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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Unnamed (south of Selawik Lake)

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10003165
MRDS ID A015699
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (south of Selawik Lake)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -160.38342, 66.33944 (WGS84)
Relative position The occurrence is at an elevation of about 1,300 feet on hill 1378, about 3 miles south of the southeast end of Selawik Lake. The site is in section 21, T. 11 N., R. 8 W., of the Kanteel River Meridian. Barker (1985), anomalous area 2, location O.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Northwest Arctic(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Selawik B-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Selawik S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Selawik C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Selawik Lake(hydrologic unit)

Kobuk-Selawik Rivers(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
Thorium Primary
Uranium Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Zircon Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Syenite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -160.38342, 66.33944
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = The country rocks in the area of this occurrence consist of the mid-Cretaceous Selawik lake and Inland Lake alkaline intrusive complexes. There are three types of radioactive occurrences in the Selawik Lake complex: quartz veins associated with a fault zone; lamprophyre dikes; and radioactive zones in nephline syenite. According to Barker (1985), at location O, boulders of medium-grained syenite displayed up to 4 times the background radioactivity. Chip sample 4R contained 123 ppm U3O8 and 380 ppm Th. Pronounced metamict halos surrounding zircon grains in biotite suggest that at least some of the radioactive material is in the zircon. A fine-grained syenite intermixed with rubble at this location contained 36 ppm U3O8 and 91 ppm Th.
  • Age = Cretaceous.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Selawik

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The area was visited by U.S. Geological Survey geologists and the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Several rock and stream sediment samples were collected from the area.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Miller, T.P. and Bunker, C.M., 1975, Uranium, thorium and potassium analyses of selected plutonic rocks from west central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-216, 5p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Miller, T.P., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Hughes, Kotzebue, Melozitna, Selawik and Shungnak quadrangles, west-central Alaska; Supplement to Open-File Report 75-627; Part A, Summaries to January 1, 1981: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-847-A, 14 p.

  • Deposit

    Cobb, E.H., and Miller, T.P., 1981, Summaries of data on and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral occurrences in the Hughes, Kotzebue, Melozitna, Selawik and Shungnak quadrangles, west-central Alaska; Supplement to Open-File Report 75-627; Part B, Lists of references to January 1, 1981: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 81-847-B, 14 p.

  • Deposit

    Barker, J.C., 1985, Sampling and analytical results of a mineral reconnaissance in the Selawik Hills area, northwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 43-85, 67 p.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Barker, 1985

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Radioactive occurrences in syenite and nepheline syenite.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 02-DEC-99 Williams, Anita 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.