Hed & Strand (Head and Strand)

Site Name

Primary: Hed & Strand (Head and Strand)

---

Commodity

Primary: Antimony
Primary: 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: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

---

Physiography

Not available

---

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Simple Sb (veins, pods, etc)

---

Orebody

Not available

---

Structure

Not available

---

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Quartz veining and apparently some disseminated pyrite and arsenopyrite in nearby schist.

---

Rocks

Name: Granite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Cambrian

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz

---

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Simple Sb deposit (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 27d).

Comment (Geology): Age = Mid-Cretaceous; structures controlling deposits post-date regional metamorphism; mineralization could be similar in age to lode gold deposits of Seward Peninsula.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Mertie, 1918

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Probably a few tens of tons of stibnite ore were left exposed in mine workings (Anderson, 1947).

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Hed "&" [and] Strand mine was developed by an adit and drifts on stibnite-bearing quartz veins in metamorphic rocks. The main vein was intersected 90 feet in from the portal of the adit; it strikes N 45 E and dips 48 N. At this point, the vein was followed by a 100-foot drift to the northeast and a 140-foot drift to the southwest (Mertie, 1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]). At the face of the 100-foot drift, the vein was about 2 feet wide and composed mostly of sheared schist with thin seams of stibnite on the hanging and foot walls. Where intersected in the adit, the vein was 4 feet wide; it consisted of white quartz and stibnite, with stibnite forming a footwall mass about 2 feet thick. A second subparallel vein was found 190 feet from the adit portal; it was drifted on for 170 feet. Lower grade material contains quartz and pyrite; Brooks (1916, p. 54-56) reported a mineralized mica schist with calcite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite. Mertie (1918, p. 438) reported that quartz with stibnite, exposed in the creek near the mine, assayed about 0.30 ounce of gold per ton; the associated stibnite contained about 0.1 ounce of gold per ton. The veins pinch and swell, and, as is typical of simple stibnite veins, the ore occurs in pods and kidneys (Bliss and Orris, 1986, p. 183-186).? About 106 tons of stibnite ore were mined and shipped in 1915 and 1916. This ore had a low gold content. Development continued at the mine in the late 1920's and early 1930's. When Anderson (1947) visited the mine in about 1943, about 10 tons of 30 percent antimony ore were on the dumps and about 30 to 40 tons were exposed in mine workings. At that time, there were about 1,000 feet of accessible mine workings.? the schist in the adit had a strike of about N 15 W and dipped at a low angle to the northeast. The main workings appear to lie within quartz-mica schist and a feldspar-rich epidote-bearing schist near a contact with massive marble (Bundtzen and others, 1994). The epidote-bearing schist may be part of a regional mafic metavolcanic assemblage that has an Ordovician protolith (Till and Dumoulin, 1994). Hummel (1962 [MF 248]) mapped an approximately east-west high-angle fault in Dahl Creek; the fault is upthrown on the south side. Earlier authors, including Mertie (1918 [B 662-I, p. 425-449]) and Cathcart (1922), noted a nearby metamorphosed granite body as possibly related to the mineralization, and Hummel (1962 [MF 248]) showed a small granite orthogneiss on the ridge east of the prospect. Granitic orthogneisses mapped by Bundtzen and others (1994) are about 1 mile north and 1 mile south of the prospect. The area is too complex to decipher with 1:63,360-scale mapping.? the metamorphic rocks in this area are part of the Nome Group derived from Proterozoic or early Paleozoic protoliths (Till and Dumoulin, 1994). The Nome Group underwent regional blueschist facies metamorphism in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous (Sainsbury, Coleman, and Kachadoorian, 1970; Forbes and others, 1984; Thurston, 1985; Armstrong and others, 1986; Hannula and McWilliams, 1995). The blueschist facies rocks were recrystallized to greenschist facies or higher metamorphic grades in conjunction with regional extension, crustal melting, and magmatism in the mid-Cretaceous (Hudson and Arth, 1983; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Miller and others, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995; Hannula and others, 1995; Hudson, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). Lode gold mineralization on Seward Peninsula is mostly related to the higher temperature metamorphism in the mid-Cretaceous (Apodoca, 1994; Ford, 1993 [thesis]; Ford and Snee, 1996; Goldfarb and others, 1997). Lode antimony mineralization is inferred to be of the same approximate age.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Active

Comment (Production): Production Notes = About 106 tons of stibnite ore were mined and shipped in 1915 and 1916. This ore had a low gold content. Development continued at the mine in the late 1920s and early 1930s. When Anderson (1947) visited the mine in about 1943, about 10 tons of 30 percent antimony ore were on the dumps and about 30 to 40 tons were exposed in mine workings. At that time, there were about 1,000 feet of open mine workings.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Stibnite was discovered in Dahl Creek in about 1909, and development followed soon after. Workings consist of surface pits, an adit, and underground cross-cuts, drifts, and small stopes. Most of the workings were driven before 1918, and ore was produced and shipped in 1915 and 1916. Development continued at the mine in the late 1920's and early 1930's. When Anderson (1947) visited the mine in about 1943, about 10 tons of 30 percent antimony ore were on the dumps and about 30 to 40 tons were exposed in mine workings. At that time, there were about 1,000 feet of accessible mine workings. There was recent activity nearby in 1996-98 at the Bulk Gold prospect (NM071 and 072,) which includes the two patented Hed "&" [and] Strand claims.

