Oregon Creek Mine (below Nugget Gulch), Nome Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Oregon Creek Mine (below Nugget Gulch)	Mine
Nome Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Oregon Creek is an east tributary to Cripple River; the mouth of Oregon Creek is where the Nome-Teller road crosses Cripple River. This site is 2 to 3 miles below Nugget Gulch (NM147). According to Collier and others (1908, p. 211), a section of ground about a half mile below the mouth of Nugget Creek was particularly productive and is this location. The location is also near six mining claims active between 1926 and 1965 (Heiner and Porter, 1972, Kardex site Kx 52-185; Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 1982). This area was included in locality 71 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).
Geology: Placer mining on Oregon Creek about a half mile below Nugget Gulch was in a gravel from 1.5 to 6 feet thick that consisted of schist, limestone (marble), and granite pebbles. Gold was bright, coarse, and little worn and was produced above a false, yellow-clay bedrock as well as in crevices in marble below the clay. The concentrates were rich in octahedral magnetite and contained some hematite, bismuth, and garnet. Approximately one-quarter mile above this locality, gold occurred mostly in a 2-foot-thick gravel section and in crevices in the underlying bedrock (Collier and others, 1908, p. 211-212).
Workings: Gold was discovered in Oregon Creek in the winter of 1898-99. Some ground about a quarter of a mile below Nugget Gulch was worked in 1900. The area was visited by F.L. Hess in 1903 who found production on eight claims along the creek. Parts of Oregon Creek have been worked more recently by mechanical methods. Activity on six claims was reported from 1927 until 1965 on Oregon Creek (Heiner and Porter, 1972, Kardex site Kx 52-185; Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 1982).
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Mining started in 1898 and continued intermittantly to 1965.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Bi, W
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Alluvial placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	NM148

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References