Blacksand Island Beach

The Blacksand Island Beach is a gold and titanium 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: Blacksand Island Beach

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Titanium
Secondary: Zirconium
Secondary: Iron

Location

State: Alaska
District: Yakutat

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

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Glacial Sediment
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Ilmenite
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Rutile
Ore: Zircon
Ore: Gold
Gangue: Garnet

Comments

Comment (Geology): Age = Holocene

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Very minor production took place in the 1890s and early 1900s.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Thomas and Berryhill, 1962.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The occurrence is one of the older placer deposits reported along the coast. Minor and generally unsuccessful mining activity was reported by Blackwelder (1907, p. 86-87); Thomas and Berryhill (1962) reported that there was some private churn drilling done about 1957, but the results are unknown. Foley and others (1995) reported analytical results from one sample--no. 276. The sample contained 0.63 percent titanium in a spiral concentrate split and did not contain gold in either the head- or spiral-concentrate splits.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Riverine delta and beach deposit

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = Information is lacking about the private drilling that was reported by Thomas and Berryhill in 1962. It is assumed, from the sparsity of recent work, that the grade of the deposit is low.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Blacksand Island placer is in the depositional drainage area of the Ahrnklin River, hence possibly deltaic. The island could also be, in part, an older beach deposit that formed before Blacksand Spit. Irregular beach concentrates of black sand occur with interlocked magnetite-ilmenite and small amounts of gold.

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

References

Reference (Deposit): Blackwelder, Eliot, 1907, Reconnaissance on the Pacific Coast from Yakutat to Alsek River: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 314, p. 82-88.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1979, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bering Glacier, Icy Bay, Middleton Island, and Yakutat quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1246, 41 p.

Reference (Deposit): Foley, J.Y., La Berge, R.D., Grosz, A.E., Oliver, F.S., and Hirt, W.C., 1995, Onshore titanium and related heavy mineral investigations in the eastern Gulf of Alaska region, southern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 10-95, 125 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Yakutat quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-408, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Thomas, B.I., and Berryhill, R. V., 1962, Reconnaissance studies of Alaskan beach sands, eastern Gulf of Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 5986, 40 p.

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