Monarch

The Monarch is a iron 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: Monarch

Commodity

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

Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Dolomitization and oxidation.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Goethite
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Limonite
Ore: Pyrolusite
Gangue: Dolomite

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Open cuts, a shallow shaft, and a short adit were driven before 1914. There are at least 12 patented claims over this prospect (Mulligan and Hess, 1965).

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

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Shallit (1942; Mulligan and Hess, 1965, table 3) estimated that this prospect contains 50,000 long tons of 30 to 45 percent iron and about 500,000 tons of 15 to 25 percent iron. Most of the iron ore has only 1 percent or less of manganese, but Mulligan and Hess (1965, p. 14) cite one analysis indicating about 15 percent iron and 11 percent manganese. The West Gap body seems to have more manganese. A representative sample of the East Gap body contained 78.30 percent ferric oxide (about 55 percent iron) and 1.37 percent manganese oxide (Eakin, 1915, p. 363).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Iron and 11 percent manganese. The West Gap body seems to have more manganese. A representative sample of the East Gap body contained 78.30 percent ferric oxide (about 55 percent iron) and 1.37 percent manganese oxide (Eakin, 1915, p. 363). Soil samples collected here by Herreid (1970, table II, figure 4) locally are highly anomalous in lead and zinc. One sample at the basal marble contact below the West Gap zone contained 1,000 ppm zinc. Samples over the East Gap zone contain as much as 340 ppm lead and 1,200 ppm zinc. Sample 111 from West Gap contained 280 ppm lead. The prospect appears to lie along north-trending high-angle faults (Herried, 1970).? 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 controlled 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 possibly transitional to some of the lead-zinc-barite (as at the Quarry prospect, NM135) deposits of the area.? 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. A Late Cretaceous age for the iron deposits was suggested by Brobst and others (1971) because this is the age of flourine-rich tin granites of northwestern Seward Peninsula (Hudson and Arth, 1983). 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 (Reference): Primary Reference = Herreid, 1970

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Carbonate-hosted, iron oxide deposit.

References

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

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

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

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., and Arth, J. G., 1983, Tin-granites of Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, p. 768-790.

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., 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): 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.

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