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Sonny Fox

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc
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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 10100939
MRDS ID A010648
Record type Site
Current site name Sonny Fox
Alternate or previous names Babcock & Downey, Lady Luck
Related records 10209810

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -150.47253, 59.53949 (WGS84)
Relative position The Sunny Fox mine was the principal gold producer in the Nuka Bay area. The mine is located on the west side of Babcock Creek at an elevation of 200 feet. Babcock Creek drains into Surprise Bay which is at the West Arm of Nuka Bay. This is Cobb's (1972, MF-397) location 28 and Richter's (1970) location 9. Cobb (1972, OFR 80-87) summarized the relevant references under the name Sonny Fox.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Kenai Peninsula(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Seldovia C-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Seldovia NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Seldovia(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Resurrection River-Frontal Resurrection Bay(hydrologic unit)

Prince William Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Central Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Kenai Fjords National Park(National Park)

National Park NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Material = Copper (native)
  • Ore Material = Silver (native)

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Copper Ore
Silver Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Borden and others (1991) report carbonization, sulfidization, sericitization, and silicification of the wall rock adjacent to the veins.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -150.47253, 59.53949
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The host rocks of the prospect are graywacke and slate of the Cretaceous Valdez Group (Richter, 1970). Most of the production on the property has come from the Lucky Lady Vein which averages about 2 feet thick . The vein strikes generally northeast and dips 60SE. The vein is white quartz and in parts shows some banding. The most abundant sulfide mineral is arsenopyrite, with minor amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena (Richter, 1970). Free gold was also present, often in coarse particles visible to the naked eye (Pilgrim, 1933). Over 800 feet of drifts, tunnels, and stopes have been driven on this vein. The other vein on the property is lens shaped and contains the same sulfide assemblage as the Lucky Lady. The veins are thickest in the more massive graywacke units and trend to pinch out in the slate units. ? Richter (1970) calculated there are at least 800 feet of workings at the mine site exclusive of raises, stopes and shafts. The mill was a No.1 Denver Quartz Mill with a capacity of 7 tons per 22 hours. The concentrates ranged in grade from $128.00 per ton to over $530 per ton (at $20.67 per ounce gold) and were shipped to the Tacoma smelter (Pilgrim, 1933). The mine produced from 1926 to 1940 and production totaled $70,000 during that time (Richter,1970).
  • Age = Tertiary; Boden and others (1991) report other veins in the district are about 55 m.y. old.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Homer

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = The mine produced from 1926 to 1940 and production totaled $70,000 during that time (Richter,1970). The concentrates ranged in grade from $128.00 per ton to over $530 per ton and were shipped to the Tacoma smelter (at $20.67 per ounce gold, Pilgrim, 1933).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Richter (1970) calculated there are at least 800 feet of workings at the mine site exclusive of raises, stopes and shafts. The mill was a No.1 Denver Quartz Mill with a capacity of 7 tons per 22 hours. The concentrates ranged in grade from $128.00 per ton to over $530 per ton (at $20.67 per ounce gold) and were shipped to the Tacoma smelter (Pilgrim, 1933).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Pilgrim, 1933; Richter, 1970

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Low-sulfide, Au-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 16-FEB-99 Jeff A. Huber 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.