John Bull Hill Mine, Fairhaven Mining District, Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
John Bull Hill Mine	Mine
Fairhaven Mining District	Mining District
Northwest Arctic Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The John Bull Hill hillside placer mine is on the right bank of Candle Creek, just above its confluence with Kiwalik River. The placer extends southwest from Kiwalik River parallel to Candle Creek for about a mile. The map site is in section 24, T. 6 N., R. 16 W., of the Kateel River Meridian.
Geology: The John Bull Hill mine is an area of extensive, hillside placers along the right bank of Candle Creek near the mouth. Data from 53 drill holes showed 15 to 60 feet of ice and muck, 0 to 18 feet of barren gravel, 0 to 25 feet of auriferous gravel, 1 to 29 feet total gravel and 0 to 13 feet of auriferous bedrock. Averages of the drillhole data are: 35.0 feet ice and muck, 4.2 feet barren gravel, 6.7 feet auriferous gravel and 3.1 feet auriferous bedrock. Three of the holes bottomed in limestone bedrock and the others bottomed in decomposed schist (Henshaw, 1909). All ground is frozen. A gold nugget worth $62.10 (Au at $20.67 per ounce) was found. Concentrates contain abundant pyrite, hematite, rutile, occasional garnet, and little magnetite.
Workings: The placer has been mined since the early 1900's. Exploration was by drifting and drilling. Mining through the 1950's was mainly by hydraulic methods. All the ground in the area is frozen and requires stripping and thawing prior to mining. Since the 1980's the area has been open-cut mined by front end loaders.
Age: Quaternary.
Reserves: Arctic Circle Enterprises estimated gold reserves on John Bull Hill to be 8,500 ounces in 1952 (Williams, 1998).

Commodities (Major) - Au
Development Status: Yes; medium
Deposit Model: Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a).

Other Databases

Link to USGS - Alaska:	CA039

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References