Bourbon Creek; Holyoke Creek Mine, Nome Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Bourbon Creek; Holyoke Creek Mine	Mine
Nome Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Bourbon Creek is a stream on the Nome coastal plain that flows south to Snake River at Nome. Holyoke Creek is a tributary to Bourbon Creek. The map location is at about the midpoint of Bourbon Creek on the coastal plain. It is in the NE1/4 section 22, T. 11 S., R. 34 W., Kateel River Meridian. Bourban Creek is locality 128 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).
Geology: Shallow alluvial gold depositsin Bourbon Creek and its tributary Holyoke Creek were discovered in 1900 (Brooks and others, 1901, p. 69, 83-84) and mining began soon afterward. Total production in 1900 was about 5,000 dollars (approximately 250 ounces of gold). Total production to 1903 on both Bourbon and Holyoke Creeks was about 100,000 dollars or 5,000 ounces of gold (Collier and others, 1908, p. 167). This production was entirely from shallow deposits derived by reworking gravel of the coastal plain. The trench occupied by Bourbon Creek was about 15 feet deep and about 500 feet wide; pay was shallow; Collier and others cite two sections, one about 6 feet deep, the second about 10 feet. Gradient of the creek was low, and only a few of the deposits were rich enough to work by shovel-in methods; one successful placer mine averaged 4 dollars per cubic yard. Early attempts at dredging the shallow ground failed because of inadequate dredges. Later attempts at dredging were stopped because much of the ground was frozen. By about 1906, drilling and shafts showed that Bourbon and Holyoke Creeks concealed local valuable paystreaks that had formed during marine transgression toward Third Beach. Depths to bedrock ranged from about of 17 to 120 feet.
Workings: The deposits were discovered in 1900. About 5,000 ounces of gold had been mined from shallow alluvial deposits by the end of 1903 (Collier and others, 1908). By 1906, drilling and shafts had been extensive enough to delineate buried marine deposits near the base of the coastal plain section.

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Shallow alluvial placer gold deposits formed by reworking low-grade gravel depo

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	NM288

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References