Redskin Prospect, Aniak District, Dillingham Borough, Alaska, USA

Location: The Redskin prospect is at an elevation of about 1,400 feet on the ridge south of Beaver Creek. The map site is in the E1/2 of section 6, T 8 N, R 55 W, of the Seward Meridian. The prospect is at the head of locally named Alder Gulch, 1.15 miles west-southwest of the Beaver Creek airstrip. It is locality 4 of Cobb (1972 [MF 384]; 1976 [OF 76-606]).
Geology: At the Redskin prospect, cinnabar occurs as sparse films along bedding planes and cross joints, and in zones of brecciation in graywacke and shale (Rutledge, 1950). This prospect has not received much study, but is reported to be similar to the mercury-bearing deposit along locally named Canary Gulch at the Lucky Day mine (TA004), 0.75 mile to the northwest (Rutledge, 1950; Cady and others, 1955, p. 115). The country rocks are inferred to be part of a Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic sequence; several Triassic fossil localities are in the Cinnabar Creek area about 4 miles to the northwest of the Redskin prospect (Sainsbury and MacKevett, 1965). Rutledge (1950) also reports that cinnabar float has been found in locally named Alder Gulch below the Redskin prospect.
Workings: The prospect probably has been explored by surface examination, sampling, and some shallow pits.
Age: Cretaceous or Tertiary. Inferred to be similar in age to other mercury deposits of southwest Alaska that postdate deposition of mid-Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks and intrusion of Upper Cretaceous or Tertiary igneous rocks.

Commodities (Major) - Hg
Development Status: None
Deposit Model: Cinnabar-bearing veins and fractures (Hot-spring Hg? Cox and Singer, 1986; mode

References:
Cady, W.M., Wallace, R.E., Hoare, J.M., and Webber, E.J., 1955, The central Kuskokwim region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 268, 132 p. Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Taylor Mountains quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-384, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000. Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Dillingham, Sleetmute, and Taylor Mountains quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-606, 92 p. Rutledge, F.A., 1950, Investigation of mercury deposits, Cinnabar Creek area, Georgetown and Akiak districts, Kuskokwim region, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4719, 9 p. Sainsbury, C.L. and MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1965, Quicksilver deposits of southwestern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1187, 89 p.