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Nome Creek Area

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Antimony, Tin, Thorium, Tungsten
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308815
MRDS ID A010725
Record type Site
Current site name Nome Creek Area
Alternate or previous names Sumner Creek
Related records 10281698, 10100948

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -146.70297, 65.3417 (WGS84)
Relative position Nome Creek is a productive placer area of approximately 40 square miles extending from Moose Creek to Sourdough Creek. Most mining was from about 1 km above the junction with Summer Creek to the junction with Moose Creek. Some mining was done on Summer Creek, just above its mouth. The location is the approximate center of the mined area and about 7 miles E-SE of Table Top Mountain. Nome Creek is now a recreational panning area that is accessible from the Steese Highway at mile marker 53.7 via a two-wheel drive gravel road that runs 6 miles to Nome Creek (Lampright, 1996).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Antimony Secondary
Tin Secondary
Thorium Secondary
Tungsten Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cassiterite Ore
Gold Ore
Monazite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Stibnite Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
BC deposit profile C01. C02
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Nearby scientific data

(1) -146.70297, 65.3417
ListMap

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Headwaters of Nome Creek are in the Mt. Prindle area where a small lower Tertiary pluton intrude Paleozoic and (or) Precambrian schist (Cobb, 1973, p. 174, [B 1374]). The paystreak is 2 to 4 feet thick overlain by about 15 feet of gravel (Ellsworth and Parker, 1911, p. 165). Concentrates contain gold, cassiterite, monazite, topaz and tourmaline (Wedow and others, 1954, p. 8). Gold was discovered in 1910 (Ellsworth and Parker, 1911). Dredging occurred in 1926 to 1931, 1939 to 1940, and 1946 (Cobb, 1976, p. 50, [OFR 76-633]). Mining occurred during several seasons between 1960 and 1982 (Menzie and others, 1983). Most of the mining has been about 1 km above the junction with Sumner Creek to the junction with Moose Creek, a distance of about 10 km. Some work was also done on Sumner Creek, just above its junction with Nome Creek. Nome Creek is now a state recreational mining site limited to non-mechanized operations.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Tolovana

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = There are no data on production but the workings suggest that the total is substantial (Menzie and others, 1983, p. 49).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Gold was discovered in 1910 (Ellsworth and Parker, 1911). Dredging occurred in 1926 to 1931, 1939 to 1940, and 1946 (Cobb, 1976, p. 50, [OFR 76-633]). Mining occurred during several seasons between 1960 and 1982 (Menzie and others, 1983). Most of the mining has been about 1 km above the junction with Sumner Creek to the junction with Moose Creek, a distance of about 10 km. Some work was also done on Sumner Creek, just above its junction with Nome Creek. Nome Creek is now a state recreational mining site limited to non-mechanized operations.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF CI041
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A010725
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012223

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Ellsworth, C.E., and Parker, G.L., 1911, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 480, 325 p.

  • Deposit

    Ellsworth, C.E., and Davenport, R.W., 1913, Placer mining in the Yukon-Tanana region: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542, 303 p.

  • Deposit

    Prindle, L.M., and Katz, F.J., 1913, Detailed description of the Fairbanks district, in Prindle, L. M., A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 525, p. 59-152.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1929, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1926: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 797, p. 1-50.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1930, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 810-A, p. 1-64.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1932, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1929, in Smith, P.S., and others Mineral resources of Alaska, report on progress of investigations in 1929: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 824-A, p. 1-81.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836, p. 1-83.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-82.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1934, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1932: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 857-A, p. 1-91.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1937, Mineral industry in Alaska in 1935: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880-A, p. 1-95.

  • Deposit

    Bates, R.G. and Wedow, H. Jr., 1953, Preliminary summary review of thorium-bearing mineral occurrences in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 202, 13 p.

  • Deposit

    Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., Killeen, P. L., and others, 1954, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in eastern interior Alaska, 1946: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 331, 36 p.

  • Deposit

    Overstreet, W.C., 1967, The geologic occurrence of monazite: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 530, 327 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Misc. Field Studies Map MF-391, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

  • Deposit

    Holm, Bjarne, 1973, Bedrock geology and mineralization of the Mount Prindle area, Yukon-Tanana upland: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, M.Sc. thesis, 55 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 p.

  • Deposit

    Menzie, W.D., Foster, H.L., Tripp, R.B., and Yeend, W.E., 1983, Mineral resource assessment of the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-170-B, 61 p., 1 sheet, 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Eakins, G.R., Bundtzen, T.K., Lueck, L.L. Green, C.B., Gallagher, J.L., and Robinson, M.S., 1985, Alaska mineral industry, 1984: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Special Report 38, 57p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., and Henning, M.W., 1978, Barite in Alaska: Mines and Geology Bulletin, v. 27, no. 4, p. 1-4.

  • Deposit

    Lampright, R.L., 1996, Gold placer deposits near Fairbanks Alaska: Iron Fire Publications, Nederland, Colorado, 135 p.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1931: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 844-A, p. 1-81.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Lampright, 1996.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer gold deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a)
Deposit Other Comments = See also Sourdough Creek, ARDF no. CI054.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 09-SEP-1998 C.J. Freeman, J.R. Guidetti Schaefer, A.S. Clements Avalon Development Corporation