The Shungnak River is a gold mine located in Alaska.
About the MRDS Data:
All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.
Mine Info
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Shungnak River MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Shungnak River
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Jade
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Silver
Location
State: Alaska
District: Shungnak
Land Status
Not available
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Not available
Ownership
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past 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: Silver
Ore: Copper
Ore: Gold
Ore: Nephrite
Comments
Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Silver (native)
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Smith, 1913; Reed, 1931
Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Semiprecious quality nephrite (jade) boulders were found during placer mining and in the stream gravels of the Shungnak River (Bernice Sheldon, oral communication, 1991).
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Gold was first mined from the Shungnak River in 1898. It was mined continuously through 1913, and intermittently on a small scale into the 1950's.
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold was first mined from the Shungnak River in 1898. It was mined continuously through 1913, and intermittently on a small scale into the 1950's. Bedrock is predominately lower to mid-Paleozoic black shale and schist; some Jurassic-Cretaceous serpentinite also is in the immediate area. The stream gravels are unfrozen. Typically the top 2 feet of gravel was removed as overburden. The gold is mostly on bedrock, particularly in areas of black shale. The gold is reddish with a dull luster, shaped like flattened shot, and usually in small pieces. Assay value was $16.70 per ounce in 1931. The recovery during 1931 was on the order of $0.90 per cubic yard. Pay streaks were irregular and unpredictable. Magnetite is the most abundant mineral in the concentrates. Occasionally small nuggets of copper and silver were found in the sluice box (Smith, 1913). Some boulders of semiprecious nephrite (jade) were recovered during mining.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Comment (Production): Production Notes = Smith (1913) states that a liberal estimate of total production to 1912 would be less than $50,000.
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Copper (native)
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.
References
Reference (Deposit): Mayfield, C.F. and Grybeck, D., 1978, Mineral occurrences and resource map of the Ambler river quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-120I, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Mayfield, C.F. and Grybeck, D., 1978, Mineral occurrences and resource map of the Ambler river quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-120I, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1977, Placer deposit map of central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-168B, 64 p., 1 map, scale 1:1,000,000.
Reference (Deposit): Smith. P.S., 1913, The Noatak-Kobuk region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 536, 60 p.
Reference (Deposit): Reed, I.M., 1931, Report on the placer deposits of the upper Kobuk goldfields: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 37-1, 57 p.
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