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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Unnamed (southwest of Atigun River Gorge)

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodity Barium-Barite
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Links to other databases
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. General comments
  14. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10001736
MRDS ID A012520
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (southwest of Atigun River Gorge)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -149.24346, 68.46974 (WGS84)
Relative position Site is at an elevation of about 2,600 ft. on the south side of the Atigun River canyon about 4 1/2 miles east of Galbraith Lake (SE1/4 sec. 23, T. 11 S., R. 12 E., of the Umiat Meridian). Location accurate within 1-mile radius.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

North Slope(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Philip Smith Mountains B-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Philip Smith Mountains S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Philip Smith Mountains(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Sagavanirktok River(hydrologic unit)

Prudhoe Bay(hydrologic accounting unit)

Arctic Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(National Wildlife Refuge)

National Wildlife Refuge FWS(Type of land area)

FWS(Federal land areas administered by FWS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 212
USGS model code 31b
Deposit model name Bedded barite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -149.24346, 68.46974
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Minor amounts of pervasive barite, typically in scattered concretionary clusters and solid silica-centered nodules, is reported in the Permian - Lower Triassic Sadlerochit Group (Menzie and others, 1985). In the Atigun Canyon, a 5-meter-thick zone contains an estimated 10-15% barite. Bundtzen and Henning (1978) describe the barite in the Atigun canyon as zones of nodules and layers within a black sideritic shale horizon in the Permian Siksikpuk Formation. The zones pinch and swell within the shale horizon. The barite is reportedly in the form of prismatic and tabular crystals as long as 3 inches, and black shale fragments are found throughout the barite. No base metals have been noted associated with this barite occurrence.? Minor amounts of barite also occur locally in the Philip Smith Mountains quadrangle in the Triassic Shublik Formation and possibly in the Jurassic Kingak Shale (Menzie and others, 1985).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Non-metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Canning

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Results from analysis of a sample from this location showed values of 2 ppm Ag and 1,500 ppm Ba (Cathrall and others, 1977; sample number 76BE403B).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Cathrall, J.B., Cooley, E.F., Detra, D.E., and O'Leary, R.M., 1977, A listing and statistical summary of spectrographic and chemical analysis of stream-sediment and rock samples from the Philip Smith Mountains quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-244, 79 p.

  • Deposit

    Paris, C. 1977, Models of barite deposition with reference to the barite occurrence of Atigun Canyon, central Brooks Range, Alaska: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, special topics paper, 45 p.

  • Deposit

    Bundtzen, T.K., and Henning, M.W., 1978, Barite in Alaska: Mines and Geology Bulletin, v. 27, no. 4, p. 1-4.

  • Deposit

    Sellars, B.D., 1981, The barite occurrence and stratigraphy of the Siksikpuk Formation in Atigun River gorge, Brooks Range, Alaska: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, M. Sc. thesis, 108 p.

  • Deposit

    Menzie, W.D., Reiser, H.N., Brosgi, W.P., and Detterman, R.L., 1985, Map showing distribution of mineral resources (excepting oil and gas) in the Philip Smith Mountains quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Investigations Map MF-879-C, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Bundtzen and Henning, 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Bedded barite (?) (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 31b).
Deposit Other Comments = Barium in concentrations [more than] 5,000 ppm was found in heavy-mineral concentrate samples throughout the quadrangle (Menzie and others, 1985). The region also contains rock types which are considered permissive for the occurrence of stratabound barite deposits (Menzie and others, 1985).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 17-NOV-1999 J.M. Britton U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.