Ungalik River Mines, Koyuk Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Ungalik River Mines	Group of Mines
Koyuk Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Placer mining took place along the Ungalik River at two locations: near the mouth of Bonanza Creek (NR008) and 4 miles downstream from the mouth of Bonanza Creek. The coordinates mark the location of most of the mining, near the mouth of Bonanza Creek, in the SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 11 S., R. 9 N, Kateel River Meridian. The Ungalik River is locality 2 of Cobb (1972 [MF 308]).
Geology: The country rocks in the vicinity of the Ungalik River are sedimentary rocks cut by Cretaceous granite or granodiorite dikes (Cobb, 1973 [B 1374]). The dikes are described by Anderson (1944) as light green, fine grained, and composed almost entirely of altered feldspars and quartz, along with disseminated pyrite. The gold placers along the Ungalik River were reported by Smith and Eakin (1911) to be irregularly distributed and of low grade. Anderson (1944) reports the following minerals in the concentrates (in order of abundance): magnetite, andradite, pyrite, hematite, zircon, pyroxenes, cinnabar, quartz, apatite, limonite, feldspar, ilmenite, scheelite, gold, and amalgam. Gold was discovered on Ungalik River, both at the mouth of Bonanza Creek and farther downstream, in 1889 (Smith and Eakin, 1911). From 1938 until 1987 or 1988 a dredge operated intermittently along the Ungalik River (Shallit, 1938; Bundtzen and others, 1991). A second dredge also operated for several years around 1938 (Shallit, 1938). Also see NR008 and 010.
Workings: Gold was discovered on Ungalik River, both at the mouth of Bonanza Creek and farther downstream, in 1889 (Smith and Eakin, 1911). Shallit (1938) reports that after spending $15,000 to $16,000 on prospect drilling, the Ungalik Syndicate built a dredge on the Ungalik River at the mouth of Bonanza Creek. This dredge operated from 1938 until at least 1942. The next report of mining along Ungalik Creek is the cessation of dredging in 1987 or 1988 (Shallit, 1938; Smith, 1939; Smith, 1941; Smith, 1942; Bundtzen and others, 1991). A second dredge, owned by the Shaw and Cook Company, also began operating in 1938, and probably continued for several years (Shallit, 1938). Intermittent mining occurred along the Ungalik River until 1987 or 1988 (Bundtzen and others, 1991).
Age: Quaternary.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	NR009

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References