Site Report: NPS Banjo Mine
We make every effort to ensure the data presented here is accurate based on the best available information currently on file with DEC. It is therefore subject to change as new information becomes available. We recommend contacting the assigned project staff prior to making decisions based on this information.
Problems/Comments
Banjo Mine is one of the many small-scale gold mines in the Kantishna area. The gold was mined by free milling, and was separated from the quartz gangue by crushing and gravity separation. The rejected byproducts of this beneficiation process were placed on the ground surface with no containment. This site has 500 cubic yards of mine tailings that contain leachable arsenic and lead that exceeds established regulatory limits for the characteristic of toxicity as a hazardous waste.
Antimony and cadmium exceed drinking water standards but there are no potable water users for 15 miles downstream. Higher concentrations exist upstream of mine. According to US Bureau of Mines 1995 study, higher concentrations of antimony and cadmium have been documented in Eureka Creek upstream of its confluence with Lucky Gulch.
Antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and zinc are present in the surface water and/or stream sediment downstream of the mine, and thus may be attributable to mining activities. However, the presence of naturally-occurring, highly mineralized zones exist within the bedrock making it difficult to attribute solely to the mine. Small scale site, remote, receiving few visitors.
EPA Region 10 ranked site as low priority
EPA ID AK0000638023; EPA site name USDOI NPS Denali NP:Banjo Mine.
Action Information
Contaminant Information
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Requirements
No associated sites were found.
