Sleitat Mountain

Site Name

Primary: Sleitat Mountain

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Commodity

Primary: Tin
Primary: Tungsten
Secondary: Silver

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Bristol Bay region

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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

Model Name: Sn greisen

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Greisenization, late clay development, oxidation including iron- and scorodite-staining.

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Ferrotantalite
Ore: Bismite
Ore: Lollingite
Ore: Wolframite
Ore: Stannite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Cassiterite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Zinnwaldite
Gangue: Tourmaline
Gangue: Topaz
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Clay
Gangue: Muscovite

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Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Burleigh, 1991

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Geology): Age = Early Tertiary. A composite granite stock that hosts most of the greisen sharply crosscuts and thermally metamorphoses mid-Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks of the Kuskokwim Group. A K/Ar age of 56.8 +/- 2.8 Ma on muscovite from a late veinlet was reported by Burleigh (1991, p. 6).

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = An 1,800 pound bulk sample contained 0.37 percent tin, 0.04 percent W, and 17 ppm Ag; the Sleitat deposit is estimated to contain a total of 28.6 million tons of ore having the average grade of this bulk sample (Burleigh, 1991).

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The Sleitat prospect was discovered and explored by Cominco Alaska in the 1980s. This work included detailed surface mapping, sampling, and some diamond drilling (Farnstrom, 1991). In 1989, the U. S. Bureau of Mines conducted additional surface examinations, geochemical sampling, surface magnetometer and radiometric surveys, and a pan concentrate survey in nearby drainages (Burleigh, 1991).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The occurrence of granite and peripheral gold-bearing quartz gash veins was reported on Sleitat Mountain by Mertie (1938, p. 91), but subsequent exploration has shown that the principal mineral deposit is a tin-, tungsten-, and silver-bearing sheeted greisen system (Farnstrom, 1991; Burleigh, 1991; Hudson and Reed, 1997). The greisen deposit was discoverd by a Cominco Alaska regional exploration program in 1983, and subsequently evaluated in the mid-1980s by detailed surface mapping, sampling, and diamond drilling (Farnstrom, 1991).? A composite granite stock that hosts most of the greisen sharply crosscuts and thermally metamorphoses mid-Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks of the Kuskokwim Group. The stock has a discontinuous border zone of medium-grained biotite granite and biotite-muscovite granite, and a core of fine-grained zinnwaldite granite. Felsic porphyry dikes crosscut hornfels peripheral to the stock. A K/Ar age of 56.8 +/- 2.8 Ma on muscovite from a late veinlet was reported by Burleigh (1991, p. 6). Greisen sheets trend east-west and are developed within the biotite-muscovite granite, zinnwaldite granite, and hornfels.? the east-west trending cassiterite-bearing greisen zones are nearly vertical quartz-topaz-tourmaline +/- white mica veins and tabular bodies that vary from inches to 20 feet in thickness and coalesce to greater thicknesses in places. They are concentrated in the north half of the stock and in a second zone along the south border that includes some greisen sheets in peripheral hornfels. The individual greisen sheets are granular, massive, separated by less-altered granite, have disseminated clay-lined voids, and have cores that locally contain a few inches of coarse quartz veins carrying high concentrations (50 to 60 percent) of cassiterite (Burleigh, 1991, p. 14). Cassiterite is disseminated in the greisen, concentrated in cores of greisen veins, and in quartz-topaz veins that fill fractures in hornfels. Cassiterite-bearing veins in hornfels are up to 1.5 feet wide and a few hundred feet long. Small amounts of wolframite are disseminated in the greisen but it also occurs with arsenopyrite in quartz veins, especially in hornfels peripheral to greisen zones. Arsenopyrite is common in the greisen and veins. Up to 5 percent loellingite with inclusions of bismite has been identified as disseminations in biotite-muscovite granite (Burleigh, 1991, p. 16). Sphalerite is a minor but common constituent of the greisen and some stannite and chalcopyrite are associated with the sphalerite. One small grain of ferrotantalite was identified during SEM analysis of the greisen (Burleigh, 1991, p. 16). Individual greisen zones locally have high tin grades. For example, one 47.7 foot (true) drill intercept averaged 1.56 percent tin, and included a 5-foot (true) thick section grading 12.6 percent tin and 5.7 ounces of Ag per ton (Farnstrom, 1991; Burleigh, 1991, p. 18). An 1,800 pound bulk sample

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Sn greisen deposits (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 15c)

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = contained 0.37 percent tin, 0.04 percent W, and 17 ppm Ag; the Sleitat deposit is estimated to contain a total of 28.6 million tons with the average grade of this bulk sample (Burleigh, 1991). This size and grade is consistent with that found in other large cassiterite-bearing greisen deposits around the world (Menzie and Reed, 1986).? the Sleitat prospect is a deeply eroded tin-bearing system. The sheeted greisens, particularly those on the north side of the stock, are expected to diminish in size and in intensity of cassiterite mineralization at depth. However, mineralization in the relatively wide hornfels zone on the south side of the stock may indicate that the upper contact of the granite body is not steeply dipping there, or that a mineralizing zinnwaldite granite cupola could be present at depth (Hudson and Reed, 1997, p. 461). Burleigh (1991) showed that much of the eroded tin-bearing material had migrated downslope and along the small streams that head against the lode deposit.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Mertie, J.B., Jr., 1938, The Nushagak district, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 903, 96 p.

Reference (Deposit): Farnstrom, H.E., 1991, Sleitat: A new tin-silver prospect in southwestern Alaska: Alaska Miner, v. 19, p. 12-14.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Dillingham, Sleetmute, and Taylor Mountains quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-606, 92 p.

Reference (Deposit): Burleigh, R.E., 1991, Evaluation of the tin-tungsten greisen mineralization and associated granite at Sleitat Mountain, southwestern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 35-91, 38 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Taylor Mountains quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-384, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1976, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Dillingham, Sleetmute, and Taylor Mountain quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 76-606, 92 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., and Reed, B.L., 1997, Tin deposits of Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral Deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 450-465.

Reference (Deposit): Menzie, W.D., and Reed, B.L., 1986, Grade and tonnage model of Sn greisen deposits: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p. 71-72.

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