Fox River; IXL Gulch Mine, Council Mining District, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Fox River; IXL Gulch Mine	Mine
Council Mining District	Mining District
Nome Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Fox River is a tributary to the lower Fish River that flows adjacent to the Nome-Council road in its upper reaches. A small amount of mining took place about 9.2 miles southeast of Council at IXL Gulch. This is locality 113 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181).
Geology: The Fox River is incised and small-scale placer mining took place on bench deposits near the mouth of IXL Gulch as early as 1903 (Collier and others, 1908). The bench gravels were 2 to 6 feet thick on schist bedrock and covered by 2 to 3.5 feet of muck. Two ounces of gold were reported to have been recovered from 4 cubic yards of gravel near the mouth of IXL Gulch (Collier and others, 1908). Bedrock in the area is part of a lower Paleozoic metasedimentary assemblage (Till and others, 1986).
Workings: Small-scale placer mining took place on benches in this area.
Age: Quaternary; system of benches indicates more than one cycle of erosion and deposition. Low elevation (about 200 feet) and proximity to Niukluk River lowlands suggests that sea level fluctuations may have influenced development of the placers.
Production: A few ounces of gold were produced before 1908.

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

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	SO060

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References