RC. 244 s

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 244

RECONNAISSANCE FOR RADIOACTIVE 

DEPOSITS IN THE VICINITY OF 

TELLER AND CAPE NOME 

SEWARD PENINSULA 

ALASKA, 194647

By M. G. White, W. S. West, and J. J. Matzko
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Douglas McKay, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. E. Wrather, Director

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 244

RECONNAISSANCE FOR RADIOACTIVE DEPOSITS IN THE VICINITY OF 

TELLER AND CAPE NOME, SEWARD PENINSULA, ALASKA, 194647

By M. G. White, W. S. West, and J. J. Matzko

This report concerns work done on 

behalf of the U. S. Atomic Energy 

Commission and is published with 

the permission of-the Commission

Washington, D. C., 1963

Free on application to the Geological Survey, Washington 25, D. C.
CONTENTS

Page

Part 1. Reconnaissance in the vicinity of Teller,

1946, by M. G. White

Abstract................................ 1

Introduction............................. 1

Purpose and scope of investigation ... 1

Location of area.................... 1

Specific areas investigated. .... 1

Geology ..........................."..... 2

Types of bedrock................... 2

Concentrates from stream gravels ... 2

Sampling ..................... 2'

Mineralogy of concentrates ..... 2

Radioactivity............................ 2

Tests of bedrock ................... 2

Tests of concentrates ............... 3

Page

Part 1. Reconnaissance in the vicinity of Teller,

1946, by M. G. White Continued 

Conclusion ............................ 3

Part 2. Reconnaissance in the vicinity of Cape 

Nome, 1947, by W. S. West and 

J. J. Matzko 

Abstract............................... 5

Introduction............................ 5

Location of area................... 5

Purpose and scope of

investigation ................... 5

Geology................................ 5

Radioactivity........................... 5

Conclusions............................ 6

ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate 1. Drainage map of placer-gold area near Teller, Alaska, showing sample 

localities........................................................

2. Geologic sketch map of the Cape Nome area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska.

Page

In pocket 

fii pocket

TABLES

Table 1. Data on samples from the Teller area.............................................

2. Mineralogy and equivalent uranium content of the heavier-than-bromoform fractions of 

samples from the Cape Nome area..............................................

Page 

. 4 

. 7
RECONNAISSANCE FOR RADIOACTIVE DEPOSITS IN THE VICINITY OF 

TELLER AND CAPE NOME, SEWARD PENINSULA, ALASKA, 194&47

PART 1. --RECONNAISSANCE IN THE VICINITY OF TELLER, 1946

By M. G. White

ABSTRACT

Placer-mining areas and bedrock exposures 

near Teller on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, were 

investigated in June and July, 1946, for possible 

sources of radioactive materials. The areas that were 

investigated are: Dese Creek, southeast of Teller; 

Bluestone River basin, south and southeast of Teller; 

Sunset Creek and other small streams flowing south 

into Grantley Harbor, northeast of Teller; and, also 

northeast of Teller, Swanson Creek and its tributaries, 

which flow north into the Agiapuk River basin.

No significant amount of radioactive material 

was found, either in the stream gravels or in the bedrock of any of the areas. A heavy-mineral fraction 

obtained from a granite boulder probably derived from 

a bench gravel on Gold Run contains 0. 017 percent 

equivalent uranium, but the radioactivity is due to 

allanite and zircon.

The types of bedrock tested include schist, slate, 

and greenstone. Readings on fresh surfaces of rock 

were the same as, or only slightly above the background 

count. The maximum radioactivity in stream concentrates is 0. 004 percent equivalent uranium in a sluice 

concentrate from Sunset Creek.

INTRODUCTION 

Purpose and scope of investigation

One of the early aims of the Geological Survey's 

reconnaissance for radioactive materials was to test 

concentrates from all the placer-mining areas in 

Alaska for radioactivity. Field investigation in the 

vicinity of Teller was undertaken early in 1946 because 

no samples from placer-gold mining in surrounding 

areas were available for testing and because of the 

presence of radioactive materials in placers to the 

west, north, and east on the Seward Peninsula. At 

that time, work in the Teller area could be conveniently 

fitted in with the schedule of work elsewhere on the 

Seward Peninsula by the same party.

