Stewart River Mine (above Mountain Creek), Nome Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Stewart River Mine (above Mountain Creek)	Mine
Nome Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Gold occurs on the left limit (south side) of Stewart River above Mountain Creek and below Fred Creek. Mining was reported at two or three localities above Mountain Creek, so the location is approximate but probably within about 1,000 feet of the coordinates. This is locality 83 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).
Geology: Placer gold mining above Mountain Creek on Stewart River was reported in the early years of the Nome district. Smith (1909, p. 280) noted mining, almost certainly small scale, at 'two or three camps' along Stewart River above Mountain Creek. Stewart River and its tributary Mountain Creek have floodplains of Holocene alluvium as much as about 0.2 mile wide that are developed on modified drift of the Nome River glaciation. The downstream limit of the slightly modified drift of the Stewart River glaciation is about 1 mile above the confluence of Mountain Creek and Stewart River (Bundtzen and others, 1994). Some placer gold could, therefore, have been derived by reworking slightly auriferous glacial drift derived ultimately from the Kigluaik Mountains and closer gold lodes, as in the Divide Creek area (NM057, NM058, NM111, NM118). Some gold was probably derived from Fred Creek, the next upstream southern tributary,which is known to be auriferous (NM064). Also, the divide between upper Mountain and upper Goldbottom Creeks has little relief, and gold in this area could have been derived from the major fault system that hosts the California lode in upper Goldbottom Creek (NM062). As mapped by Hummel (1962 [MF 242]) and one of the compilers (C.C. Hawley), this fault projects north into lower Fred Creek and the Stewart River valley; it could contain other lode gold deposits like the California lode.
Workings: Placer gold mining above Mountain Creek on Stewart River was reported in the early years of the Nome district. Smith (1909, p. 280) noted mining, almost certainly small scale, at 'two or three camps' along Stewart River above Mountain Creek.
Age: In large part Holocene, with gold derived from reworking of Pleistocene drift or fed by Fred and Mountain Creeks.

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Placer Au (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	NM061

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References