Willis

The Willis is a mercury 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: Willis
Secondary: Willis and Fuller

Commodity

Primary: Mercury
Secondary: Antimony

Location

State: Alaska
District: Aniak

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: Almaden Hg

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Igneous Intrusive Rocks Argillized

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Stibiconite
Ore: Cinnabar
Gangue: Sphene
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Dickite
Gangue: Apatite

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = At least 7 short adits (mostly caved), numerous bulldozed trenches and cuts exploring area of 1,300 ft by 1,000 ft (396 m by 305 m).

Comment (Production): Production Notes = A few flasks of mercury were produced.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965, p. 15-18

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Jasper (1961) suggested that results from stripping in 1953-54 were encouraging for large tonnage, low grade ore.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Cinnabar 1 stibnite veins containing minor pyrite, hematite and a little stibiconite(?), are up to 50 ft (15 m) or more long and 6 in (15 cm) wide. Veins lie in or near altered dikes and sills that intrude Kuskokwim Group sedimentary rocks. Cinnabar is also disseminated locally in fractures in dikes and nearby sedimentary rocks, or in argillized rock at contacts between dikes and graywacke. Ore bodies are at and near intersections of altered dikes and faults that commonly strike parallel to bedding; ore bodies are elongate horizontally and dip southward (Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1960).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Epithermal vein, disseminated, mercury-antimony

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Additional rich ore was stockpiled during 1958 trenching, besides that already produced.

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = carbonate

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

References

Reference (Deposit): Webber, B.S., Bjorklund, S.C., Rutledge, F.A., Thomas, B.I., and Wright, W.S., 1947, Mercury deposits of southwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4065, 57 p.

Reference (Deposit): Jasper, Martin, 1961, Cinnabar province, Kuskokwim region, in Williams, J.A., Report of the Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Report for the Year 1961: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Annual Report, p. 65-79.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Sleetmute quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-368, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Dillingham, Sleetmute, and Taylor Mountains quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-606, 92 p.

Reference (Deposit): Miller, M.L., Belkin, H.E., Blodgett, R.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Cady, J.W., Goldfarb, R.J., Gray, J.E., McGimsey, R.G., and Simpson, S.L., 1989, Pre-field study and mineral resource assessment of the Sleetmute quadrangle, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 89-363, 115 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Dillingham, Sleetmute, and Taylor Mountain quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-606, 92 p.

Reference (Deposit): Meyer, M.P., 1985, Mineral investigation of the Iditarod-George planning block, central Kuskokwim River area, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 9-85, 232 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Rytuba, J.J., 1986, Descriptive model of Almaden Hg, in Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds. Mineral Deposit Models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p. 180.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L. and MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1965, Quicksilver deposits of southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1187, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Jasper, M.W., 1961, Cinnabar province, Kuskokwim region: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals, Report for the Year 1961, p. 65-79.

Reference (Deposit): Cady, W.M., Wallace, R.E., Hoare, J.M., and Webber, E.J., 1955, The central Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 268, 132 p.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., and MacKevett, E.M. Jr., 1960, Structural control in five quicksilver deposits in southwestern Alaska, in Geological Survey Research in 1960: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 400-B, p. B35-B38.

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