Shungnak River Mine, Shungnak Mining District, Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Shungnak River Mine | Mine |
| Shungnak Mining District | Mining District |
| Northwest Arctic Borough | Borough |
| Alaska | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
66° 59' 45'' North , 157° 18' 18'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Semiprecious quality nephrite (jade) boulders were found during placer mining and in the stream gravels of the Shungnak River (Bernice Sheldon, oral communication, 1991).
Location: 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.
Geology: Placer gold was first mined from the Shungnak River in 1898. It was mined continuously through 1913, and intermittently on a small scale into the 1950's. Bedrock is predominately lower to mid-Paleozoic black shale and schist; some 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.
Workings: Gold was first mined from the Shungnak River in 1898. It was mined continuously through 1913, and intermittently on a small scale into the 1950's.
Age: Quaternary.
Production: Smith (1913) states that a liberal estimate of total production to 1912 would be less than $50,000.
Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ag, Cu, nephrite
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
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Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
3 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!
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Alphabetical List Tree DiagramDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Copper Formula: Cu |
| ⓘ 'Ferro-actinolite-Tremolite Series' |
| ⓘ Gold Formula: Au |
| ⓘ Silver Formula: Ag |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Copper | 1.AA.05 | Cu |
| ⓘ | Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
| ⓘ | Silver | 1.AA.05 | Ag |
| Unclassified | |||
| ⓘ | 'Ferro-actinolite-Tremolite Series' | - | |
List of minerals for each chemical element
Other Databases
| Link to USGS - Alaska: | SH008 |
|---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
- Brooks RangeMountain Range
- Rocky MountainsMountain Range
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Angayucham TerraneAccretionary Complex
- Koyukuk north DomainDomain
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