Crackerjack Mine, Maybeso Creek, Prince of Wales Island, Ketchikan District, Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Borough, Alaska, USA

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Location: The main adit of the Crackerjack Mine, Adit No. 2, is at an elevation of about 800 feet, about 0.5 mile south of the Puyallup Mine, which is shown on the USGS 1:63,360-scale topographic map. The adit is on what is locally called Crackerjack Creek, near the middle of the south boundary of section 31, T. 73 S., R. 84 E. The property consists of ten claims and numerous workings that are shown on figure 2 of Herreid and Rose (1966).
Geology: The rocks in the vicinity of the Crackerjack Mine are mainly thinly interbedded black slate and black siltstone and subordinate argillite and graywacke that are part of the Descon Formation of Silurian and Ordovician age (Herreid and Rose, 1966). The mineralization at the Crackerjack Mine consists of two parallel quartz veins about 100 feet apart that closely follow two porphyry dikes for over a mile (Wright and Wright, 1908; Roehm, 1938 [PE 119-7]; Herreid and Rose, 1966; Maas and others, 1991; Maas and others, 1995). The veins and dikes strike about N20-30W and dip 20-48SW. Various workers have called the dikes gray porphyritic diorite, green porphyry, greenstone, and dacite porphyry. Near the veins, the dikes are intensely altered to quartz, pyrite, calcite, chlorite, and epidote. The quartz veins are banded and vary from 1 to 5 feet wide. They contain free gold, and, in order of abundance: pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite, and an antimony or bismuth sulfosalt. The gold is most abundant with the sulfides. The ore occurs in shoots that Roehm (1938 [PE 119-7]) suggests rake gently to the west; they were formed along rolls or irregularities in shear zones along the veins. The Crackerjack Mine was discovered prior to 1902 (Brooks, 1902). By 1938, there were 8 tunnels and numerous open cuts and trenches for about 6,000 feet along the west side of what is locally called Crackerjack Creek (Roehm, 1938 [PE 119-7]; Herreid and Rose, 1966, figure 2). Most of the workings apparently were driven before 1909. Maas and others (1991; 1995, figure 18) mapped and sampled extensively in the workings; the gold content of their samples varied widely from almost nothing to several ounces per ton. Roehm's map (1938 [PE 119-7]) shows the location of 176 samples across the veins; they contained from a trace to 14.14 ounces of gold per ton and a trace to 29.41 ounces of silver per ton. He also cites an old report of 185 channel samples that averaged $7.50 per ton in gold (at $20.67 per ounce). Apparently there has been no production since 1908 and little activity until recently, other than patenting the claims in 1926 (Maas and others, 1995). The property recently was acquired by Red Diamond Mining Company and is active as of March 2004 (Barnett and Clough, 2000; http://www.reddiamondmining.com/). [Link Broken? May 2012] A mill was in operation before 1905 at the nearby Puyallup Mine (CR103) that processed ore from both the Puyallup and Crackerjack mines (Wright and Wright, 1905). Bureau of Mines production records cited by Maas and others (1991) indicate that from 1900 to 1916, the two mines produced an estimated 10,466 ounces of gold; the average grade was 0.840 ounce of gold per ton and 0.668 ounce of silver per ton.
Workings: The Crackerjack Mine was discovered prior to 1902 (Brooks, 1902). By 1938, there were 8 tunnels and numerous open cuts and trenches for about 6,000 feet along the west side of what is locally called Crackerjack Creek (Roehm, 1938 [PE 119-7]; Herreid and Rose, 1966, figure 2). Most of the workings apparently were driven before 1909. Apparently there has been no production since 1908 and little activity until recently, other than patenting the claims in 1926 (Maas and others, 1995). Maas and others (1991; 1995, figure 18) mapped and sampled extensively in the workings. The property recently was acquired by Red Diamond Mining Company and is active as of March 2004 (Barnett and Clough, 2000; http://www.reddiamondmining.com/). [Link Broken? May 2012]
Age: Unknown, other than that the veins are in Silurian or Ordovician rocks.
Alteration: The dikes that are associated with the gold-quartz veins are intensely altered to quartz, pyrite, calcite, chlorite, and epidote near the veins.
Production: A mill was in operation before 1905 at the nearby Puyallup Mine (CR103) that processed ore from both the Puyallup and Crackerjack mines (Wright and Wright, 1905). Bureau of Mines production records cited by Maas and others (1991) indicate that from 1900 to 1916, the two mines produced an estimated 10,466 ounces of gold; the average grade was 0.840 ounce of gold per ton and 0.668 ounce of silver per ton. Apparently there has been no production since 1908 from the Crackerjack Mine.
Reserves: Probably none.

Commodities (Major) - Ag, Au; (Minor) - As, Cu, Pb, Sb, Zn
Development Status: Yes; small
Deposit Model: Gold-quartz veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 36a).

Mineral List

Chalcopyrite Galena

Pyrite Quartz

Sphalerite Tetrahedrite

6 entries listed. 6 valid minerals.

References