West Coast Kodiak Island

Site Name

Primary: West Coast Kodiak Island

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Chromium
Secondary: PGE

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Kodiak

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold

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Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Maddren, 1919

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Gold-PGE placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Comment (Geology): Age = Quaternary

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Small-scale placer mining has been reported in this area from 1898 to at least 1952. Maddren (1919) reports that in some years up to 100 men were engaged in placer mining. In 1917 twelve men were mining and in 1950-51 two men were mining. Mining was done by rockers and portable sluice boxes. All equipment had to be removed from the beach during high tides.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Placer mining in this area was first reported by Becker (1898) at Portage and Ayakulik Rivers. Maddren (1919) reported that finely divided gold was present along the entire beach. Becker's examination indicated that the gold occurs with other heavy minerals in patches approximately 1 inch thick and extending over a few square yards. The gold was scaly and not easy to amalgamate. The patches were not consistent in thickness or richness and thus did not form paystreaks in the usual sense. These patchy concentrations of heavy minerals consisted mostly of magnetite with lesser amounts of chromite, gold, pyrite, and a little platinum. In some instances good concentrations of gold were found to lie on a layer of compact clay bedrock. No estimates of gold values within these patchy zones of heavy minerals has been reported. Maddren (1919) estimated the total value of production of all the west coast Kodiak Island beaches up to 1917 to be $50,000 to $150,000 (gold at $20.67 per ounce), and an annual production valued at $3,000 to $10,000. Cobb (1973) estimates total production at probably not greater than a few thousand ounces. The immediate source of the gold appears to be nearby bluffs of glacial gravels and tills which are constantly being eroded by wave action. An analysis of placer PGE concentrate from the beach (Maddren, 1919) 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. This sample recalculated free of impurities and totalled to 100 percent is as follows: 64.8 percent platinum; 10.0 percent iridium; 24.2 percent iridium plus osmium; 0.9 percent rhodium; 0.1 percent palladium (Mertie, 1969).

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References

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., 1942, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1940: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 933-A, p. 1-102.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1941, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1939: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 926-A, p. 1-106.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, P.S., 1933, Mineral industry of Alaska in 1930: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 836-A, p. 1-83.

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): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Karluk quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-459, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.

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): 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): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1969, Economic geology of platinum minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 630, 120 p.

Reference (Deposit): Becker, G.F., 1898, Reconnaissance of some gold fields of southern Alaska with some notes on general geology: U.S. Geological Survey 18th annual report, p. 7-86.

Reference (Deposit): Martin, G.C., 1913, Mineral deposits of Kodiak and neighboring islands, in Brooks, A.H., and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1912: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542, p. 125-136.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1918, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1916: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662, 469 p.

Reference (Deposit): Capps, S.R., 1937, Kodiak and adjacent islands, Alaska, in Smith, P.S. and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1934: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 880, p. 111-184, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1921, The future of Alaska mining, in Martin G.C. and others, Mineral resources of Alaska, 1917: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 714, p. 5-57.

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