The South Kodiak Island Beaches is a gold mine located in Alaska.
About the MRDS Data:
All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.
Mine Info
Satelite View
MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.
South Kodiak Island Beaches MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: South Kodiak Island Beaches
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Chromium
Secondary: PGE
Location
State: Alaska
District: Kodiak
Land Status
Not available
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Not available
Ownership
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:
Physiography
Not available
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Placer Au-PGE
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Clay, Mud
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene
Name: Clay, Mud
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Gold
Comments
Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary
Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive
Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer gold deposits on the west coast of Kodiak Island have been worked since the early 1890's (Becker, 1898, p. 86); however, mining activity has been sporadic at best. The latest reported mining or prospecting work was done by 2 men in 1950-52 (Cobb, 1973, Bulletin 1374). Cobb estimates that total gold production is probably not more than a few thousand ounces. Concentrations of gold and other heavy minerals tend to occur in small, thin patches which appear and disappear according to variability of wave action and tides. No well-defined paystreaks occur. Approximately 95 percent of these beach concentrates is magnetite; the remainder consists of pyrite, chromite, and a little gold and platinum. No estimates of gold values within these patchy zones of heavy minerals have been reported. The immediate source of the gold appears to be the nearby bluffs of glacial gravels and tills, which are constantly being eroded by wave action. The gold content of the glacial deposits is extremely low as shown by the lack of visible gold where they have been prospected.? An analysis of placer PGE concentrate from the beach (Maddren, 1919, p. 316) is as follows: 26.9 percent iridium-osmium, rhodium; 6.1 percent iridium from part of iridium-osmium; 0.1 percent rhodium from part of iridium-osmium; 55.3 percent platinum; 2.4 percent iridium; 6.4 percent iron; 0.3 percent gold; 0.7 percent rhodium; 0.1 percent palladium; 0.6 percent copper; 0.08 percent nickel; trace silver and zinc.
Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Descriptions of beach placers in the Kodiak region are so generalized that it is difficult to discern which descriptions are pertinent to any given location.
Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Gold-PGE placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = These deposits have been worked sporadically using small portable rockers and sluice boxes.
Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maddren, 1919
References
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Afognak, Karluk, Kodiak, and Trinity Islands quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-860, 49 p.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
Reference (Deposit): McGee, D.L., 1972, Kodiak Island and vicinity, Alaska, geology and mineral resources: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Open-File Report 31, 7 p., 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reference (Deposit): Maddren, A.G., 1919, The beach placers of the west coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska, in Martin, G.C., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-E, p. 299-319.
Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Holloway, C.D., 1977, Map showing metalliferous mineral deposits in the western part of southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-169-F, 38 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.
Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.
Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resource map of the Trinity Islands quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Map MF- 468, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.
The Top Ten Gold Producing States
These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.
