Solomon River (lower)

The Solomon River (lower) 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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Site Name

Primary: Solomon River (lower)

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tungsten

Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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: Gold
Ore: Scheelite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Magnetite

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; the location and elevation (25 to 75 feet) of this area indicate it was affected by Quaternary sea level fluctuations.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active?

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1978

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Most of the active flood along this part of the river has been extensively worked by dredges starting as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a); possibly reworked coastal plain deposits.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Placer gold was discovered in 1899 and mining started in 1900 when about $10,000 (or 485 fine ounces) were produced (Brooks and others, 1901). Lu and others (1968) compiled reported production and determined that more than about $2,500,000 dollars, or 125,000 ounces at $20 per ounce, had been produced from the greater Solomon River area. This is a minimum estimate of production.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold was discovered in 1899 and mining started in 1900 when about $10,000 (or 485 fine ounces) were produced (Brooks and others, 1901). Most of the active flood along this part of the river has been extensively worked by dredges starting as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908). Stream gravels are generally 3 to 9.5 feet thick with a maximum thickness of 30 feet, and the pay streak was several hundred to over 1,000 feet wide. Locally preserved benches had 8 to 12 feet of gravel with pay thicknesses of 1 to 4 feet over clay layers and bedrock. Gravels were well rounded and generally less than 6 to 8 inches in diameter. A dredge concentrate from about a mile below the mouth of Shovel Creek contained 22 ounces of gold and 9.1 pounds of scheelite per cubic yard (Coats, 1944). Other minerals in dredge concentrates include magnetite, ilmenite, and garnet (Smith, 1910). Dredges operated on various parts of the lower Solomon River up to as recently as 1963. Lu and others (1968) compiled reported production and determined that more than about $2,500,000 dollars, or 125,000 ounces at $20 per ounce, had been produced from the general Solomon River area. This is a minimum estimate of production. Bedrock here is part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage that includes a distinctive black, very fine-grained, graphitic schist (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 511; Till and others, 1986).

References

Reference (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.

Reference (Deposit): Coats, R.R., 1944, Occurrences of scheelite in the Solomon district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 4, 4 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): Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, R., and Marsh, W.R., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic maps of the Solomon D-5 and C-5 quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 511, 12 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1910, Geology and mineral resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 433, 234 p.

Reference (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.

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): Lu, F.C.J., Heiner, L.E., and Harris, D.P., 1968, Known and potential ore reserves, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report 11, 107 p.

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.

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