The field investigation was carried on from 

June 27 to July 17, 1946 by a party consisting of 

Max G. White, geologist, and R. D. Hamilton, camphand. Frank Keelick, Edward Keelick, and Solomon 

Kopok, Eskimos, were employed individually for short 

periods during the investigation.

A portable gamma Survey meter designed by 

the Geological Survey was used in the field for the

determination of radioactivity in the stream gravels 

and bedrock outcrops or talus.

Location of area

The Teller area, (pi. 1) latitude approximately 

65° N. , longitude approximately 166° W. , is on the 

west coast of the Seward Peninsula, 60 miles southeast of Cape Prince of Wales and 50 miles northwest 

of Nome. Teller, population 125, is the trading 

center for the nearby placer mines. The area is 

accessible most conveniently by plane from Nome.

Specific areas investigated. Two placer-mining 

areas to the southeast and two areas northeast of 

Teller were investigated for radioactive materials 

(pl. D.

One of the placer-mining areas southeast of 

Teller is the Bluestone River basin, about 13 miles 

from Teller. The principal headwater streams within 

the area are Right Fork and Gold Run that unite to 

form the Bluestone River. The other placer-mining 

area is Dese Creek, about 6 miles southeast of Teller. 

This creek flows into Grantley Harbor. These two 

areas are accessible by truck on the narrow dirt road 

that extends along Dese Creek to within 1 mile of 

Right Fork. South of this point the old Teller-to-Nome 

trail can be travelled by tractor.

The areas that were investigated northeast of 

Teller are: the north shore of Grantley Harbor where 

several small streams empty and Swanson Creek and 

some of its tributaries that flow northward into the 

Agiapuk River.

All the older mining localities as well as all 

the present mining operations were visited during the 

investigation. The principal sites of operations southeast of Teller in the Bluestone basin include: Gold 

Run from its mouth to about 2 miles above Sullivan; 

Alder Creek, a tributary of Gold Run at Sullivan; and 

the headwater portion of Igloo Creek, a tributary of 

the Right Fork of the Bluestone River. In recent years 

Gold Run was dredged from a point within a few hundred feet of Right Fork to a point about 1 mile above 

Sullivan. In 1946, mining in the Bluestone River basin 

was confined to pick and shovel work on Alder Creek 

by Henning Johnson, caretaker for the Bartholomae 

Oil Corp. , owners of the mining property on Gold Run; 

ground sluicing by Olie Martinson and the Fidgeland 

brothers at the mouth of Bull Pup on Gold Run; and 

hydraulic mining by the Tweet brothers on Igloo Creek 

at the mouth of Bering Creek.
A dredge was operated on Dese Creek in 

recent years from a point 1 mile below Soda Creek to 

about a quarter of a mile above.

Northeast of Teller, only Sunset, Offield, and 

Swanson Creeks were ever mined extensively. The 

gravels on Sunset Creek were worked by dredge and 

dragline in the past, but are now operated by hydraulic 

mining by Frank Rice. Former mining on Offield 

Creek was confined to the western headwater tributary, 

and in recent years some of the gravel has been reworked. The Swanson Creek gravel has been dredged 

twice, and at present the ground is leased to Bernard 

Vogen who is mining the gravel above the highest point 

reached by the dredges.

GEOLOGY 

Types of bedrock

The general geology of the Teller area has 

never been studied in detail. All that is known has 

been acquired from brief examinations during reconnaissance of the placer deposits. Brooks 1 '! in 1900, 

Collier 2 'in 1902, and Collier and others 3 in 1908 

summarized the general geology of the Bluestone 

River basin and the area north of Grantley Harbor.

The bedrock of the area is considered a part of 

the lower undifferentiated portion of the Nome group. 

These rocks are mainly sedimentary in origin and are 

probably early Paleozoic in age. The lithologic types 

present are mica and chlorite schist, limestone, gray 

and black slate, and intrusive greenstone sills. The 

gray slate and the schist differ mainly in the greater 

metamorphism of the schist. Much of the schist is 

garnetiferous. Calcareous schist grades into limestone in the walls of the Bluestone River canyon. 

