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Robinson

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, 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. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10002887
MRDS ID A015374
Record type Site
Current site name Robinson
Alternate or previous names Mohawk, Franklin, Rose, Heilig and Creighton
Related records 10281607

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -147.47602, 65.04773 (WGS84)
Relative position Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc 29; NE1/4 sec. 35, T. 3 N., R. 1 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The Robinson mine is located approximately 3200 feet south of the Newsboy shaft near the power substation on the Pedro Dome access road.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Livengood A-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Circle SW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Livengood(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Antimony Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Stibnite Ore

Nearby scientific data

(1) Kmgr
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Robinson mine contains several quartz veins that contain free gold, stibnite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite. The veins cut gray calcareous quartzites with stockwork quartz. Pyrite and arsenopyrite are the two most abundant disseminated minerals in the wall rocks (Freeman, 1992). The initial 1-foot-wide shear zone, exposed in a 180 foot adit, has a strike of N 10 E with a steep dip to the west. A second shear was discovered near the shaft house. This shear strikes N 70 W, dips vertically, and is 8 inches wide (Chapin, 1914). Another shear zone was intersected west of the 50-foot level of an inclined shaft. This high-grade quartz-rich vein is 16 to 18 inches thick and strikes N 20 E and dips 60 NW. A second shaft, known as the Boyd shaft, was located 75 feet northwest of the Robinson shaft and had been sunk to a depth of 30 feet in 1916. The shear exposed in the Boyd shaft contains abundant arsenopyrite; it is oriented N 80 W, 35 SW.? Dump samples collected from the Robinson prospect in 1986 contained from trace to 4.182 ounces of gold per ton, greater than 1,000 ppm arsenic, minor antimony, and trace levels of silver (Freeman and others, 1986).? Accurate production records for the Robinson mine are not available, however, based on mine maps provided by Charles Lazeration, production is estimated at approximately 5,000 tons of ore (Freeman, 1992).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = By 1912, a 180-foot adit had been driven on a 1-foot-wide quartz-rich shear zone (Smith, 1913; B 525). Two tons of ore from this adit were custom milled in Fairbanks and produced a large amount of sulfide concentrate and an unspecified amount of gold. By 1916, the prospect was known as the Mohawk prospect and produced 46 tons of ore over a four month period. Work was continued in 1918 but no production was indicated (Martin, 1920). Active mining was being conducted on the Robinson prospect in 1950; the ore was milled at the Cleary Hill mill (Saarela, 1951). Accurate production records for the Robinson mine are not available, however, based on mine maps provided by Charles Lazeration; the production is estimated at approximately 5,000 tons of ore (Freeman, 1992).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = By 1912, a 180 foot adit had been driven on a 1-foot-wide, quartz-rich shear zone (Smith, 1913; B 525). By 1913, the prospect was being explored by L. Goyett through a 50-foot inclined shaft on a 4-foot-wide shear zone (Chapin, 1914). At the 50-foot level, the shaft becomes vertical for 25 feet, at which point a 20-foot cross-cut was driven to intersect an 8-foot-wide shear zone. A second shaft, known as the Boyd shaft, was located 75 feet northwest of the Robinson shaft and had been sunk to a depth of 30 feet by 1916 (Mertie, 1918). By 1917, the Robinson prospect was known as the Heilig and Creighton mine, and was equipped with a Little Giant mill (Martin, 1919). No new development work had been conducted on the prospect in 1917. Work was continued in 1918 but no production was reported (Martin, 1920). In 1934, the Robinson shaft and Boyd and Shaw shaft were flooded and the open cut between the two shafts filled with debris and water (Spencer and O'Neill, 1934). In 1934, Fred C. Robinson was living on the Robinson prospect but no work had been done on the prospect for several years (Spencer and O'Neill, 1934). In 1938, Fred Robinson cleaned out the Robinson shaft and repaired the mill. The Robinson prospect was examined as a possible source of antimony in 1942, but no additional exploration was recommended due to insufficient potential for significant tonnage (Killeen and Mertie, 1951). ? Saarela (1951) reported active mining at the Robinson prospect in 1950 by Vern Jokela and Charles Lazeration. Ore was milled at the Cleary Hill mill. Mr. Lazeration, presently residing in Fairbanks, has provided two mine maps of the Robinson mine which show workings on the 60-, 100- and 200-foot levels from a shaft driven to a depth of approximately 210 feet (Fairbanks Exploration Inc., unpublished report, 1986). Drifts on the 200-foot level had been driven 470 feet along the shear to the northeast and 250 feet to the southwest. A ventilation shaft at the 190 foot station of the southwest drift connects with the surface. At the 470-foot station of the northeast drift on the 200-foot level, a stope had been worked to the 100-foot level and nine ore draw points had been installed and were ready for use. The 100-foot level was driven 470 feet to the northeast and 190 feet to the southwest where a ventilation shaft connected it with the surface. The 100-foot level was mined out over its entire 470-foot length on the northeastern side of the 100-foot level and over its entire 190-foot length on the southwestern side of the shaft. The 60-foot level was mined out over a 90-foot length from the raise to the ventilation shaft connecting the three levels on the southwestern side of the shaft. The Robinson shaft currently is flooded and inaccessible (Freeman, 1992).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1913, Lode mining near Fairbanks, in Prindle, L.M., A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 525, p. 153-216.

  • Deposit

    Smith, P.S., 1913, Lode mining near Fairbanks: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542-F, p. 137-202.

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1919, Mining in the Fairbanks district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 692-F, p. 321-327.

  • Deposit

    Martin, G.C., 1920, The Alaska mining industry in 1918: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 712-A, p. 1-52.

  • Deposit

    Hill, J.M., 1933, Lode deposits of the Fairbanks District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 849-B, p. 29-163.

  • Deposit

    Spencer, W.W. and O'Neill, W.A., 1934, A survey of gold quartz veins on the north flank of Pedro Dome: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Bachelor of Science thesis, 52 p.

  • Deposit

    Killeen, P.L., and Mertie, J.B., 1951, Antimony ore in the Fairbanks District, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 51-46, 43 p.

  • Deposit

    Chapman, R.M., and Foster, R.L., 1969, Lode mines and prospects in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 625-D, 25 p., 1 plate.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Circle quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-633, 72 p.

  • Deposit

    Freeman, C.J., 1992, 1991 Golden Summit project final report, volume 2: Historical summary of lode mines and prospects in the Golden Summit project area, Alaska: Avalon Development Corp., 159 p. (Report held by Freegold Recovery Inc. USA, Vancouver, British Columbia.)

  • Deposit

    Chapin, Theodore, 1914, Lode mining near Fairbanks, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 592-J, p. 321-355.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Livengood quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-413, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1918, Lode mining in the Fairbanks district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 662-H, p. 403-424.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Livengood quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-819, 241 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Freeman, 1992

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Gold, stibnite, sulfide-rich quartz veins.
Deposit Other Comments = the Robinson mine was previously known as the Creighton mine but was sometimes called the Franklin mine (the owner at one time was Duane Franklin).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 C.J. Freeman Avalon Development Corporation
Reporter 04-MAY-1999 J.R. Guidetti Schaefer Avalon Development Corporation

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.