McDonald Creek

The McDonald 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: McDonald Creek

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

Comments

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = McDonald Creek heads on the Nome coastal plain, and flows across the projected trace of Third Beach (NM258). It has been placer mined for gold downstream from this trace at surface elevations between 50 and 100 feet. In upper McDonald Creek, Third Beach is buried by only a thin deposit of sand and gravel, and the creek cuts through the beach deposit (Metcalfe and Tuck, 1942). The gold in McDonald Creek is entirely derived from reworking of coastal plain deposits, including those of Third Beach. Where upper McDonald Creek cuts Third Beach, its paystreak lay on fine sand (Moffit, 1913, p. 115), possibly itself a beach deposit, as is the case farther east near Hastings Creek.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

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

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Placer mine tailings are locally present along McDonald Creek between surface elevations of 50 to 100 feet.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

References

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): 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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