Highly graphitic schist crops out opposite the mouth 

of Tom Gulch in Gold Run. Black slate is moderately 

widespread north and south of Grantley Harbor and is 

especially well exposed on Coyote Creek 2 miles east 

of Teller. At this locality the slate appears partly 

baked, through close proximity to a basaltic dike, 

and bears a resemblance to coal.' It is not abundant 

in the Bluestone River basin, although it is present in 

the vicinity of the junction of Gold Run and Right Fork. 

The greenstone caps many but not all the higher hills 

in the area.

Quartz veins and stringers are common in the 

schist, slate, and greenstone, both crossing the 

cleavage and parallel to it. The quartz is milky white 

and most of the veins are apparently barren of mineralization. Nevertheless, some of the minerals found in 

the stream gravels must have their source in the 

quartz veins.

1 Brooks, A. H., and others, 1901, Reconnaissance in the Cape 

Nome and Norton Bsy regions (Alasks) in 1900: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Special Pub., pp. 14, 128-132.

Collier, A. J., 1902, A reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper2, 

P. .45.

Collier, A. J., and others, 1908, The gold placers of parts of 

the Seward Peuinsula, Alaska: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 328, pp. 270- 

271, 274, 276.

Mukacharni Mountain, at the head of Sunset 

Creek north of Grantley Harbor, and two adjacent 

peaks are basaltic volcanic necks of pre-Pleistocene 

age. Lava flows of like age cover the area between 

the peaks and California Creek to the west. These^ 

rocks were not examined during the 1946 investigation.

Concentrates from stream gravels

Sampling. --A total of 35 samples representing 

the gravels of 21 different streams were collected for 

radioactivity tests. Of these, 25 samples are from 

the Bluestone River basin, one from Dese Creek, 

seven from the creeks entering Grantley Harbor from 

the north, and two from Swanson Creek.

Dredge and sluice concentrates were taken from 

all placer-mining operations except that on Offield 

Creek and, thus, represent the pay streak in the lower 

part of the gravels. All other samples were taken by 

panning the upper part of the creek gravels in bars or 

creek banks. Most of the samples consisted of 20 to 

40 pounds of gravel and were panned only to a semiconcentrate (about 25 cubic inches) comparable in 

volume to a radioactive field standard used in the 

determination of the equivalent uranium content.

The data for all the samples collected in the 

Teller area in 1946 are given in table 1. The concentration ratios listed in the table refer to the amount 

of heavy minerals recovered from the stream concentrates by using the heavy liquids, bromoform or 

methylene iodide. The ratios indicate that 6 to 84 

pounds of heavy minerals per cubic yard can be recovered from the gravels in the creeks southeast of 

Teller, and 3 to 20 pounds can be recovered from the 

gravels in the creeks north of Teller. However, a 

considerable a'mount of the heavy concentrate consists 

of fragments of schist and greenstone. The densities 

of these rocks are sufficiently high to allow them to 

sink in heavy liquids; thus, the actual amount of clean 

heavy minerals present in the gravel is somewhat less 

than the pounds of concentrate given .in the table.

Mineralogy of the concentrates. --In addition to 

platy fragments of schist and rounded grains of 

greenstone composed of amphibole and chlorite altered 

from pyroxene, metamorphic minerals such as garnet, 

mica, epidote, and clinozoisite are abundant in heavymineral fraction of the concentrates.

RADIOACTIVITY 

Tests of bedrock

Although the principal stress in the field investigations in the Teller area was on determination 

of radioactivity in the stream gravels, every opportunity was taken in all traverses to test the radioactivity of outcrops and talus of bedrock. Readings of 

gamma-ray activity were made with the probe placed 

against fresh surfaces of rock. No significant amount 

of radioactive material was found in any of 

the bedrock.
Survey meter readings on greenstone, gray 

slate, and s~chist gave counts the same as, or only 

slightly above the background count. Highly graphitic 

schist showed no radioactivity. Black slate was tested 

at several localities and generally exhibited little or 

no radioactivity. A laboratory reading of 0. 004 percent equivalent uranium was obtained from a bromoform concentrate of sample no. 46AWe 2a. This 

sample was taken from talus of a black slate outcrop 

1, 000 feet above Gold Run on the Right Fork of the 

Bluestone River (pi. 1).

Tests of concentrates

No significant amount of radioactivity was 

detected in any of the stream gravels in the Teller 

area in the course of the field investigations.

