Alice & Bessie

The Alice & Bessie 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: Alice & Bessie
Secondary: Parks

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: Dikes/sills altered to quartz, carbonate minerals, clay, and limonite.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Mercury
Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Cinnabar
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Calcite

Comments

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = ankeritic dolomite

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = native mercury

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = Mercury (native)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Mineralization consists of cinnabar, lesser stibnite, and minor pyrite in a gangue of quartz, carbonate, and clay. Mineralized veins, up to 1 ft (0.3 m) thick and 50 ft (15 m) long, are localized in fractures and along bedding-plane faults in Kuskokwin Group graywacke and shale cut by hydrothermally altered sills and dikes.

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

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Veins are as rich as those at Red Devil deposit, but not as wide or continuous (Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965, p. 15).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = 525 ft (160 m) adit, 240 ft (73 m) drift, 45 ft (14 m) deep inclined shaft, several vertical shafts, 19 trenches, open cuts.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Total = 175 flasks of mercury by the end of 1961 (Malone, 1965).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965, p.11-15

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

References

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1917, The Lake Clark-central Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 655, 162 p.

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): Malone, Kevin, 1962, Mercury occurrences in Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Circular 8131, 57 p.

Reference (Deposit): Malone, Kevin, 1965, Mercury in Alaska, in Mercury potential of the United States: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8252, p. 31-59.

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, 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): Smith, P.S., 1917, The Lake Clark-central Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 655, 192 p.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1938, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1936: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 897-A, p. 1-107.

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

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