locally in this area and reserves probably remain, particularly between meanders on the active floodplain and on unmined benches.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1975 (OFR 75-429)

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Kougarok River is the largest and most important drainage in the Kougarok mining district. Placer mining started on Kougarok River as early as 1900 when $50,000 worth of gold (about 3,000 ounces at $18 per ounce) was recovered (Brooks and others, 1901). Extensive dredging of the active floodplain has taken place throughout the upper two miles of the river and at least the lower parts of Washington Creek. Various dragline and dozer operations have also taken place along Washington Creek and bench placers have been locally productive along both drainages. Placer mining, including dredging, has continued locally in the upper Kougarok River area to the present. Most of the more than 240,000 ounces of known production from the Kougarok district (Hudson and DeYoung, 1977) is from the upper part of Kougarok River. The gold is dark compared to that from tributaries (Collier and others, 1908). Placer concentrates have contained cassiterite, abundant pyrite, and magnetite (Knopf, 1908). the cassiterite that is reported from early operations may have been recovered from Washington Creek as the headwaters of Washington Creek drain Kougarok Mountain where lode tin deposits are present (Hudson, 1998). Sainsbury (1975, p. 69) reports that placer concentrate from Washington Creek contains cassiterite, pyrite, galena, and a silvery sulfide that predominately contains silver, tin and bismuth. Bits of cassiterite and base metal sulfides were also noted by Marsh and others (1972) in Washington Creek placer deposits. Bedrock is extensively mantled by tundra in the area but where exposed it is part of a Lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Sainsbury and others, 1969; Till and others, 1986).

---

References

Reference (Deposit): Ford, R.C., 1993, Geology, geochemistry, and age of gold lodes at Bluff and Mt. Distin, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Golden, Colorado School of Mines, Ph.D. dissertation, 302 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-417, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., and DeYoung, J. H., Jr., 1978, Map and tables describing areas of mineral resource potential, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Suvey Open-File Report 78-1-C, 62 p., one sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L, 1998, Alaska Resource Data File, Teller quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-328, 235 p.

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., Richardson, G. B., and Collier, A. J., 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay regions, Alaska, in 1900: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, p. 1-180.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., 1975, Geology, ore deposits, and mineral potential of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 73-75, 108 p., 3 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-429, 123 p.

Reference (Deposit): Marsh, W.R., Sainsbury, C.L., Hamilton, J.C., and Ewing, Rodney, 1972, Tin in panned concentrates, Serpentine River, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 536, 7 p.

Reference (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.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Kachadoorian, Reuban, Hudson, Travis, Smith, T.E., Richards, T.R., and Todd, W.E., 1969, Reconnaissance geologic maps and sample data, Teller A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, B-3, C-1, and Bendeleben A-6, B-6, C-6, D-5, and D-6 quadrangles. Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 377, 49 p., 12 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

---

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.