Red Devil mine

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Mercury, Antimony, Arsenic

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10309007
MRDS ID A010655
Record type Site
Current site name Red Devil mine
Related records 10000476

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -157.32285, 61.75939 (WGS84)
Relative position On the S bank of the Kuskokwim River about 6.25 miles (10 km) NW of the town of Sleetmute.
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Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary
Antimony Secondary
Arsenic Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = carbonate

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Cinnabar Ore
Orpiment Ore
Realgar Ore
Stibnite Ore
Clay Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • Diabasic dikes altered to quartz, chalcedony, carbonate, and sericite.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 178
USGS model code 27b
BC deposit profile E01
Deposit model name Almaden Hg

Nearby scientific data

(1) -157.32285, 61.75939

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = 'Host rocks are interbedded graywacke and shale of the Kuskokwim Group cut by a few dikes that are generally altered to quartz, chalcedony, carbonate, and sericite (Malone, 1962). Most of the ore formed along and near intersections between altered dikes and NW-trending faults that mainly parallel bedding planes. Formation of ore was primarily by open space filling and consists of cinnabar associated with abundant stibnite in a quartz-rich gangue; less common realgar, orpiment, and antimony minerals are also found (MacKevett and Berg, 1963). Stibnite-cinnabar ratio increases with depth (Malone, 1962). Ore shoots did not continue below 460-480 ft (Donald Grybeck, USGS, personal commun., 1988). MacKevett and Berg (1963) reported that clay minerals (dickite among them) occupy central parts of some ore-bearing veinlets, but are more conspicuous in barren veinlets away from ore bodies. Jasper (1961) stated that while no native mercury was found at the property, old timers reported appreciable amounts in material panned along McCally Creek, west of the property.' (Miller and others, 1989).
  • Age = Miocene/Pliocene

Economic information

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 = Total of 36,141 1 408 flasks Hg from 1933-71 (Miller and others, 1989).

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Known ore bodies exhausted

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = About 9,600 feet (3,000 m) of underground workings on five main levels.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Alaska Resource Data File ARDF SM028
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A010655
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS A013443

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Webber, B.S., Bjorklund, S.C., Rutledge, F.A., Thomas, B.I., and Wright, W.S., 1947, Mercury deposits of southwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4065, 57 p.

  • Deposit

    Jasper, M.W., 1961, Cinnabar province, Kuskokwim region: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals, Report for the Year 1961, p. 65-79.

  • Deposit

    Malone, Kevin, 1962, Mercury occurrences in Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Circular 8131, 57 p.

  • Deposit

    MacKevett, E.M., Jr., and Berg, H.C., 1963, Geology of the Red Devil quicksilver mine, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1142-G, p. G1-G16.

  • 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 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 Mountains quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-606, 92 p.

  • Deposit

    Meyer, M.P., 1985, Mineral investigation of the Iditarod-George planning block, central Kuskokwim River area, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 9-85, 232 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

  • 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

    Jasper, Martin, 1961, Cinnabar province, Kuskokwim region, in Williams, J.A., Report of the Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Report for the Year 1961: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Annual Report, p. 65-79.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Miller and others, 1989, p. 46-51, 96

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Epithermal vein; mercury-antimony
Deposit Other Comments = On SW limb of NW-trending Sleetmute anticline.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 02-JUN-1994 Elliott, R.L.; Miller, M.L. U.S. Geological Survey