Location: The Alice and Bessie or Parks Mine is on a productive group of claims near the north bank of the Kuskokwim River, about 0.4 mile east-southeast of the mouth of Parks Creek. The mine is at an elevation of about 250 feet in the SE1/4 sec. 25, T. 20 N., R. 45 W., of the Seward Meridian. The mine is locality 10 of Miller and others (1989).

Geology: At the Alice and Bessie (Parks) Mine, sandstone and shale of the Upper Cretaceous, Kuskokwim Group are cut by mafic sills and dikes, many of which have been hydrothermally altered (Smith, 1917, 1938; Webber and others, 1947; Cady and others, 1955; Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965; Miller and others, 1989).

The alteration minerals consists mainly of a mixture of clay (dickite), quartz, carbonate, and limonite. The mineralization, which is mainly near the altered mafic dikes, consists of cinnabar, stibnite, and pyrite in a gangue of quartz, carbonate, and brown clay. Smith (1917) believed that the pyrite was of a different age than the cinnabar and stibnite. The deposit has been mined for about 320 feet along strike. Abundant cinnabar and native mercury can be panned in Parks Creek which flows across the alteration zone exposed at the mine. The mineralization was staked in 1906 by E.W. Parks, who from 1906 to 1923 produced about 120 flasks of mercury (Cobb, 1972; Miller and others, 1989). Additional production probably occurred in 1936 to 1937 by W.E. Dunkle but the amount is unknown (Webber and others, 1947).

Workings: The property was staked in 1906. An adit about 200 feet long and surface trenching was done from 1906 to 1923 by E.W. Parks; the property was worked from 1936 to 1937 by W.E. Dunkle; and 1955 to 1956 by Robert Lyman and George Willis (Webber and others, 1947; Miller and others, 1989). In 1936, W.E. Dunkle extended the adit to 520 feet and found the best mineralization about 450 feet from the portal (Jasper, 1961). Work in 1942 by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (Webber and others, 1947) indicated the existence of three separate ore shoots on the property. George Willis and Robert leased the property in 1954 and eight additional claims were staked (Jasper, 1961). The U.S. Bureau of Mines again examined the mine in 1957 (Jasper, 1961). The Cordero Mining Company (then located in Palo Alto, CA and operating the Cordero mine in Humboldt County, Nevada) completed an underground drill program on the property in 1957 but did not publicly release their exploration results. The workings include a 525-feet adit, 46 feet of crosscut from it, 3 vertical shafts, and 19 trenches (Miller and others, 1989).

Age: Undated; the nearby Fairview prospect (ARDF SM019) has a 40Ar/39Ar age of 72.6 Ma (Gray, Gent, and others, 1997).

Alteration: Mafic dikes associated with the deposit have been largely altered to silica, carbonate minerals, and clay (dickite).

Production: The mineralization was staked in 1906 by E.W. Parks, who from 1906 to 1923 produced about 120 flasks of mercury (Cobb, 1972, [MF 368], 1976 [OFR 76-606]; Bundtzen and Conwell, 1982; Miller and others, 1989). Most of this mercury output was sold to placer gold miners in the Aniak and Iditarod mining districts (Jasper, 1961). Additional production probably occurred in 1936 to 1937 by W.E. Dunkle but there is no record of it (Webber and others, 1947).

Commodities (Major) - Hg; (Minor) - Sb
Development Status: Yes
Deposit Model: Silica-carbonate mercury (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27c).

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Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

ⓘ Antimony

Mineral List

4 valid minerals.