Main commodities | Au |
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Other commodities | Ag; Cu; nephrite |
Ore minerals | gold; native copper; native silver; nephrite |
Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale | SH |
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Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale | D-3 |
Latitude | 66.996 |
Longitude | -157.305 |
Nearby scientific data | Find additional scientific data near this location |
Location and accuracy | The Shungnak River placer mine is about a mile below the mouth of the river canyon. The deposit probably extends northward into the Ambler river quadrangle. The map site is in the E1/2 section 34, T. 19 N., R. 7 E., of the Kateel River Meridian. Location is accurate to within a radius of 1,000 feet. |
Geologic descriptionPlacer gold was first mined from the Shungnak River in 1898. It was mined continuously through 1913, and intermittently on a small scale into the 1950s. Bedrock is predominately lower to mid-Paleozoic black shale and schist; som Jurassic-Cretaceous serpentinite also is in the immediate area. The stream gravels are unfrozen. Typically the top 2 feet of gravel was removed as overburden. The gold is mostly on bedrock, particularly in areas of black shale. The gold is reddish with a dull luster, shaped like flattened shot, and usually in small pieces. Assay value was $16.70 per ounce in 1931. The recovery during 1931 was on the order of $0.90 per cubic yard. Pay streaks were irregular and unpredictable. Magnetite is the most abundant mineral in the concentrates. Occasionally small nuggets of copper and silver were found in the sluice box (Smith, 1913). Some boulders of semiprecious nephrite (jade) were recovered during mining. | |
Geologic map unit | (-157.307754304728, 66.9954445574161) |
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Mineral deposit model | Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a). |
Mineral deposit model number | 39a |
Age of mineralization | Quaternary. |
Workings or exploration | Gold was first mined from the Shungnak River in 1898. It was mined continuously through 1913, and intermittently on a small scale into the 1950s. |
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Indication of production | Yes; small |
Production notes | Smith (1913) states that a liberal estimate of total production to 1912 would be less than $50,000. |
Additional commentsSemiprecious quality nephrite (jade) boulders were found during placer mining and in the stream gravels of the Shungnak River (Bernice Sheldon, oral communication, 1991). |
MRDS Number | A010738 |
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References | |
Reporters | Anita Williams (Anchorage, AK) |
Last report date | 12/16/1999 |