In order to check the lack of significant radioactivity as determined in the field, all samples 

(semiconcentrates) were further concentrated in the 

laboratory by using the heavy liquids, bromoform and 

methylene iodide. The equivalent uranium content of 

the heavy-mineral fractions was then determined 

radio metrically in the laboratory.

A content of 0.004 percent equivalent uranium was found in one sample from Sunset Creek 

(no. 46AWe 33), north of Grantley Harbor. The samples

from Offield Creek and Igloo Creek, also north of 

Grantley Harbor; from Windy Creek and Little Windy 

Creek on the Right Fork of the Bluestone River; and 

from Alder Creek on Gold Run all contain 0.002 percent 

equivalent uranium. The remaining samples contain 

0. 001 percent or less equivalent uranium.

In the gravels of Gold Run granite boulders were 

noted. These boulders, ranging from 3 to 10 inches 

in diameter, are well-rounded and somewhat weathered. 

They are probably derived from an old bench deposit, 

as Gold Run does not traverse any granite in its 

present course. An 8-inch boulder of the granite was 

crushed, and the sample brought in from the field for 

examination. A radiometric analysis of the mineral 

fraction heavier-than-bromoform shows 0. 017 percent 

equivalent uranium. The minerals in this fraction 

are biotite, allanite, magnetite, garnet, and zircon, 

in order of decreasing abundance. The radioactivity 

is attributed primarily to the allanite and secondarily 

to the zircon.

CONCLUSION

On the basis of the information obtained 

during the investigation of the Teller area, it 

is assumed that there are no significant deposits 

of radioactive materials in the localities examined.
Table 1. Data on samples from the Teller area 

[Except those otherwise indicated, samples are semiconcentrates of stream gravel]

Sample 

no.

46AWe 11 

12 

15 

14

26

1 

2a

2b 

16 

15 

5 

6

7

8

9 

10

25

50

19 

18

25 

51

28

24a 

24b 

29

52 

55

54 

55 

56

57

58

59 

44 

45

^

Pile 

no.

1584 

1585 

1586 

1587

1588

1589 

1590

1591 

1592 

1595 

1594 

1595 

1596 

1597 

1598 

1599

1600

1601 

1602 

1605 

1604 

1605

1606

1607 

1608 

1609

1610 

1611

1612 

1615 

1614

1615 

1616

1617 

1618 

1619 

1760

Location

Ruby Creek at the mouth of Elizabeth Creek 

Ruby Creek, 1 mile above Elizabeth Creek 

Elizabeth Creek, 1 mile above Ruby Creek 

Gold Standard Creek, 500 feet below junction of 

headwater forks . 

Blue stone canyon, £ mile above lower end of 

canyon .

Junction of Right Pork and Gold Run - - 

Right Pork, 1,000 feet above junction with Gold 

Run. Black slate talus.

Right Pork, 500 feet below Slate Creek 

Slate Creek, 1,000 feet above mouth 

Right Pork at mouth of Windy Creek 

Right Pork, 400 feet above Windy Creek 

Junction of Little Windy Creek and Windy Creek 

Windy Creek, 500 feet above Little Windy CreekWindy Creek, 1 mile above Little Windy Creek 

Little Windy Creek, half way between mouth and 

head. 

Igloo Creek sluice -box concentrate, a split 

from cleanup at Tweet mine.

Gold Run at Potter Pup Creek 

Gold Run at Tom Gulch 

Tom Gulch, 600 feet above mouth 

McDame Creek at mouth : 

Alder Creek, near mouth, 1 pan concentrate from 

H. Johnson's cut, 1946. 

Gold Run below Bull Pup Creek, from MartinsenPidgeland pits, 1946.

Gold Run dredge concentrate, plus 20-mesh 

Gold Run at upper end of dredge operations, 

\ mile above Sullivan. 

Dese Creek dredge concentrate donated by Tweets 

of Teller. 

Sunset Creek, fine sluice-box concentrate, 

donated by Prank Rice.

do

Igloo Creek, north of Grantley Harbor, 1-| miles 

above mouth. 

McKinley Creek, 2 miles from mouth 

Offield Creek at junction of the two main headwater forks. 

