Washington Creek

The Washington 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: Washington Creek
Secondary: Washington Gulch

Commodity

Primary: Gold

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: 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: Gold
Ore: Magnetite
Gangue: Garnet

Comments

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Gold was discovered in Washington Creek by 1900. It was reported to be fine gold accompanied by magnetite and garnet on a clay bottom (Brooks and others, 1901). Moffit (1913) reported that gold was recovered on bedrock from a 10-inch-thick layer of fine sand resembling beach sand. Washington Creek appears to have been placer mined along most of its length at surface elevations between about 50 and 125 feet. The low elevation and physiographic setting suggest that coastal plain deposits could be present in parts of this drainage. The placer gold thus could be derived from reworking the coastal plain deposits. The Washington Creek placer is probably related in part to similar deposits on Stevens, Moss, and Laurada Creeks (NM274-276) that, in their lower elevations, appear to have developed on a weakly defined Third Beach formed on the bedrock of Army Peak (Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942, p. 32).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Placer mining tailings are present along the creek between surface elevations of about 50 to 125 feet; the deposit at about 70 to 75 feet elevation may be a weak Third Beach developed on Army Peak.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942

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

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

References

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): 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.

Reference (Deposit): Metcalfe, J.B., and Tuck, Ralph, 1942, Placer gold deposits of the Nome district, Alaska: Report for U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co., 175 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.

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

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