Harris River; Julia; Rogers; Dunton Mine, Hollis, Prince of Wales Island, Ketchikan Mining District, Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, USAi

Regional Level Types
Harris River; Julia; Rogers; Dunton Mine	Mine
Hollis	Census Area
Prince of Wales Island	Island
Ketchikan Mining District	Mining District
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	Census Area
Alaska	State
USA	Country

Location: The Harris River Mine is on the north bank of the Harris River, about 0.5 mile above its mouth. It is about 0.6 mile south-southwest of the center of section 7, T. 74 S., R. 84 E. and is marked by old mining equipment in the river. Several early geologists, notably Wright and Wright (1908), and Roppel (2005) combine their descriptions of the Harris River Mine and the Dawson Mine (CR099) about a half mile to the north. They were mined at different periods by different parties however, and are described separately in ARDF.
Geology: Much of the history of the mines near the mouth of the Harris River was compiled by Roppel (2005). The first claims were staked in 1899 but soon allowed to lapse. The property was restaked in 1905 as the Julia claims which extended over an uncertain area but what was to become the Harris River Mine, and then or later probably the area to the north that included what became the Dawson Mine (CE099). The early workings on these claims was concentrated on the Harris River Mine along the Harris River. The claims were purchased by C.H. Dunton in 1906 who sank an inclined shaft near the Harris River. By 1912, there was a 5-stamp mill run by hydro power on the property and 3,000 tons of ore had been mined that yielded $37,000 (probably all in gold at $20.67 per ounce). Another leaser worked the property from 1913 to 1919 and produced 7,000 tons of ore with a gross value of $81,570. When visited by Sales (1916), the workings consisted of a 280-foot shaft inclined at 30 degrees, with levels at 50, 100, and 200 feet. About 4,000 to 6,000 tons of ore had been produced; the ore averaged about $7.00 per ton in gold (at $20.67 per ounce), and some ran as high as $60 in gold per ton. In 1919, the Kasaan Gold Mining Company took the property over and built a 60-ton-a-day mill powered by a new hydroelectric plant on the Harris River. From 1920 to 1928, the Kasaan company produced about $160,000, probably all in gold (at $20.67 per ounce). In 1930, the company was reorganized as the Kasaan Mining Company. What were then called the Handy claims (to the north of the Harris River) were leased to Wendell Dawson who shifted the mining to what is now called the Dawson Mine (CR099) about a half mile north of the Harris River Mine. There apparently was no further mining at the Harris River Mine. The Harris River Mine is in a band of black graphitic slate and quartzite; however, most of the rocks exposed along the river for several hundred yards above and below the mine are massive to schistose, intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks of the Silurian and Ordovician Descon Formation (Sales, 1916; Herreid and Rose, 1966; Wilcox, 1938 [PE 119-5]; D.J. Grybeck, unpublished field notes, 1984). The deposit consists of quartz-cemented brecciated slate and conformable quartz veins and lenses in the slate; the width of the mineralized zone varies from 1 to 12 feet and averages about 6 feet (Sales, 1916; Wilcox, 1938 [PE 119-5]; Herreid and Rose, 1966). Fine-grained to porphyritic dikes commonly are conformable to the foliation but crosscut the veins. The individual quartz veins and lenses are several inches to 1 or 2 feet thick. Sulfides, mainly disseminated pyrite and rare galena and sphalerite, are sparse; the best ore was associated with the most abundant pyrite. Tellurides were reported but have not been verified in recent studies. The total production was substantial but uncertain because the mill treated ore from other mines in the area. Maas and others (1991) indicate that the total production from 1910 to 1929 (from the mine or the mill?) was 5,814 ounces of gold, 6,457 ounces of silver, 4,390 pounds of copper, and 1,159 pounds of lead from 8,173 tons of ore. However, the production was probably greater in so much as the Kasaan Gold Mining Company produced about $160,000 of ore from 1920 to 1928 from the Harris River Mine.
Workings: Much of the history of the mines near the mouth of the Harris River was compiled by Roppel (2005). The first claims were staked in 1899 but soon allowed to lapse. The property was restaked in 1905 as the Julia claims which extended over an uncertain area but what was to become the Harris River Mine, and then or later probably the area to the north that included what became the Dawson Mine (CR099). The early workings on these claims was concentrated on the Harris River Mine along the Harris River. The claims were purchased by C.H. Dunton in 1906 who sank an inclined shaft near the Harris River. By 1912, there was a 5-stamp mill run by hydro power on the property and 3,000 tons of ore had been mined that yielded $37,000 (probably all in gold at $20.67 per ounce). Another leaser worked the property from 1913 to 1919 and produced 7,000 tons of ore with a gross value of $81,570. When visited by Sales (1916), the workings consisted of a 280-foot shaft inclined at 30 degrees, with levels at 50, 100, and 200 feet. About 4,000 to 6,000 tons of ore had been produced; the ore averaged about $7.00 per ton in gold (at $20.67 per ounce), and some ran as high as $60 in gold per ton. In 1919, the Kasaan Gold Mining Company took the property over and built a 60-ton-a-day mill powered by a new hydroelectric plant on the Harris River. From 1920 to 1928, the Kasaan company produced about $160,000, probably all in gold (at $20.67 per ounce). In 1930, the company was reorganized as the Kasaan Mining Company. What were then called the Handy claims (to the north of the Harris River) were leased to Wendell Dawson who shifted the mining to what is now called the Dawson Mine (CR099) about a half mile north of the Harris River Mine. There apparently was no further mining at the Harris River Mine.
Age: Unknown, other than that the deposit is Silurian or Ordovician, or younger.
Production: The total production was substantial but uncertain because the mill treated ore from other mines in the area. Maas and others (1991) indicate that the total production from 1910 to 1929 (from the mine or the mill?) was 5,814 ounces of gold, 6,457 ounces of silver, 4,390 pounds of copper, and 1,159 pounds of lead from 8,173 tons of ore. However, the production was probably greater in so much as the Kasaan Gold Mining Company produced about $160,000 of ore from 1920 to 1928 from the Harris River Mine.
Reserves: None.

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

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Link to USGS - Alaska:	CR098

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References