Offield Creek, 500 feet above lagoon at mouth 

Swanson Creek, £ mile below Saturday Creek -

Swanson Creek, sluice-box concentrate donated 

by B. Vogen from his placer cut, June 1947-

Concentration ratio

158:1 

201:1 

508: 1 

485:1

64:1

< 158:1 

1,052:1

64:1 

56:1 

259:1 

259:1 

94:1 

185 :1 

224:1 

180:1 

456:1

115:1 

51:1 

105:1 

58:1 

158:1

158:1

59:1

148:1

190:1 

277:1

875:1 

182:1

157: 1

Radioactivity of 

heavy-mineral - 

fraction (percent 

eU) 1

< 0 . 001 

.001 

.001 

<.001

<.001

<.001 

.004

<.001 

.001 

<.001 

<.001 

.001 

.002 

.002 

.001 

.002

.001

.001 

< .001 

< .001 

< .001 

.002

<.001 

.001 

<.001 

.001 

.004

<.001 

<.001 

.002

.001 

.001

.002 

.001 

.001

Equivalent uranium.
PART 2. RECONNAISSANCE IN THE VICINITY OF CAPE NOME, 1947

By W. S. West and J. J. Matzko

ABSTRACT

An early report on the Cape Nome area, Seward 

Peninsula, Alaska, stated that granitic rocks there 

contain allanite as a common accessory mineral. 

Results of studies in 1947 indicate that very little 

allanite is present, and that the slight amount of radioactivity of the granitic complex is attributable to the 

accessory minerals zircon and sphene.

INTRODUCTION 

Location of area

Cape Nome is 15 miles east of Nome, Alaska, 

on Norton Sound (pi. 2). The area in the vicinity of 

Cape Nome as described in this report covers about 

8 square miles and is bounded on the south by Norton 

Sound, on the west by Hastings Creek, and on the east 

by a large lagoon and the estuary of the Flambeau and 

Eldorado Rivers. The area extends about 4 miles 

inland from the seacoast. A gravel road connects the 

Cape Nome area with Nome.

Purpose and scope of investigation

In June 1947, a Geological Survey field party 

made a brief reconnaissance in the Cape Nome area. 

The reconnaissance was undertaken for three reasons:

1) An early report claimed that the granitic 

complex at Cape Nome contains allanite as a common 

accessory mineral; 4 In 1946 a trace elements examination disclosed concentrations of radioactive minerals 

associated with allanite in late-stage pegmatitic zones 

in granite at the head of Hot Springs Creek, a tributary of the Serpentine River, in northwestern Seward 

Peninsula. 5 The possibility existed, therefore, that 

the granitic complex at Cape Nome might also contain 

associated late-stage concentrations of radioactive 

materials.

2) Although samples from stream gravels and 

placer-gold-mining localities in the Nome area were 

essentially nonradioactive, the nearby granite mass 

at Cape No me, aside from its reported allanite content, 

seemed to be one -of the types of bedrock in the general

4Moffit, F. H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central 

quadrangles, Alaska: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 533, p. 33.

5Mozham, R. M., and West, W. S., 1949, Trace elements investigations in the Serpentine-Kougarok area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Trace Elements Inv. Kept. 39. [Unpublished.]

area most likely to contain radioactive minerals and 

warranted study from this standpoint alone.

3) The granite mass at Cape Nome is also one 

of the more accessible intrusive bodies of the Seward 

Peninsula and thus could be examined with relative 

ease.

GEOLOGY

Field work in the Cape Nome area during the 

season of 1947 was confined to the granitic complex. 

Plate 2 shows the approximate extent of the intrusive 

mass as well as other formations. Because outcrops 

are few and all contacts are covered with tundra" the 

position of the formational boundaries on the map are 

only approximate.

The western 3-3/4 miles of the granitic complex 

at Cape Nome, as described by Moffit 6 is made up of 

granite, gneiss, and schist. The original granite has 

undergone varying degrees of metamorphism that 

have resulted mainly in the formation of gneiss but 

have also produced schist, especially toward the 

northern and eastern boundaries of the mass. Greenstone and a coarse dark-gray porphyritic rock containing feldspar phenocrysts as much as 2 inches in 

length intrude both the granite and gneiss. The porphyritic intrusion is cut by a later granite. These 

various intrusives probably belong to several widely 

separated periods, possibly ranging from the Paleozoic 

in the Mesozoic.

