Unnamed Mine (ARDF - NM159; on present beach of Norton Sound), Nome Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Unnamed Mine (ARDF - NM159; on present beach of Norton Sound)	- not defined -
Nome Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Placer gold on the modern beach of Norton Sound was discovered at Nome in 1899. The beach was mined from Quartz Creek to the west (in the Nome C-3 quadrangle) to Cape Nome to the east (in the Nome B-1 quadrangle). The segment of the beach discussed here is in the Nome C-2 quadrangle and includes a mile of the easternmost Nome C-3 quadrangle. The location is the approximate mid-point of the beach in the Nome C-2 quadrangle. This is partly included in locality 142 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]).
Geology: Relatively small amounts of so called beach gold were recovered from the segment of the modern beach between Snake River and a point just west of Quartz Creek in the Nome C-3 quadrangle (Collier and others, 1908). Although some of the gold in this segment probably came from western long-shore drift from the Snake River system, the gold was partly derived from less important auriferous drainages including Penny River (NM184), Cripple River (NM156), Sonora Creek (NM158), and Quartz Creek (NM121 and 122). The modern beach is generally 100 to 150 yards wide. The gold is mainly fine-grained but includes a few small (2 to 3 pennyweight [0.1 to 0.15 ounce]) nuggets. They occur in lenticular deposits associated with concentrations of garnet and magnetite, and lesser amounts of pyrite and ilmenite. Higher concentrations of gold tend to occur on blue clay layers below 1 to about 7 feet of sand and gravel. The pay zones range from a few inches to 2 feet in thickness. Most of the gold is bright and irregular in shape (Schrader and Brooks, 1900, p. 18-19). The average fineness of recovered beach gold was about 890 (Brooks and others, 1901). The present beach is developed along the seaward side of a broader coastal plain containing marine gravel, sand and silt deposits developed during Quaternary marine transgressions (Bundtzen and others, 1994).
Workings: The beach placers were discovered in 1899 and were worked immediately after discovery. In 1899, as much as 1,000,000 dollars (nearly 50,000 ounces) was recovered from the beach deposits, mostly, however, on the more productive segment east of the Nome C-2 quadrangle (Schrader and Brooks, 1900). Production was mostly with rockers, and gold was either caught on blankets or was amalgamated.
Age: Holocene.
Reserves: Local concentrations of gold are still produced during winter storms.

Commodities (Major) - Au; (Minor) - Ti, W
Development Status: Yes; medium
Deposit Model: Holocene beach placer formed by winnowing by wave action and long-shore currents

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	NM159

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References