1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Unnamed (on hill 2321)

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Beryllium, Thorium, Uranium
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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 10307929
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (on hill 2321)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.50231, 64.90139 (WGS84)
Relative position The occurrence is a composite of several pegmatites mapped by Hummel (1975, localities 85 and 86) on hill 2321, about 2 miles south-southwest of Mosquito Pass. These occurrences are almost at the west boundary of the Nome D-1 quadrangle. They are at an elevation of about 2,300 feet and about 1 mile west-southwest of the tactite occurrence at NM044. Mining claims were staked from this locality across the unnamed creek to the west (Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, 1982).

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-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Solomon NW(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nome(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

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) -165.50231, 64.90139
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = These pegmatites are south of the Thompson Creek orthogneiss, and their age is uncertain. Granite pegmatites are abundant in the Kigluaik Mountains, and others may be present near these occurrences. 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 these pegmatites are amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks that are derived from Precambrian or early Paleozoic protoliths (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 amphibolite 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.