The granitic rocks generally are gray in color, 

tending to weather slightly yellow, and have a fine to 

medium texture. Nearly all the granitic rocks are 

rich in muscovite and biotite. Chlorite is a common 

secondary mineral. Mineralogical determinations 

disclosed that allanite is only a sparse accessory 

mineral.

Table 2 gives the mineralogy of some of the 

heavier-than-bromoform fractions of the samples 

collected during this investigation. Sample locations 

are shown on plate 2. (The only locations of rock 

samples shown on this map are for those samples that 

have been studied in the laboratory.)

RADIOACTIVITY

Radiometric readings were made in the field 

with a beta-gamma probe attached to a standard make

"Moffit, F. H., op. cit., pp. 33, 34.
of a portable survey meter on bedrock outcrops, talus, 

and the finer types of mantle rock. The average background in the area is 25 to 30 counts per minute. A 

considerable amount of traversing was attempted, but 

the results were unsatisfactory as the instrument is 

not sufficiently sensitive for successful traversing. 

Seven stream and beach concentrates, one sample of 

slope wash, and many other rock samples were collected for testing in the field and laboratory.

Granite talus and bedrock gave relatively high 

readings on the outcrop, apparently a result of mass 

effect; but individual rock samples from the same 

talus blocks and bedrock outcrops gave counts that 

were not appreciably above background.

Mesh size

Percent 

eU1

-20 (whole sample) 0.006 

-20 to +60 .004-

-60 to +100 .006 

-100 to +150 .007-

-150 to +250 .020-

-250 .025-

The equivalent uranium content of the heavierthan-bromoform (specific gravity 2. 8) fractions of the 

rock samples ranges from less than 0.001 to 0.012 percent, and the heavier-than-bromoform fractions of the 

stream and beach panned concentrates contain between 

0. 001 and 0. 003 percent equivalent uranium (table 2). 

The heavier-than-bromoform fraction of a sample 

panned from slope wash contains 0. 006 percent 

equivalent uranium.

Radiometric tests on the bromoform-heavy 

fraction of the slope-wash sample show that a very 

small amount of the radioactive mineral can be concentrated by sizing to minus 150-mesh material as 

shown below:

C oncentrat ion 

ratio

2:1 

4:1

-14

-41:1

1 Equivalent uranium.

The heavy minerals in the slope wash are garnet, 

glaucophane, muscovite, epidote, sphene, chlorite, 

tourmaline, zircon, biotite, ilmenite, magnetite, and 

hematite. Probably the sphene and zircon contain the 

radioactive elements, and because the minus 250-mesh 

material gave negative bead tests for uranium, it is 

assumed that the radioactive element is thorium. This 

same conclusion may be applied to the rock, stream, 

and beach concentrates although the presence of minor 

amounts of allanite in a few of the samples may account 

for some of the radioactivity.

CONCLUSIONS

The granite mass at Cape Nome contains very 

little allanite. No concentrations of radioactive 

minerals were found in the talus blocks or in the exposed bedrock. Although talus and tundra blanket most 

of the area, samples panned from places where heavy 

minerals would tend to concentrate contain no significant amounts of radioactive minerals. These facts indicate the probability that no radioactive deposits of 

commercial value occur in the Cape Nome-area.
Table 2. Mineralogy and equivalent uranium content of the heavier-than-bromoform fractions of

samples from the Cape Nome area

Sample 

no.

2440

2441

2442

2445 

2444

2445

2446 

2447

5273

3274

3275

Nature of sample 

and location

Stream sample:

Right tributary to estuary 

of Flambeau and Eldorado

Rivers.

Tributary to Hastings 

Creek.

Goldengate Creek, just above 

old dam site.

Goldengate Creek-- - -- -

Goldengate Creek, near mouth 

on new beach and below old

placer workings of W. A. E. 

Cramer.

Slope -wash sample: From sea 

cliff on south side of granite 

mass, along Norton Sound, near 

Cape Nome.

Beach sample: Fifty yards west 

of sample 2445, Norton Sound, 

near Cape Nome.

Stream sample: Tributary to 

lagoon.

Crushed granite gneiss float 

sample:

West of limestone outcrop---- 

From highest point in area 

about 1 mile northeast of

Cape Nome.

