Rocky Mountain Creek

The Rocky Mountain Creek is a tungsten, tin, and 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: Rocky Mountain Creek

Commodity

Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Tin
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: Cassiterite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Scheelite

Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Coats, 1944

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

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Rocky Mountain Creek was worked as a placer mine on a small scale relatively late in the history of the district. It is not mentioned as a placer prospect in reports earlier than World War II.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The lower part of Rocky Mountain Creek was placer mined for gold, probably after WW II. The area was actively prospected for tungsten and other strategic metals during World War II (Coats, 1944), and native gold and small amounts of cassiterite were present with scheelite in heavy mineral concentrates. Rocky Mountain Creek was one of three creeks in the Nome area identified by Anderson (1947) as having notable amounts of cassiterite. Anderson (1947) inferred that the placer cassiterite was derived from the same veins that hosted scheelite. Lode occurrences identified above the placer mine in the Rocky Mountain Creek drainage include the Lindfors (NM080) and Spring (NM078) antimony prospects and the Thomson (NM077) antimony and zinc prospect identified by Hummel (1962 [MF 248]). Coats (1944) reported a narrow vein, mostly composed of quartz and albite but also with about 3 percent scheelite, in Rocky Mountain Creek above the placer. This scheelite occurrence may be locality 34 of Hummel (1962 [MF 248]) near the head of the creek (NM076). Bedrock in the Rocky Mountain Creek drainage is a metasedimentary schist and marble sequence (Hummel, 1962 [MF 248]).

Comment (Geology): Age = Holocene.

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): Coats, R.R., 1944, Lode scheelite occurrences of the Nome area: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 17, 6 p.

Reference (Deposit): Anderson, Eskil, 1947, Mineral occurrences other than gold deposits in northwestern Alaska: Alaska Territorial Division of Mines Pamphlet 5-R, 48 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hummel, C.L., 1962, Preliminary geologic map of the Nome D-1 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-248, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

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