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Security Cove

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Lead, Platinum
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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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10307621
Record type Site
Current site name Security Cove

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.94666, 58.65624 (WGS84)
Relative position Security Cove is on the north side of the peninsula between Kuskokwim Bay and Hagemeister Strait. This occurrence is on the west side of Security Cove, approximately 8 miles east of Cape Newenham and 2 miles north of the summit of Gap Mountain. The location is probably accurate within 0.25 mile. It is locality 3 of Cobb (1972 [MF 362]; 1980 [OF 80-909]).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hagemeister Island C-6 NW(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Hagemeister Strait(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Hagemeister Island(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Federal lands

Togiak 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
Gold Primary
Lead Secondary
Platinum Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Platinum Ore
Palladium Ore
Iridium Ore
Osmium Ore
Rhodium Ore
Ruthenium Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation and iron-staining is locally present.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.94666, 58.65624
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = On 6/1/72, Allen L. Clark (U. S. G. S.) reported to E. H. Cobb that lode gold had been found in this area (Cobb (1972 [MF 362]; 1980 [OF 80-909]). The area is underlain by low-grade metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks, including schistose calcareous siltstone and limestone, and greenish tuffaceous rocks (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). These rocks are part of a regional assemblage (Goodnews terrane of Kilburn and others, 1993, and Decker and others, 1994) of sedimentary and volcanic rocks that ranges in age from Devonian to Jurassic. On the peninsula that includes Security Cove, the metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks are intruded by small, Jurassic (?) ultramafic plutons (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). Large parts of this peninsula, including areas around Security Cove, are covered by Quaternary gravel deposits. Fechner (1988) reported stream-sediment, beach-, and rock-sample data for the Security Cove area. The stream sediments contained up to 0.0033 ounce of gold per cubic yard and beach samples contained trace amounts of gold. One third of the gold in the stream sediments was + 20 mesh in size and rough and iron-stained. Three PGM grains were found in one sample. The bedrock outcrops along the west side of Security Cove are metavolcanic and argillaceous rocks cut by 4- to 15-foot-wide shear zones that strike N 45-55 E and dip 60 to 75 degrees south. The shear zones contain abundant pods of pyrite; one bedrock sample (no. 253, Fechner, 1988) contained 3,460 ppm lead, but gold was below detection limits (5 ppb).
  • Age = the placer occurrences that have been sampled are Holocene. The bedrock mineralization in shear zones that cut the low-grade metasedimentary rocks is probably post-Jurassic, the age of the younger sedimentary rocks in the regional Goodnews terrane (Decker and others, 1994).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Goodnews Bay

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Fechner (1988) reported that minor prospecting pits were locally present in the area.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in fifteen quadrangles in southwestern and west-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-909, 103 p.

  • Deposit

    Fechner, S.A., 1988, Bureau of Mines mineral investigation of the Goodnews Bay mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-88, 230 p.

  • Deposit

    Kilburn, J., Box, S.E., Goldfarb, R.J., and Gray, J.E., 1992, Geochemically anomalous areas in the eastern Goodnews Bay quadrangle, southwest Alaska, in Bradley, D. C., and Ford, A. B., eds., The U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Accomplishments in 1990: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1999, p. 156-162.

  • Deposit

    Decker, J., Bergman, S.C., Blodgett, R.B., Box, S.E., Bundtzen, T.K., Clough, J.G., Coonrad, W.L., Gilbert, W.G., Miller, M.L., Murphy, J.M., Robinson, M.S., and Wallace, W.K., 1994, Geology of southwestern Alaska, in Plafker, G. and Berg, H.C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-1, p. 285-310.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Hagemeister Island quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-362, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Fechner, 1988

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a). Unclassified lodes in shear zones.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 18-MAR-01 Travis L. Hudson Applied Geology

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.