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Lucky Day

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Mercury, Antimony
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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 10002513
MRDS ID A013453
Record type Site
Current site name Lucky Day

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -158.85279, 60.74934 (WGS84)
Relative position The Lucky Day mine is on the divide between the headwaters of locally named Canary Gulch and Cinnabar Creek (TA002), a west tributary to Beaver Creek. The map site is at an elevation of about 1,850 feet, near the west end of the boundary between sections 25 and 36, T 8 N, R 55 W, of the Seward Meridian. The mine is 1.5 miles west of the north end of the Beaver Creek airstrip. It is locality 3 of Cobb (1972 [MF 384]; 1976 [OF 76-606]).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Dillingham(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Taylor Mountains C-8(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Taylor Mountains NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Taylor Mountains(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Holitna River(hydrologic unit)

Upper Kuskokwim River(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary
Antimony Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = Carbonate

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Mercury Ore
Pyrite Ore
Stibnite Ore
Dickite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Variable quartz-carbonate-clay alteration of graywacke,siltstone, and mafic intrusive country rock.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 177
USGS model code 27a
Deposit model name Hot-spring Hg

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Kuskokwim Group;Kuskokwim Group;Kuskokwim Group;Gemuck Group
    Rock description Kuskokwim Group;Kuskokwim Group;Kuskokwim Group;Gemuck Group
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock unit name Kuskokwim Group;Kuskokwim Group;
    Rock description Kuskokwim Group;Kuskokwim Group;

Nearby scientific data

(1) -158.85279, 60.74934
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Lucky Day mine area includes cinnabar- and stibnite-bearing deposits along the west side of upper Canary Gulch and at the divide between Canary Gulch and Cinnabar Creek (Rutledge, 1050). During WWII, 3,600 pounds of cinnabar-rich materials recovered from residual colluvial deposits at the head of Canary Gulch yielded 26 flasks of mercury (Rutledge, 1950, p. 4; Cady and others, 1955, p. 114). The lode deposits are in sedimentary and igneous rocks inferred to be part of a Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic sequence; several Triassic fossil localities are in the Cinnabar Creek area about 3 miles north of the Lucky Day mine (Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965).? the Lucky Day mine area has been explored by many surface pits, dozer trenches, and shallow shafts (Rutledge, 1950; Cady, 1955). In the 50-foot wide and 350-foot long mineralized zone along the west side of upper Canary Gulch, cinnabar, quartz, and stibnite form thin and sparse films along bedding plane faults, fractures, and joints, and occur as fillings between graywacke and shale fragments in breccia; some native mercury is also present (Rutledge, 1950). Three samples of the highest grade material in this zone respectively contained 0.31, 0.18 and 0.07 percent Hg and 0.16, 0.19, and 0.15 percent Sb (Rutledge, 1950, p. 6). Seven samples collected from this zone by the owners contained a trace to 0.10 percent Hg (Rutledge, 1950, p. 6).? Mineralization on the divide between Canary Gulch and Cinnabar Creek is localized along and near the faulted contact of an altered, approximately 10-foot wide mafic dike or sill. The mafic intrusive body is almost parallel to bedding in the enclosing graywacke and siltstone, which strikes N 5-10 W and dips moderately west (Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965). The mineralized zone is along the west contact of the mafic intrusive; it is about 900 feet long, 50 feet wide, and exposed over a vertical distance of about 130 feet (Rutledge, 1950; Cady and others, 1955; Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965). High-grade mineralization within this zone consists of discontinuous, massive, cinnabar veins and lenses, averaging about 1 inch thick, along the intrusive contact and in narrow offshoots along bedding plane faults in structurally overlying graywacke. Cinnabar is accompanied by quartz, stibnite, dickite, limonite, and some native mercury. Eight samples from this zone contained 0.14 to 15.7 percent Hg and 0.32 to 3.0 percent Sb (Rutledge, 1950, fig. 5). Hawley and others (1969) reported that two ore samples respectively contained 70.10 and 35.87 percent Hg, 0.008 and 0.05 ppm Au, 1,500 and 700 ppm Zn, and greater than 10,000 and 300 ppm Sb. The graywacke, siltstone, and mafic intrusive country rocks are variably altered and replaced by quartz, carbonate, and clay minerals; some pyrite is present in the altered mafic intrusive rocks but it has not been observed in association with cinnabar.
  • Age = Cretaceous or Tertiary. Inferred to be similar in age to other mercury deposits of southwest Alaska that postdate deposition of mid-Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks and intrusion of Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary igneous rocks.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Aniak

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = During WWII, 3,600 pounds of cinnabar-rich materials recovered from residual colluvial deposits at the head of Canary Gulch yielded 26 flasks of mercury (Rutledge, 1950, p. 4; Cady and others, 1955, p. 114). The recovered ore was transported to Sleetmute by backpacking and boat. It was retorted at the Red Devil mine in 1942-43.

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The Lucky Day mine area has been explored by many surface pits, dozer trenches, and shallow shafts (Rutledge, 1950; Cady, 1955).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Deposit

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

  • 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.

  • 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

    Hawley, C.C., Martinez, E.E., and Marinenko, John, 1969, Geochemical data on the South ore zone, White Mountain mine, and on the gold content of other mercury ores, southwestern Alaska, in Some shorter mineral resources investigations in Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 615, p. 16-20.

  • 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 = Rutledge, 1950

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Cinnabar- and stibnite-bearing veins (Hot-spring Hg? Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 30-DEC-00 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.