Sonny Fox; Babcock & Downey; Lady Luck Mine, Homer Mining District, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Sonny Fox; Babcock & Downey; Lady Luck Mine	Mine
Homer Mining District	Mining District
Kenai Peninsula Borough	Borough
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: 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.
Geology: 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).
Workings: 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).
Age: Tertiary; Boden and others (1991) report other veins in the district are about 55 m.y. old.
Alteration: Borden and others (1991) report carbonization, sulfidization, sericitization, and silicification of the wall rock adjacent to the veins.
Production: 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).
Reserves: None.

Commodities (Major) - Ag, Au, Cu; (Minor) - Pb, Zn
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Low-sulfide, Au-quartz vein (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a)

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	SV019

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References