Nunatak

The Nunatak is a copper, barium-barite, gold, silver, lead, and zinc 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: Nunatak
Secondary: Saksaia Glacier

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Barium-Barite
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Primary: Lead
Primary: Zinc

Location

State: Alaska
District: Juneau (Skagway subdistrict)

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

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

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)
Model Name: Massive sulfide, kuroko

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Phyllic.

Rocks

Name: Andesite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Permian

Name: Andesite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Permian

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Barite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite

Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Still, 1984 (OF 118-84)

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = sulfosalts

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = sulfosalts

Comment (Geology): Age = The Nunatak prospect and other similar prospects in the Mt. Henry Clay area are probably correlative with the Windy Craggy deposit in Canada and the Greens Creek deposit on Admiralty Island and are, therefore Late Triassic (Still, 1984 (OFR 118-84); Newberry and others, 1997).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = According to Still (1984 [OF 21-84]), the prospect consists of an iron-stained zone of quartz-sericite schist and altered volcanic rocks exposed for 1,500 feet across the face of a nunatak. Barite lenses and beds containing interbedded and remobilized sulfides occur within this zone. The mineral assemblage and field relationships are similar to the Main Zone/Palmer prospect (SK066) (MacKevett and others, 1974). Rubblecrop indicates that some of the baritic beds may be up to 20 feet thick. Samples of the baritic rock contain up to 2.58 ppm gold, 335.3 ppm silver, 2.38% zinc, 1,820 ppm copper, 2.0% lead, 48% barite, and 1,000 ppm arsenic. A 200-pound sample collected by Merrill Palmer was divided into 13 separate samples and analyzed by Newmont Gold Company. The samples averaged 11.84 ounces of silver per ton and 0.092 ounces of gold per ton. This prospect lies along a northwesterly mineral trend that extends through the Cap prospect (SK060) to the Mount Henry Clay prospect (SK068). Rubicon Minerals considers these prospects to all occur at the same mineralized stratigraphic horizon and attributes their distribution to a northwest-trending, shallowly plunging antiform that brings the massive-sulfide horizon close to the surface (Rubicon Minerals, 1998). The Nunatak prospect and other similar prospects in the Mt. Henry Clay area are probably correlative with the Windy Craggy deposit in Canada and the Greens Creek deposit on Admiralty Island and are therefore Late Triassic (Still, 1984 [OF 118-84]; Newberry and others, 1997).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Besshi- or Kuroko-type volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; models 24a or 24b).

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

References

Reference (Deposit): Newberry, R.J., Crafford, T.C., Newkirk, S.R., Young, L.E., Nelson, S.W., and Duke, N.A., 1997, Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J. and Miller, L. D., eds., Mineral deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 120-150.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1971, Analyses of samples and preliminary geologic summary of barite-silver-base metal deposits near Glacier Creek, Skagway B-4 quadrangle, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 71-195, 8 p.

Reference (Deposit): Rubicon Minerals, 1998, Palmer VMS Project, southeast Alaska, Executive Summary: unpublished report by Rubicon Minerals Corporation, Vancouver, British Columbia, 25 p.

Reference (Deposit): Still, J.C., Hoekzema, R.B., Bundtzen, T.K., Gilbert, W.G., Wier, K.R., Burns, L.E., and Fechner, S.A., 1991, Economic geology of Haines-Klukwan-Porcupine area, southeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 91-4, 156 p., 5 sheets, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Still, J.C., 1991, Bureau of Mines mineral investigations in the Juneau mining district, Alaska, 1984 - 1988, v. 2, Detailed mine, prospect, and mineral occurrence descriptions, section A, Haines-Klukwan-Porcupine subarea: U.S. Bureau of Mines of Mines Special Publication, 214 p.

Reference (Deposit): Gilbert, W.G., and Redman, E.C., 1989, Lode deposits, prospects, and occurrences of the Porcupine mining area, southeast Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 17-89, 1 sheet, scale 1:39,600.

Reference (Deposit): Still, J.C., 1984, Stratiform massive sulfide deposits in the Mt. Henry Clay area, southeast Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 118-84, 65 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Skagway quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-424, 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 Mt. Fairweather and Skagway quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-316, 123 p.

Reference (Deposit): Berg, H.C., 1984, Regional geologic summary, metallogenesis, and mineral resources of southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 84-572, 298 p., 1 plate, scale approx. 1:600,000.

Reference (Deposit): Winkler, G.R., and MacKevett, E.M., Jr., 1970, Analyses of bedrock and stream-sediment samples from the Haines-Porcupine region, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 369, 91 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:125,000.

Reference (Deposit): MacKevett, E.M., Jr., Robertson, E.C., and Winkler, G.R., 1974, Geology of the Skagway B-3 and B-4 quadrangles, southern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 832, 33 p.

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