Cape Alitak Beach

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Gold

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Materials information
Mineral occurrence model information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10002317
MRDS ID	A013227
Record type	Site
Current site name	Cape Alitak Beach
Related records	10233760

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-154.30242, 56.84937 (WGS84)
Relative position	This site represents the beach area near Alitak triangulation station located at the southern end of Tanner Head (Cobb, 1972, MF 468, locality 1; Cobb 1973, Bulletin 1374, figure 11, locality 2; MacKevett and Holloway; 1977, locality 1). Site location is accurate to within 1/2 mile.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Kodiak Island(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Trinity Islands D-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Trinity Islands NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Trinity Islands(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Kodiak-Afognak Islands(hydrologic unit)

Kodiak-Shelikof(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country	State
United States	Alaska

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Gold	Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code	119
USGS model code	39a
Deposit model name	Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number	54

Host and associated rocks

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Holocene
Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Holocene
Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Pliocene

Host or associated Host

Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Till

Host or associated	Host
Rock type	Unconsolidated Deposit > Till

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-154.30242, 56.84937	ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

Geologic Description = At this site placer gold has been found in beach deposits as well as in sand dunes derived from the beach sands. Magnetite is fairly abundant in the dunes as well as on the beach. Gassaway (1935, p. 4) reports black sand layers on the beach to be up to 2 feet in thickness with a gold content of less than commercial grade. The gold was reported to be extremely fine and difficult to amalgamate.The immediate source of the placer gold is thought to be the nearby bluffs of glacial gravels and tills.
Age = Quaternary

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic

Comments on exploration

Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name	Kodiak

Comments on the workings information

Workings / Exploration = As reported by Capps (1937), in 1935 a mill was under construction to treat the wind-blown dune sand for its gold content. No further efforts were reported and the endeavor was apparently not sucessful. At this same time some mining of the beach deposits was being carried out with sluice boxes and amalgamation plates.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A013227
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	TI001

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Gassaway, L.D., 1935, Black sand deposits of Kodiak Island: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Miscellaneous Report 135-3, 6 p.
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.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resource map of the Trinity Islands quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Map MF- 468, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Cobb, E.H., 1973, Placer deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1374, 213 p.
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 map sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.
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.
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.

Comments on the references

Primary Reference = Capps, 1937

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	Model Name = Gold placer (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).
Deposit	Other Comments = This site is located within the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	13-AUG-1998	S.H. Pilcher	U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.