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Breen West (Bison)

Past Producer in Alaska, United States with commodities Gold, Antimony
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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. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10094065
MRDS ID A012804
Record type Site
Current site name Breen West (Bison)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -165.3369, 64.75707 (WGS84)
Relative position The Breen West mine is on the Bison Lode claim, which was patented in 1924. It is at an elevation of about 800 to 1,000 feet on the southwest-facing slope of the ridge between Cold and Manila Creeks and accessible by foot or ATV from a trail which starts in Steep Creek. It is about one-half mile southeast of an unnamed occurrence (NM088) that was mistakenly called Breen West by Hummel (1962 [MF 248]). The Breen West mine is about 1,000 feet west of the vein outcrops on the My Best Lode claim (U.S. Mineral Survey No. 1380) of the Sliscovich mine (NM086). This location is within 500 feet of the surface workings, heavy quartz-stibnite float, and the main discovery cuts on the Bison Lode claim (U.S. Mineral Survey No. 1391). This is locality 1 of Hummel (1962 [MF 248]) and locality 27 of Cobb (1972 [MF 463], 1978 [OFR 78-93]) who apparently mistakenly identified it as Breen East.

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)

Nome(hydrologic unit)

Norton Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Antimony Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Stibnite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Disseminated arsenopyrite in sheared metasedimentary schist.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 180
USGS model code 27d
Deposit model name Simple Sb (veins, pods, etc)
Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -165.3369, 64.75707
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The Breen West deposit, as exposed on the Bison Lode claim, includes quartz-stibnite veins with some calcite in metasedimentary schist. The quartz-stibnite veins are like those at the adjacent Sliscovich mine (NM086). The metasedimentary schist host rock to the quartz-stibnite veins is also mineralized. A thin zone of metasedimentary schist (calc-schist, quartz-mica schist, and schistose marble) separates feldspathic schist or orthogneiss from underlying massive marble (D. Simpson, Bear Creek Mining Company, written communication, 1984). The lower 5 to 30 feet of the metasedimentary schist zone is sheared and brecciated. Geologic studies and open-hole rotary drilling carried out by Mapco in 1982 and 1983 suggested that mineralization could be stratabound in the metasedimentary schist. Mapco drilled a total of 32 open-hole rotary holes and defined an area of about 200 feet by 600 feet that contained stibnite and about 0.2 ounce of gold per ton (Stevens, 1991). Bear Creek Mining Company took over the property in 1984 and drilled four core holes that totaled 1,423 feet in length. The drilling appeared to confirm low-grade mineralization, about 0.01-0.03 ounce of gold per ton, in the metasedimentary schist. This drilling did not confirm Mapco's best intercept of 0.125 ounces of gold per ton between 155 and 173 feet in drill hole MD-DH-3. A Bear Creek Mining core hole twinned MD-DH-3 but found only 0.024 ounce of gold per ton gold over 25 feet in the same interval. D. Simpson (Bear Creek Mining Company, written communication, 1984) concluded that high grade gold-stibnite mineralization was localized along east-west-trending, high-angle structures, but that there was also epigenetic psuedo-stratabound mineralization in the metasedimentary schist. Arsenopyrite appeared to be characteristic constituent of the sheared, gold-bearing schist.? In a detailed soil geochemistry program, Bear Creek Mining found as much as 3,300 ppb gold, 7,300 ppm antimony and greater than 1,000 ppm arsenic in soils over the Breen West mine. High-grade samples from semi-massive stibnite veins contained as much as 2.85 ounces of gold per ton. The vein targets, although of very high grade and as much as 4 feet thick, were not of interest to Bear Creek Mining, who returned the property to its owners. The surface workings on the Breen West mine are the probable source of 14 tons of ore that were produced in about 1920. Reportedly, only gold was paid for, although the ore contained about 10 percent antimony (Anderson, 1947).? the Breen West mine is in metasedimentary schist between a marble-rich section and an overlying feldspathic unit mapped as a granodioritic sill or orthogneiss by Hummel (1962 [MF248]). It appears to be within the massive marble unit as mapped by Bundtzen and others (1994); in this area, Hummel's mapping seems to more correctly represent the geology. Subsequent workers have mapped the feldspathic unit as chlorite-feldspar schist and
  • Geologic Description = have proposed that it is an intermediate volcanic unit (D. Simpson, Bear Creek Mining Company, written communication, 1984).? the metamorphic rocks are part of the Nome Group, which was derived from Proterozoic to early Paleozoic protoliths (Till and Dumoulin, 1994). The Nome Group underwent regional blueschist facies metamorphism in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous (Sainsbury, Coleman, and Kachadoorian, 1970; Forbes and others, 1984; Thurston, 1985; Armstrong and others, 1986; Hannula and McWilliams, 1995). The blueschist facies rocks were recrystallized to greenschist facies or higher metamorphic grades in conjunction with regional extension, crustal melting, and magmatism in the mid-Cretaceous (Hudson and Arth, 1983; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Miller and others, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995; Hannula and others, 1995; Hudson, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). Lode gold-antimony mineralization on Seward Peninsula is mostly related to the higher temperature metamorphism in the mid-Cretaceous (Apodoca, 1994; Ford, 1993 [thesis]; Ford and Snee, 1996; Goldfarb and others, 1997).
  • Age = Mid-Cretaceous; controlled by structures that post-date regional metamorphism; may be same age as some lode gold deposits of Seward Peninsula.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Nome

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = The surface workings on the Breen West mine are the probable source of 14 tons of ore that were produced in about 1920. Reportedly only gold was paid for, although the ore contained about 10 percent antimony (Anderson, 1947).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = A lode was found at the nearby Sliscovich claim by 1905. Discoveries were subsequently made on the nearby Bison and Haymaker claims that were patented to Henry P. Breen in 1924. The area was probably actively prospected in World War II for strategic minerals. Some work on the Breen claims was done by GCO Minerals in 1968 and 1969. Extensive work was begun by Mapco in 1981; in 1982 and 1983 Mapco drilled 32 open-hole rotary drill holes on a stratabound target in metasedimentary schist. Bear Creek Mining Company optioned the property in 1984 and conducted geologic mapping, geochemical sampling, and a 4-hole core drill program.?They concluded that there was weak pseudo-stratabound mineralization, but that high-grade stibnite-gold veins were steeply dipping and cross-cut the metamorphic structure. BHP Minerals conducted geologic, geochemical, and geophysical studies, including a DIGHEM airborne survey, between 1988 and 1990 in the area. They found a very large gold and antimony anomaly in soils and also confirmed a possible high-grade vein trend in the Breen and Sliscovich areas. BHP pulled out in 1991. Kennecott Exploration Company conducted regional studies in 1995, including re-examination of the Breen and Sliscovich lodes (NM084, NM085, NM086).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Stevens, 1991; this report

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Disseminated, gold-bearing sulfide mineralization in calcareous metasedimentary schist; simple Sb deposits; low sulfide, Au-quartz vein? (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27d and 36a).
Deposit Model Number = 27d?, 36a?
Deposit Other Comments = Most of the area is controlled by Bering Straits Regional Native Corporation.

Reporter information

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