Goldbottom Creek

The Goldbottom Creek 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: Goldbottom Creek

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Tin

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: Cassiterite
Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See also Silver Creek (NM094), Steep Creek (NM093) and Grouse Creek (NM099).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Goldbottom Creek was placer mined for gold at least as early as 1900 (Brooks and others, 1901). Moffit (1913, p. 87) reported that hand mining and a small hydraulic plant operated in the upper part of the creek in 1905. Moffit (1913) also reported stream tin (cassiterite) at several places in the creek. Goldbottom Creek was later worked by small-scale mechanical methods. Mining perhaps was in conjunction with small-scale mechanical mining on Silver Creek (NM094) and Steep Creek (NM093). Silver Creek and Steep Creek, also Grouse Creek (NM099), are eastern tributaries of Goldbottom Creek. Production on Goldbottom Creek is unknown, but was fairly small. Some small-scale mining and prospecting have been carried out in recent years.? Goldbottom Creek drains the basal contact of the massive marble unit mapped by Hummel (1962 [MF 248]) and Bundtzen and others (1994). One of the compilers (C.C. Hawley) mapped this section of Goldbottom Creek at 1inch to 1,000 feet in 1995 and identified several possible structures that could source gold above the head of placer pay. About 1,000 feet above the head of the placer deposit, Goldbottom Creek enters a canyon, and flood-plain gravels are too thin and narrow to be exploited except on a very small scale. Approximately 6,000 feet above the placer, the creek crosses the lower contact of massive marble and is in this unit for about 2,000 feet. In this reach of the canyon, the marble is highly dolomitized and cut by small quartz veinlets. The marble is in a synclinal structure, and the basal contact is cut again by Goldbottom Creek in its northern headwaters. About 3000 feet above the upper basal marble contact, Goldbottom Creek crosses part of the Penny River fault system that hosts the California prospect (NM062). The possible sources of placer gold in Goldbottom Creek include the complexly veined dolomite unit, the sheared basal contact zone of massive marble, and veins associated with the Penny River fault system. Moffit (1913) reported granitic boulders in Goldbottom Creek gravels, so some gold may have been derived from reworking of glacial deposits derived from the Kigluaik Mountains.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active?

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Hand and small-scale mechanical placer mining started as early as 1900 and may still be active on Goldbottom Creek.

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

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = This report

References

Reference (Deposit): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 p.

Reference (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.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (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.

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): 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.

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