Hudson; Sunshine No. 2 Mine, Tolovana Mining District, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hudson; Sunshine No. 2 Mine	Mine
Tolovana Mining District	Mining District
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: Cobb (1972, MF-413), loc. 4; SE1/4, sec. 23, T. 8 N., R. 5 W., of the Fairbanks Meridian. The mine is along Olive Creek, near the intersection with the Elliot Highway. Accuracy is within 1,000 feet. Olive Creek is a small stream flowing about due south into the North Fork of the Tolovana River, about two miles south of the town of Livengood. The Hudson tunnel is at the head of the west fork of Olive Creek.
Geology: In 1917, Hudson found evenly distributed small specks and grains of cinnabar in highly altered granitic rock at what is now commonly called the Hudson prospect (Malone, 1962). Some of this material was reported to have run 20 to 30 pounds of mercury per ton (Malone, 1962). Mertie (1918, p. 274) reported that a small landslide exposed much-weathered granitic rock from which cinnabar was panned. In the main tunnel of the Hudson mine, the highly altered granitic rock is heavily impregnated with cinnabar (Reed, 1931). The cinnabar is evenly disseminated all through the rock in small red specks and grains. Reed (1931) reported that the rock was so altered that it resembled talc or soft, white, impure sandstone. The alteration and mineralization continues back in the Hudson mine tunnel as far as the winze, and from there on in, the cinnabar becomes rapidly leaner and the country rock becomes harder and darker (Reed, 1931, p. 3). The decomposed quartz feldspar porphyry contains crushed white feldspar phenocrysts in a light gray to white ground mass of quartz, talc and clay minerals. Many iron-stained streaks in the porphyry are caused by oxidation of arsenopyrite-bearing quartz veins, which also carry some gold (Joesting, 1942; ATDM Pamph. 1, p. 2). The Sunshine no. 2 prospect is a few hundred feet above the Hudson prospect. It consists of a northwest-trending, crumbly, auriferous dike with internal limonite veinlets in contact with altered argillite (Foster, 1968). Foster (1968, p.2) reported that soil samples contain anomalous concentrations of arsenic silver, bismuth, cobalt, copper, zinc, tin, molybdenum and tungsten.
Workings: Explored by about 270 feet of adits and tunnels (Malone, 1962).
Alteration: The decomposed quartz feldspar porphyry contains crushed white feldspar phenocrysts in a light gray to white ground mass of quartz, talc and clay minerals. Many iron-stained streaks in the porphyry are caused by oxidation of arsenopyrite-bearing quartz veins, which also carry some gold (Joesting, 1942; ATDM Pamph. 1, p. 2).
Production: The owner attempted to mill the ore as if it were gold-bearing quartz and thus lost much of the cinnabar. The ore was ground and fed into sluice boxes in an attempt to recover the cinnabar. Much of the cinnabar was probably so finely ground that the sluice boxes were ineffective in trapping the ore (Reed, 1931, p. 3).

Commodities (Major) - Hg; (Minor) - Au
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Disseminated cinnabar associated with a granitic intrusive.

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	LG015

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