Broken Shovel

The Broken Shovel is a mercury and antimony 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: Broken Shovel

Commodity

Primary: Mercury
Primary: 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: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Simple Sb (veins, pods, etc)

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Quartz veining and silica-carbonate alteration of mafic rocks.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Cinnabar
Ore: Stibnite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Sainsbury and Mackevett, 1965

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous or Tertiary . May be similar in age to other mercury deposits in southwest Alaska. Several of these postdate deposition and deformation of mid-Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks and emplacement of Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary intrusive rocks.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Simple Sb deposits (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27d)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Broken Shovel prospect is 0.5 mile northeast of the Cinnabar Creek lode mercury mine (TA001). It consists of a zone of discontinuous quartz-stibnite veins along the faulted contact of a vertical mafic dike in Triassic sedimentary rocks (Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965). The dike, exposed in a few shallow dozer trenches, is 1- to 3-feet-thick and trends N 5-20 E for a distance of at least 320 feet (Sainsbury and MacKevett, p. 40). The quartz veins are narrow, discontinuous, and only locally contain small stibnite lenses and minor cinnabar. Cinnabar was reportedly panned in the gulch drainage downslope from the Broken Shovel prospect. Cady and others (1955) report that sills of silica-carbonate rock (inferred to be altered mafic intrusive rocks) are also present in the gulch.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A few shallow dozer trenches have explored the prospect.

References

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): 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): 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., 1965, Quicksilver deposits of southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1187, 89 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Taylor Mountains quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-384, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Rutledge, F.A., 1950, Investigation of mercury deposits, Cinnabar Creek area, Georgetown and Akiak districts, Kuskokwim region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4719, 9 p.

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