Rhyolite

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Mercury, Antimony
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002487
MRDS ID A013425
Record type Site
Current site name Rhyolite
Related records 10258802

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -158.40289, 61.93937 (WGS84)
Relative position Miller and others, 1989, Loc. 4, Plate 2.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Bethel(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Sleetmute D-7(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Sleetmute NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Sleetmute(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Aniak(hydrologic unit)

Lower Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Kuskokwim Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary
Antimony Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = carbonate

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Stibnite Ore
Clay Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Andesitic, rhyolite porphyry dikes and sills altered to silica-carbonate rock.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 178
USGS model code 27b
Deposit model name Almaden Hg

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock unit name Kuskokwim;Kuskokwim;
    Rock description Kuskokwim;Kuskokwim;

Nearby scientific data

(1) -158.40289, 61.93937

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Small veinlets, pods, lenses, and disseminations of cinnabar occur in faults and shear zones in silica-carbonate altered dikes and shattered graywacke. Veinlets up to 0.5 in thick, pods up to 4 in thick occur at intersection of veinlets. Stibnite float was found near the airstrip at summit of Juninggulra Mountain.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Aniak

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = Apparently, a few flasks of mercury were produced.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Trenched in 1957 one year after discovery. USBM trenched and sampled in 1958-59.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Maloney , R.P., 1962, Trenching and sampling of the Rhyolite mercury prospect, Kuskokwim River basin, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 6141, 43 p.

  • Deposit

    Sainsbury, C.L. and MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1965, Quicksilver deposits of southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1187, 89 p.

  • Deposit

    Berg, H.C., and Cobb, E.H., 1967, Metalliferous Lode Deposits of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1246, 254 p.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965, p. 46-49

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Epithermal vein, disseminated, shear zone; mercury-antimony
Deposit Other Comments = Trenching difficult because of permafrost.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 02-JUN-94 Huber, D.F. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 02-JUN-94 Niles, L.P. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 02-JUN-94 Miller, M.L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Alaska resources

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