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

Rick's

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Chromium, Copper, Silver, Arsenic, Magnesite, Nickel
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. Alteration
  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 10308784
MRDS ID A012490
Record type Site
Current site name Rick's
Alternate or previous names Rick's Creek, Rick's Nickel, Rick's Prospect, Nickel Creek, Nail Allochthon, Nail Ridge
Related records 10001707, 10160794

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -144.87485, 64.75472 (WGS84)
Relative position Rick's, also referred to as Rick's Prospect, Rick's Creek, Rick's Nickel, Nickel Creek, Nail Ridge, and Nail Allochthon, is centered at VABM Nail, approximately 55 miles northeast of Delta Junction. The prospect covers a 60-square-kilometer area situated on a 12 kilometer long ridge (Southworth, 1985). The approximate center of the prospect is in SW1/4NE1/4 section 11, T. 2 S., R. 14 E., of the Fairbanks Meridian. Rick's Creek and Black Bear Creek drain the ridge to the northwest for 9 to 12 miles towards the North Fork of the Salcha River (Saunders, 1954). It is locality 2 of Cobb (1972), who summarized relevant references under the name 'Nickel Creek'.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fairbanks North Star(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Delta D-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Big Delta NE(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Big Delta(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Chromium Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Silver Secondary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Magnesite Secondary
Nickel Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Azurite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chromite Ore
Magnesite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Malachite Ore

Alteration

  • The peridotite contains areas of serpentinite. The underlying siliceous carbonate rocks also contain areas of serpentinite; interpreted to have been altered to serpentinite by a CO2-rich fluid (Southworth, 1985).

Nearby scientific data

(1) -144.87485, 64.75472
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Rick's Prospect is approximately 12 km long and 2 km wide (Southworth, 1984). Foster and others (1979) describe the bedrock as greenschist to amphibolite facies rocks that have been intruded by Mesozoic and Tertiary igneous bodies. Locally, the area is overlain by Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The stratigraphy of the ridge consists of metamorphic rocks overlain by siliceous carbonate rock with localized areas of intense Fe-staining and alteration. This is overlain by peridotite with localized phases of harzburgite, dunite, and serpentinite, and capped by gabbro and diorite rubble (Southworth, 1985). The underlying metamorphic rocks contain cherts that have radiolaria and conodonts of Permian age. The gabbro and diorite contain disseminated magnetite with trace chalcopyrite. Both the peridotite and the underlying siliceous carbonate rock contain 0.25 to 4% disseminated chromite. Rare pods and schlieren of chromite have also been found. Cobb and Eberlein (1980) reported pods of high-grade chromite 1 foot in thickness and 3 feet in length. Chromian spinel is common in the weathered area of the siliceous carbonate rock. The chromian spinel is high in Al and Mg, and probably of no economic or industrial use. The underlying siliceous carbonate rocks contain areas of serpentinite that are interpreted to have been altered to serpentinite by a CO2-rich fluid. Unweathered sections of the siliceous carbonate rock contain significant amounts of magnesite. Assays have revealed up to 17% MgO; a possible resource of magnesium (Southworth, 1985). Throughout the ridge, numerous assay results revealed no significant amounts of Ni, Co, Au or PGE. One occurrence of small pods of azurite and malachite, less than 0.5 cm in diameter, was observed in Fe-stained siliceous carbonate. A sample of this material contained relict chromite and minor veinlets of serpentinite, and assayed 1.14% Cu, 6,800 ppm Sb, 174 ppm As, and 24.6 ppm Ag (Southworth, 1985). The first published geologic description of the region was by Prindle (1905). Saunders (1965) performed a limited geochemical investigation of the prospect at the invitation of the then claim holder. Large-scale mapping of the area was completed by Weber and others (1979). The most recent detailed work on the ridge was completed in a joint effort by the Alaska Division of Geologica l & Geophysical Surveys, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the U.S. Geological Survey in 1983 (Southworth, 1985). Menzie and Foster (1979) reported some placer claim staking nearby on Rick's Creek and Black Bear Creek, which drain Nail Ridge to the northwest. No production has been reported for the area.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Fairbanks

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = There has only been prospecting on Nail Ridge and on some placer claims nearby on Rick's Creek and Black Bear Creek, which drain Nail Ridge to the northwest (Menzie and Foster,1979).

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = The first published geologic description of the prospect was by Prindle (1905). Saunders (1965) performed a limited geochemical investigation of the prospect at the invitation of the claim holder. Large-scale mapping of the area was completed by Weber and others (1978). The most recent detailed work on the ridge was by a joint effort in 1983 by the Alaskan Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the U.S. Geological Survey published by Southworth (1985). Menzie and Foster (1979) reported some placer claim staking nearby on Rick's Creek and Black Bear Creek, which drain Nail Ridge to the northwest.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Southworth, 1985

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Disseminated sulfides and chromite in serpentinite allochthon

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 26-APR-1999 Cameron S. Rombach Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

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.