South Kodiak Island Beaches

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

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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.

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