Present (First) Beach

Site Name

Primary: Present (First) Beach

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

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

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Ilmenite
Ore: Limonite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Garnet

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Comments

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

Comment (Deposit): Model Number = 39, strandline marine placer

Comment (Geology): Age = Holocene.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Gold was discovered in Present Beach in 1899, about one year after the discovery of alluvial gold in Anvil and other creeks. Geologist A.H. Brooks of the U. S. Geological Survey examined the deposits in 1899 and 1900 and provided a first-hand scientific account of the beach (Brooks and others, 1901, p. 85-91). According to Brooks, ' . . . The lowest bench of the coastal plain ends in an escarpment, 10 to 20 feet high on the seaward side. From the base of the escarpment the beach slopes to the sea at an angle of 4 to 5 [degrees], having a width of 50 to 75 yards. Ordinarily the wave action is confined to the lower third, but during severe storms the surf sometimes rolls up the full width of the beach. . . . The beach sand consists largely of quartz, usually stained with iron, and mica and chlorite schist fragments. Reddish garnets form an important constituent, sometimes predominating. . . . Magnetite is always present, but usually forms less than 1 per cent by weight, though in the concentrated form found in the pay streaks it may run as high as 10 per cent.' Brooks' associate, A. J. Collier, found that most of the beach material was coarser than 60 mesh and that garnet constituted about 4 to 5 per cent by weight.? Most of the placer formed on or above a blue clay substrate that dipped slightly more steeply than the beach, so that clay often was commonly found at a depth of about 5 to 7 feet half-way down the beach. The pay occurred as thin lenses that rarely could be traced for more than a few hundred feet. The maximum thickness of pay lenses was about 3 feet. The average paystreak sands were somewhat finer than the average beach sands and contained more of the denser minerals.? Gold was generally fine grained; some small nuggets weighed as much as 0.05 ounce. The gold was about 890 fine and flaky, and it amalgamated readily. Schrader and Brooks (1900) proposed that the major part of the gold in the beach placers was derived by wave action and concentration of underlying, weakly auriferous and largely unconsolidated material, a mechanism generally accepted by later geologists such as Metcalfe and Tuck (1942).? At the time of the Collier report on activities through 1906 (Collier and others, 1908), beach production totaled about 2,000,000 dollars, or somewhat less than 100,000 ounces at the 20.67 dollars per ounce price of gold. Most of this was derived from the central part of Present Beach, and about one-half was produced in the discovery year (1899). About 350,000 dollars worth of gold (17,000 ounces) was mined in 1900, and production continued to decline thereafter. To some extent, gold concentrations of Present Beach are replenished by winter storms each year, and a small production continues to the present (2000).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = The most important year of production was 1899, when about 1,000,000 dollars, or about 50,000 ounces of gold were recovered. About 350,000 dollars, or 17,000 ounces of gold were recovered in 1900. Some production continues (2000) and can be expected to continue almost indefinitely. Total production is probably about 100,000 ounces of gold.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Brooks and others, 1901

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Gold on Present Beach was discovered in 1899, and production began immediately. Approximately half of the total production from this beach occurred in 1899 (about 1,000,000 dollars or about 50,000 ounces). About 350,000 dollars or 17,000 ounces of gold were recovered from the beach in 1900. Probably at least 80 percent of the total production came from the part of the beach near Nome. At first, mining was by pan and rockers, but gold was also mined with pump and sluice setups, essentially all by hand shovel-in methods (Schrader and Brooks, 1900; Brooks and others, 1901; Collier and others, 1908; Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942).

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References

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): 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): Schrader, F.C., and Brooks, A.H., 1900, Preliminary report on the Cape Nome gold region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Special Publication, 56 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): 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): 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.

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