Kasson Creek Mine, Nome District, Nome Borough, Alaska, USA

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Location: Kasson Creek is a headwater tributary of Shovel Creek (SO017), about 3.8 miles northwest of Quigleys Camp on the Solomon River. Placer mining has occurred for 1 mile upstream of the mouth at an elevation of about 250 feet. This is locality 89 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).
Geology: The bedrock along this part of Kasson Creek is marble and gold was found in crevices and pockets from 10 to 30 feet deep; paystreaks were from 16 to 100 feet wide (Collier and others, 1908). The spotty, deep character of the deposits suggests that karst features as at Daniels Creek (SO006) controlled gold deposition (Cobb, 1978, OF 78-181). Smith (1910) notes that gravels are practically absent and that, at least locally, 3 feet of fine sand is present on bedrock. The recovered gold is reported to be fine and well rounded although some is relatively coarse (Smith, 1910). Asher (1969, DGGS R33) collected a float sample of limonite-stained calcareous schist with disseminated sulfides that assayed 0.07 ounces gold per ton. Bedrock is part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Sainsbury and others, 1972, OFR 511; Till and others, 1986).
Workings: The creek was mined in early years mostly by small-scale hand methods; open-cut dozer (?) operations took place in the 1930s (Cobb, 1978, OF 78-181). Some early mining may have also taken place on two tributaries to Kasson Creek, Lost and Topnotch Creeks (Smith, 1910).
Age: Quaternary; the location and elevation of about 250 feet indicate that these placer deposits may have been influenced by Quaternary sea level fluctuations (also see Problem Creek, SO170).

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

References

Asher, R.R., 1969, Geologic and geochemical study, Solomon C-5 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Geology Geologic Report 33, 64 p. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p. Collier, A.J., Hess, F.L., Smith, P.S., and Brooks, A.H., 1908, The gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope precincts: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 328, 343 p. Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Ewing, R., and Marsh, W.R., 1972, Reconnaissance geologic maps of the Solomon D-5 and C-5 quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 511, 12 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360. Smith, P.S., 1910, Geology and mineral resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 433, 234 p. Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Mineral List

Gold

1 entry listed. 1 valid mineral.