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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Avan River

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodities Chromium, Nickel
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10003146
MRDS ID A015679
Record type Site
Current site name Avan River

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -161.93374, 68.23946 (WGS84)
Relative position Location plotted is at center of area cited by Cobb and others (1981, p. A16), in headwaters area of Avan River about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) northeast of peak 3970; located to within 1 mi (1.6 km).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

North Slope(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Misheguk Mountain A-5(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Misheguk Mountain S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Misheguk Mountain(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Noatak River(hydrologic unit)

Noatak River-Lisburne Peninsula(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Noatak National Preserve(National Preserve)

National Preserve NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Chromium Critical Primary
Nickel Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chromite Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 15
USGS model code 8a
Deposit model name Podiform chromite (minor)
Mark3 model number none

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock

Nearby scientific data

(1) -161.93374, 68.23946
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The geology at the Avan River occurrence is dominated by a Jurassic? ultramafic complex approximately 300 square miles in area, that structurally overlies a variety of Paleozoic and Mesozoic marine sedimentary rocks. The assemblages are characterized by extremely complex folding and faulting. The chromite occurs as small layers or bands and as disseminated grains in the north-central part of ultramafic complex. Pyrrhotite and pentlandite have been identified in polished sections of a few samples of chromite-bearing rocks.
  • Age = Jurassic

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Noatak

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = None

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Degenhart, C.E., Griffis, R.J., McQuat, J.F., and Bigelow, C.G., 1978, Mineral studies of the western Brooks Range performed under contract to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Contract #JO155089: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 103-78, 529 p., 11 sheets.

  • Deposit

    Grybeck, D.J., 1977, Known mineral deposits of the Brooks Range, Alaska: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-166C, 41 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    Foley, J.Y., and Barker, J.C., 1985, Chromite deposits along the Border Ranges fault, part 1, Field investigations and descriptions of chromite deposits: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8990, 58 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., Mayfield, C.F., and Brosge, W.P., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in eleven quadrangles in northern Alaska (Arctic, Baird Mountains, Chandler Lake, DeLong Mountains, Demarcation Point, Howard Pass, Misheguk Mountain, Mount Michelson, Noatak, Point Lay, and Table Mountain); Supplement to Open-File Report 75-628; Part A, Summaries of data to January 1, 1981: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-767-A, 25 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Degenhart and others (1978)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Lode; podiform chromite

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 22-OCT-1992 M.T. Powers U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 22-OCT-1992 D.F. Huber U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 22-OCT-1992 J.M. Schmidt 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.