The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-05
SEWARD PENINSULA GOLD.
Geological Experts Tell Doings in
This Alaskan Region.

Messrs. Fred H Moffit and Frank L.
Hess of the United States geological
survey spent last summer in the Sew
ard peninsula, Alaska OF the many
things which they will report concerning
ing gold mining in the Nome district
nothing is more likely TO appeal to popu-
lar interest than their description OF the
strike on Little creek.
It was a little over a year ago-ln the
fall of 1904-that the productive claims on
Little creek first came into prominence
Since then they have yielded nearly one
and a half million dollars. Much the
greater part Of the gold taken out came
from four claims located within an area
little greater than one-tenth Of a square
mile
Little creek is a tributary of Snake
river. at the mouth Of which Nome is
situated. The bonanza claims of 194-5
are near the tracks of the Nome Arctic
railroad, only three miles north Of Nome
The gold deposits lie deep. Shafts have
been sunk as far as fifty feet, but the
average workings are between thirty and
thirty-fiVe feet below the surface.
Frozen muck and moss, varying in
thickness from twelve TO twenty-three
feet, form a heavy covering for the gold
bearing graVels- Some Of the graVels are
apparently Well-Washed beach sands;
others We're without doubt deposited by
streams. Beds containing powders, some
OF which weight a ton, frequently top
the workable graVels and are a constant
source of danger in mining, especially
weakened by thaWing. These powders
occur sometimes on bedrock and are
sometimes found in the muck that over
lies the graVels-
Nearly all the deposits, from surface to
bedrock, carry gold, but the rich gravels
are found well down. In some places they
rest directly on the schist, in other places
they rise to a height of five or six feet
above it The gOld-bearing gravels of
present economic Importance have a
thickness of between four and five feet,
which increased to sixteen feet in one in
stance where the material removed
formed a Ienticular mass. Thin elongated
lenses or beds of reddish sand, called ruby
sand, the color of which is due at times
to grains Of red garnet and at times to
iron oxide, occur throughout the pay
gravel and often contain so much gold
that il can easily be detected, even in
careless handling. Micd-Schist. in which
there are occasional thin limestone beds
forms the true bedrock, but the so-calIed
bedrock on which the gold lies is
sometimes the schist, sometimes a clay
streak and in one place it is gravel ce-
mented with calcite deposited by circu-
lating waters Part of the gold is fine
fright and flaky, but part Of it is coarse
and contains many nuggets worth to 10
cents apiece, and occasional ones worth
several dollars.
One important result Of the Little creek
discoveries is that they have led TO more
active prospecting IN the tundra graveIs
1t has been known for some time that a
small amount of gold is almost always
present there, but the occurrence and pO-
SltlOn Of any other beach line back of
investigation. It is safe to predict that
the Nome tundra Will be the scene of
more extensive operations during the
present winter than in any previous year