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Nugget Gulch

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Bismuth, Tungsten
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308938
MRDS ID A012872
Record type Site
Current site name Nugget Gulch
Related records 10209084, 10002026

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.65529, 64.67898 (WGS84)
Relative position Nugget Gulch is an east tributary to Oregon Creek in section 27, T. 9 S., R. 35 W., Kateel River Meridian. The mouth of Oregon Creek is where the Nome-Teller road crosses Cripple River. The gulch was mined about due south of the former village of Oregon; some mining was also done about 1 mile upstream. The location given is in the mined segment southeast of Oregon. Nugget Gulch is localities 73 and 74 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Bismuth Secondary
Tungsten Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bismuth Ore
Gold Ore
Hematite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Rutile Ore
Scheelite Ore
Garnet Gangue

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) -165.65529, 64.67898
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Comments on the geologic information

  • 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.
  • Age = Quaternary.

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 Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • 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).

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF NM147
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A012872
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS D002572

Bibliographic references

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Deposit

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

  • 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.

  • Deposit

    Heiner, L.E., and Porter, Eve, 1972, Alaska Mineral Properties, volume 2: University of Alaska, Mineral Industry Research Laboratory Report 24, 669 p.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Collier and others, 1908

General comments

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

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 12-MAR-00 Hawley, C.C. and Hudson, Travis L. Hawley Resource Group