Kugruk River

The Kugruk 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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Site Name

Primary: Kugruk River

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Alaska
District: Fairhaven

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

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Both drift mining and dredging have take place here.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary; two or more cycles of placer deposit development are indicated. The low elevation of the Kugruk River floodplain here indicates that Quaternary sea level fluctuations may have influenced the character of the placer deposits.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1975 (OFR 75-429)

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Between 1903 and 1905, gold production worth $150,000 (over 8,000 ounces) was reported (Henshaw, 1909). This production was probably from drift mining.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = At this location, Kugruk River is a meandering stream in a 3,000 to 4,000 foot-wide floodplain. The elevation of the floodplain is less than 100 feet but some river terraces are present locally. A 30-foot high bench just above the mouth of Chicago Creek is reported to be auriferous (Roehm, 1941, p. 111). Placer mining for gold began as early as 1903 and initially included drift operations. Mining was variably located to be 1 to 3 miles upstream of Chicago Creek (BN068), an east tributary. Some dredging took place and an abandoned dredge was reported to be present by Cobb (1975). Between 1903 and 1905, gold production worth $150,000 (over 8,000 ounces) was reported from a crescent-shaped paystreak on Discovery claim (Henshaw, 1909). The gold was finer at the ends of the paystreak than in the middle. The depth to bedrock on Discovery claim was 12 to 14 feet including overburden. Henshaw (1909) descibes a section 0.75 mile from Kugruk River near Discovery claim that included two gravel intervals. This section (from top down) was: 25 feet of clear ice, 60 feet of muck, 8 feet of reddish gravel, 3 feet of muck, and 10 feet of blueish gravel on schist bedrock. One mile above Chicago Creek, gravels were 8 to 10 feet thick on schist and marble bedrock; overburden was 5 to 7 feet thick (Henshaw, 1910). Bedrock in the area is mostly covered by tundra but it is probably part of a Lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and others, 1986). Tertiary coal-bearing sediments are locally exposed along Kugruk River upstream from Chicago Creek.

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

References

Reference (Deposit): Henshaw, F.F., 1909, Mining in the Fairhaven precinct: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379, p. 355-369.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-417, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

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): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-429, 123 p.

Reference (Deposit): Henshaw, F.F., 1910, Mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 442, p. 353-371.

Reference (Deposit): Roehm, J.C., 1941, Preliminary report on certain potential placer mining areas on Seward Peninsula - economic aspects and problems: Territory of Alaska, Department of Mines unpublished manuscript, 146 p.

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