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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Unnamed (near head of Windy Creek)

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Beryllium, Thorium, Uranium
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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. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10307912
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (near head of Windy Creek)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.38832, 64.97569 (WGS84)
Relative position The occurrence is on a steep ridge between the head of Windy Creek and an unnamed west-flowing tributary to the Cobblestone River. It is about 2.2 miles southwest of Mount Osborne. This is locality 113 of Hummel (1975). It is located within about 1,000 feet of the coordinates.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nome(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Nome D-1(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nome(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Imuruk Basin(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Beryllium Critical Primary
Thorium Primary
Uranium Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Beryl Ore
Feldspar Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Tourmaline Gangue

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.38832, 64.97569
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This pegmatite is an isolated occurrence north of the Thompson Creek orthogneiss, and its age is uncertain. Granite pegmatites are abundant in the Kigluaik Mountains, and others may be present near this occurrence. The pegmatites are noticeably radioactive; radioactivity measured on the ground with a scintillometer is as much as 500 counts per second or 3 to 5 times common background (Hawley and Associates, 1978, Section IV). Tourmaline and garnet are common accessory minerals, and the more radioactive pegmatites commonly contain smoky quartz. Beryl occurs in some of the pegmatite, including a body described by Moffit (1913, p. 25) about 1 mile west of the mouth of North Star Creek (NM046). Some granite pegmatites are within the Thompson Creek orthogneiss or appear to be spatially associated with it, particularly on its south or hanging wall side (Hummel, 1962 [MF 248]; Till, 1980). The Thompson Creek orthogneiss has been dated as latest Proterozoic (555 Ma, Amato and Wright, 1998), and some pegmatites may also be this age. However, metasedimentary rocks of the Kigluaik Mountains underwent granulite facies metamorphism and partial melting in the mid-Cretaceous and some pegmatites are crosscutting to local structure and are mid-Cretaceous in age (Throckmorton and Hummel, 1979; Till, 1983; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Hudson, 1994; Till and Dumoulin, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). The host rocks to this pegmatite are upper amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks that are probably derived from Precambrian protolith (Sainsbury, 1972; Bunker and others, 1979; Till and Dumoulin, 1994). They are thought to have undergone regional high-pressure metamorphism along with many other rocks of Seward Peninsula in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous (Sainsbury, Coleman and Kachadoorian, 1970; Forbes and others, 1984; Thurston, 1985; Patrick, 1988; Patrick and Evans, 1989; Armstrong and others, 1986; Hannula and McWilliams, 1995). Higher temperature metamorphism overprinted these rocks in conjunction with regional extension, crustal melting, and magmatism in the mid-Cretaceous (Throckmorton and Hummel, 1979; Till, 1983; Evans and Patrick, 1987; Leiberman, 1988; Patrick and Leiberman, 1988; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Miller and others, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995; Hannula and others, 1995; Hudson and Arth, 1983; Hudson, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). Uplift of the higher temperature metamorphic rocks took place in the mid- to Late Cretaceous and in the Eocene (Calvert, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995).
  • Ore Material = unknown thorium- and uranium-bearing minerals
  • Age = Late Proterozoic or mid-Cretaceous; either the age of the Late Proterozoic Thompson Creek orthogneiss or mid-Cretaceous granulite facies metamorphism.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = Reconnaissance uranium exploration including airborne radiometrics, stream sediment surveys, and ground traverses have been completed in the Kigluaik Mountains.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Hawley and Associates, 1978

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Simple granite pegmatite with rudimentary zoning.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 22-OCT-99 Hawley, C.C. and Hudson, Travis L. Hawley Resource Group

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.