Unnamed (near headwaters of Humbolt Creek)

The Unnamed (near headwaters of Humbolt Creek) is a lead, gold, and silver mine located in Alaska.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Unnamed (near headwaters of Humbolt Creek)

Commodity

Primary: Lead
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Tin
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Copper

Location

State: Alaska
District: Fairhaven; Serpentine Hot Springs

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Occurrence
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Quartz veining and oxidation of iron-bearing sulfide minerals is common along a high angle fault zone.

Rocks

Name: Granite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Galena
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Probably Late Cretaceous; this occurrence is probably related to emplacement and crystallization of the Oonatut Granite Complex. K/Ar ages for the Oonatut Granite Complex are about 70 my (Hudson, 1979).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Shallow hand-dug prospect pits are present.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Sainsbury and others, 1970

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic quartz and sulfide-bearing veins and stringers along a fault zone in metasedimentary rocks

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = This occurrence is poorly exposed at the break in slope on the north side of the ridge overlooking the main west headwater tributary to Humbolt Creek. It appears to be associated with an altered fault zone that trends N 50 W and contains veins, veinlets, stringers and disseminations of quartz and iron oxide staining over a distance of at least 2,500 feet (Sainsbury and others, 1970; Hudson, 1979). The fault zone and related mineralization is in lower Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. This fault appears to mark the boundary between Lower Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks and polydeformed, metapelitic schist that may be Precambrian in age (Till and others, 1986). Float of argentiferous galena was sampled from an old caved prospect pit at this locality. This sample contained 0.8 ppm Au, 5,000 ppm Ag, 700 ppm As, 9 ppm Hg, 3,000 ppm cu, greater than 20,000 ppm Pb, 1,500 ppm Sb, greater than 1,500 ppm Sn, 150 ppm Mo, and 3,000 ppm Zn. Samples of frost-heaved bedrock taken over a 1,000 by 200 feet area contained anomalous levels of Au, Ag, Pb, Hg, As, Mo, Sb, Sn, Cu, and Zn (Sainsbury and others, 1970). Epigenetic mineralization in this area is interpreted to have developed above buried parts of the Oonatut Granite Complex. The Oonatut Granite, exposed 2.5 miles to the northwest, is part of the western Seward Peninsula tin granite suite (Hudson and Arth, 1983). The polymetallic character of this mineralization may be reflective of the lead-zinc zone in tin deposit systems (Hudson, 1979).

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = Iron oxides

References

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-417, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hudson, T.L., Kachadoorian, Reuben, Smith, T.E., Richards, T.R., and Todd, W.C., 1970, Geology, mineral deposits, and geochemical and radiometric anomalies, Serpentine Hot Springs area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1312-H, p. H1-H19.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., 1979, Igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Serpentine Hot Springs area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional paper 1079, 27 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., and Arth, J. G., 1983, Tin-granites of Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, p. 768-790.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Bendeleben quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-429, 123 p.

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