American

Site Name

Primary: American

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Commodity

Primary: Iron
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Manganese

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

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

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Dolomitization, silicification, and oxidation.

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Goethite
Ore: Limonite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Shallit (1942) estimated that 40,000 long tons of rock are present that contain 20 to 40 percent iron with minor manganese (also see Mulligan and Hess, 1965, p. 18).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A few surface prospecting pits to 6 or 8 feet deep are present here.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Extensive amounts of limonite occur near a contact between marble and schist, probably along a high-angle fault that strikes west and is nearly coincident with the lithologic contact (Herreid, 197, figure 8). Surface rubble locally contains more than 30 percent goethite. The goethite-bearing rocks are associated with crackled dolomite and bleached, very light colored calcitic marble. The largest goethite-rich mass is about 600 feet long and as much as 150 feet across. The general iron-rich zone is about 1,800 feet long. The American lode is probably the second largest iron occurrence in the area, second only to the Monarch prospect (NM017). According to Shallit (1942), there are about 40,000 long tons of rock here that contain between 20 and 40 percent iron. Some of the deposit is anomalous in zinc. Herreid (1970, Appendix II) found as much as 800 ppm in zinc in soil samples collected north of the iron accumulation. One sample of silicified schist from this locality contained 0.06 ppm gold (Herried, 1970). The host rock to the iron accumulation is primarily marble and some intercalated metasedimentary schist.? This prospect and other iron deposits of the Sinuk River area are at or near the base of massive marble whose protolith age is probably lower Paleozoic (Sainsbury, Hummel, and Hudson, 1972; Bundtzen and others, 1994). The deposits are locally contolled by high angle faults or folds but they are in general crudely stratabound within the basal massive marble or underlying calc-schist (Mulligan and Hess, 1965; Herreid, 1970). This stratigraphic interval also hosts base metal sulfide-fluorite-barite deposits at the Galena (NM130) and Quarry prospects (NM135).? the origin and age of the iron deposits of the Sinuk River area are uncertain. The deposits may be, in part, gossan developed on oxidized sulfide deposits (Eakin, 1915 [B 622-I, p. 361-365]; Mertie; 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]; Cathcart, 1922; Mulligan and Hess, 1965; Herreid, 1970). Several of the iron deposits, including American (NM014) and Monarch (NM017), are locally highly anomalous in zinc and lead. Arguing against a simple gossan origin is the paucity of diagnostic textures and structures in boxworks that would suggest derivation from specific sulfide minerals. Alternatively, these deposits could be hypogene iron oxide and carbonate deposits that are transitional to some of the lead-zinc-barite deposits (as at the Quarry prospect, NM135) at the same stratigraphic horizon.? the age of the iron deposits of the Sinuk River area is most likely post mid-Cretaceous because faults that crosscut mid-Cretaceous metamorphic rocks are an important control on them. A Late Cretaceous age for the iron deposits was suggested by Brobst and others (1971) as this is the age of fluorine-rich tin granites of northwestern Seward Peninsula (Hudson and Arth, 1983). (Fluorite is abundant at the Quarry prospect.) the youngest possible age appears to be early Tertiary, when deep weathering, sandstone-type uranium mineralization, and possibly karst formation occurred to the east in the Solomon quadrangle (Hudson, 1999).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Cretaceous or Early Tertiary; post mid-Cretaceous metamorphism.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Iron deposit localized by marble-schist contact and intersecting fault.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Herreid, 1970

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References

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., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-463, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Brobst, D.A., Pinckney, D.M., and Sainsbury, C.L., 1971, Geology and geochemistry of the Sinuk River barite deposits: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 750-D, p. D1-D8.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Hummel, C.L., and Hudson, Travis, 1972, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Nome quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-326, 28 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Nome quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File report 78-93, 213 p.

Reference (Deposit): Mulligan, J.J., and Hess, H.D., 1965, Examination of the Sinuk iron deposits, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 8-65, 34 p.

Reference (Deposit): Herreid, G.H., 1970, Geology and geochemistry of the Sinuk area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals Geologic Report 36, 61 p., 3 sheets, scale 1:42,000.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Reger, R.D., Laird, G.M., Pinney, D.S., Clautice, K.H., Liss, S.A., and Cruse, G.R., 1994, Progress report on the geology and mineral resources of the Nome mining district: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Public Data-File 94-39, 21 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Eakin, H.M., 1915, Placer mining in Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 622-I, p. 366-373.

Reference (Deposit): Cathcart, S.H., 1922, Metalliferous lodes in southern Seward Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 722, p. 163-261.

Reference (Deposit): Shallit, A.B., 1942, Report on Sinuk River iron-ore deposits, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Minerals Investigation, 46 p., 2 maps, scales 1:31,250, 1:4,800.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., 1999, Alaska Resource Data File, Solomon quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-573, 360 p.

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