Nugget Gulch

The Nugget Gulch 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: Nugget Gulch

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Bismuth
Secondary: Tungsten

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: Bismuth
Ore: Gold
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Rutile
Ore: Scheelite
Gangue: Garnet

Comments

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

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Nugget Gulch was discovered and worked before 1901 (Brooks and others, 1901, p. 92, 95; Moffit, 1906, p. 136; Eakin, 1915, p. 369-370). A short distance above the junction of Nugget Gulch and Oregon Creek, a 25-foot-wide paystreak was discovered at a depth of 6 to 20 feet on a yellow clay, false bedrock on marble. The gold was relatively fine grained; most of the nuggets weighed less than 0.05 ounce. The gold occurred in a heavy mineral sand consisting mostly of fine octahedral magnetite. The concentrates also contained garnet, specular hematite, rutile, scheelite, native bismuth and pyrite, partly oxidized to hematite. Gold was also found intergrown with native bismuth (Collier and others, 1908, p. 213-214). A small deposit containing a similar suite of heavy minerals was mined in the 1903 season at a location about 1 mile above the mouth of the creek. The paystreak in upper Nugget Creek was 3 to 6 feet deep and from 30 to 50 feet wide. The upper paystreak was worked out in one season. Bedrock in this area is primarily marble, but it locally includes partly oxidized pyritic greenstone. The marble unit exposed near the mouth of Nugget Gulch is the massive marble unit of Bundtzen and others (1994). About 1 mile above the mouth of the creek, marble is succeeded by a calc-schist unit.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A placer discovery was made, probably by shafting, before 1901 (Brooks and others, 1901) and the deposit was mainly mined out before about 1906 (Collier and others, 1908). Two claims, reportedly for gold and bismuth, were active in 1958 (Heiner and Porter, 1972, Kardex site Kx 52-98; Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 1982).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Collier and others, 1908

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary.

References

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): Moffit, F.H., 1906, Gold mining on Seward Peninsula, Alaska, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Report on progress of investigations of mineral resources in Alaska in 1905: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 284, p. 132-144.

Reference (Deposit): Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 1982, Mining claim location maps -- Nome quadrangle: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 8 p., 3 sheets, scales 1:63,360 and 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Heiner, L.E., and Porter, Eve, 1972, Alaska Mineral Properties, volume 2: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report 24, 669 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): Eakin, H.M., 1915, Placer mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-I, p. 366-373.

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): 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): 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.

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