Arctic Creek (lower)

The Arctic Creek (lower) 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Arctic Creek (lower)

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 (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Cobb, 1978

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A bucket line dredge operated on the lower part of Arctic Creek from 1914 until at least 1922 (Eakin, 1915 [B 622-I, p. 366-373]); Harrington, 1921; Brooks, 1922; Brooks and Capps, 1924.

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = From 1914 to at least 1922, an alluvial placer gold deposit was mined along lower Arctic Creek by a floating bucket line dredge over at least a half mile, starting about 1 mile above its mouth. The placer in lower Arctic Creek appears to have gold sources other than those that supplied gold to the upper part of Arctic Creek (NM153). These sources include Bluff Creek (NM154) and the wall rocks of a discordant quartz-ankerite vein exposed in the bluffs opposite the mouth of Bluff Creek (NM157). The lower part of a south-flowing tributary to Arctic Creek about a half mile below Bluff Creek has also been placer mined and is included here. Arctic Creek is subparallel to the projection of a strong north-northeast fault mapped by Bundtzen and others (1994) as the Aurora fault. This fault is the control of vein mineralization (NM157). Strata along Arctic Creek near Bluff Creek are, in part, pyritic graphitic quartz schist, but most of the country rock is calcareous mica schist.

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

References

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): Brooks, A.H. and Capps, S.R., 1924, Mineral industry in Alaska, 1922: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 755, p. 1-56.

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): Eakin, H.M., 1915, Placer mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-I, p. 366-373.

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): Brooks, A.H., 1922, The Alaska mining industry in 1920: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722-A, p. 1-74.

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.