Crushed coarse-grained granite 

sample: From outcrop along 

coast of Norton Sound near

Cape Nome.

]

Percent 

equivalent 

uranium

0.001

.001

.001

.003 

.001

.006

.001 

.001

.010

.008

.007

teavier-than-bromoform fraction 

Mineralogy 

(minerals listed in decreasing order 

of abundance; percentages by approximate volume)

Garnet (29-9) 

Glaucophane (22 

Muscovite 

Epidote 

Sphene 

Chlorite (46 

Tourmaline

Zircon

Biotite

 

 

_____

 

*Ilmenite (0.2) 

.7) Magnetite (0.4) 

Hematite (tr.) 

Tungstates (tr.)

.8)

Muscovite Sericite 

Biotite Sphene 

Chlorite Zircon(?) 

Secondary hematite Rutile(?)

Muscovite 

Biotite

Chlorite 

Sericite

Goethite

Sphene 

Chromite

Garnet 

Fluorite
Table 2. Mineralogy and equivalent uranium content of the heavier-than-bromoform fractions of the

samples from the Cape Nome area--Continued

Nature of sample 

and location

Heavier-than-bromoform fraction

Mineralogy

Percent (minerals listed in decreasing order 

equivalent of abundance; percentages by approxuranium imate volume)

Crushed granite sample:

From sea cliff along Norton 

Sound near Cape Nome.

From sea cliff along Norton 

Sound east of Cape Nome.

Crushed granite gneiss sample:

From sea cliff along Norton 

Sound east of Cape Nome.

From highest point on granitic 

hill northeast of Snow 

Gulch.

Northeast slope of granite 

hill to the west and north 

of Goldengate Creek.

Crushed granite sample: From 

west slope of hill east of 

Goldengate Creek (near headwaters) .

Crushed pegmatite float sample: 

From pit between limestone 

outcrop and road to camp of 

Civil Aeronautics Authority.

Crushed granite sample:

From furthest granitic hill 

north of Cape Nome.

-doCrushed greenstone sample: From 

saddle north of highest 

granite hill in Cape Nome area, 

about 1-| miles north of Cape 

Nome,

Crushed fine-grained granite

sample: From sea cliff along 

Norton Sound near Cape Nome.

0.00? 

.00?

.006

.008

.012

.007

.002

.012

.012

.001

.003

Muscovite Epidote 

Chlorite Zircon 

Secondary hematite Sphene 

Sericite Spinel 

Goethite Fluorlte 

Magnetite

Biotite 

Muscovite 

Hematite 

Sphene

Muscovite 

Biotite 

Hornblende (tr.)

Epidote 

Garnet 

Allanite 

Zircon

Epidote

Fluorlte

Allanite

* Flux test indicates traces of niobium(?).

IHT.-0UP. SBC., WASH., D.C. 3l)81| ,
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT-OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

166" 40' 188* 20'

CIRCULAR 244 PLATE 1

65» ZO'

9 10 11 Mil**

Compiled from U.S. Geologicol Survey maps ond 

U.S. Army Air Force oeriol photogrophs

186*

DRAINAGE MAP OF PLACER-GOLD AREA NEAR TELLER, ALASKA, 

SHOWING SAMPLE LOCALITIES
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 244 PLATE 2

INDEX MAP OF SEWARD PENINSULA, ALASKA.SHOWING THE LOCATION OF CAPE NOME AREA

SO O SO MILES

EXPLANATION

1 I

1 _____ 1

Creek bench and coastal

plain deposits

i+ + I

| 4-4-|

Granite

1 ' 1 ' I I

 1 1 I

Limestone

[- j

[ "j

Chloritic,feldspathic, and

siliceous graphitic schists

with some small limestone

beds

a:

2 O

^ Stream and beach sample

h0 D

 Slope wash sample

o ° o

y *~ w A

< ^ Rock sample

"if--.

1 \ 1

o /

0 * /*

M K /£

o ° /S

UJ /*

O. = /i*

"" /*

/£

Approximate mean

declination 1947

0 1 Z 3 Miles

1,1,1 1 1

Walter S. West and John J.Matzko - 1947

GEOLOGIC SKETCH MAP OF THE CAPE NOME AREA, SEWARD PENINSULA, ALASKA