---

References

Reference (Deposit): Bliss, J.D., and Orris, G.J., 1986, Descriptive model of simple Sb deposits, in Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds., Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p. 183-186.

Reference (Deposit): Thurston, S.P., 1985, Structure, petrology, and metamorphic history of the Nome Group blueschist terrane, Salmon Lake area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 96, p. 600-617.

Reference (Deposit): Armstrong, R.L., Harakal, J.E., Forbes, R.B., Evans, B.W., and Thurston, S.P., 1986, Rb-Sr and K-Ar study of metamorphic rocks of the Seward Peninsula and southern Brooks Range, Alaska, in Evans, B.W., and Brown, E.H., eds., Blueschists and eclogites: Geological Society of America Memoir 164, p. 184-203.

Reference (Deposit): Forbes, R.B., Evans, B.W., and Thurston, S.P., 1984, Regional progressive high-pressure metamorphism, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Journal of Metamorphic Geology, v. 2, p. 43-54.

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., 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): Hummel, C.L., 1962, Preliminary geologic map of the Nome D-1 quadrangle, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-248, 1 sheet, scale 1:63,360.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., Coleman, R.G., and Kachadoorian, Reuben, 1970, Blueschist and related greenschist faces rocks of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, in Geological Survey research 1970: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 700-B, p. B33-B42.

Reference (Deposit): Amato, J.M., and Wright, J.E., 1998, Geochronologic investigations of magmatism and metamorphism within the Kigluaik Mountains gneiss dome, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, in Clough, J.G., and Larson, Frank, eds., Short Notes on Alaskan Geology 1997: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 118a, p. 1-21.

Reference (Deposit): Brooks, A.H., 1916, Antimony deposits of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 649, 67 p.

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

Reference (Deposit): Anderson, Eskil, 1947, Mineral occurrences other than gold deposits in northwestern Alaska: Alaska Territorial Division of Mines Pamphlet 5-R, 48 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hannula, K.A., and McWilliams, M.O., 1995, Reconsideration of the age of blueschist facies metamorphism on the Seward Peninusla, Alaska, based on phengite 40Ar/39Ar results: Journal of Metamorphic Geology, v. 13, p. 125-139.

Reference (Deposit): Ford, R.C., and Snee, L.W., 1996, 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of white mica from the Nome district, Alaska: The first ages of lode sources to placer gold deposits in the Seward Peninsula: Economic Geology, v. 91, p. 213-220.

Reference (Deposit): Goldfarb, R.J., Miller, L.D., Leach, D.L., and Snee, L.W, 1997, Gold deposits in metamorphic rocks in Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, 482 p.

Reference (Deposit): Amato, J.M., and Wright, J.E., 1997, Potassic mafic magmatism in the Kigluaik gneiss dome, northern Alaska -- A geochemical study of arc magmatism in an extensional tectonic setting: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. B102, no. 4, p. 8065-8084.

Reference (Deposit): Hannula, K.A., Miller, E.L., Dumitru, T.A., Lee, Jeffrey, and Rubin, C.M., 1995, Structural and metamorphic relations in the southwest Seward Peninsula, Alaska; Crustal extension and the unroofing of blueschists: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 107, p. 536-553.

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): Till, A.B., and Dumoulin, J.A, 1994, Geology of Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H.C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, DNAG, v. G-1, p. 141-152.

Reference (Deposit): Apodoca, L. E., 1994, Genesis of lode gold deposits of the Rock Creek area, Nome mining district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, University of Colorado, Ph.D. dissertation, 208 p.

Reference (Deposit): Dumitru, T.A., Miller, E.L., O'Sullivan, P.B., Amato, J.M., Hannula, K.A., Calvert, A.T., and Gans, P.B., 1995, Cretaceous to Recent extension in the Bering Strait region, Alaska: Tectonics, v. 14, p. 549-563.

Reference (Deposit): Amato, J.M., Wright, J.E., Gans, P.B., and Miller, E.L., 1994, Magmatically induced metamorphism and deformation in the Kigluaik gneiss dome, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Tectonics, v. 13, p. 515-527.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L. 1994, Crustal melting events in Alaska, in Plafker, G., and Berg, H. C., eds., The Geology of Alaska: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-1, p. 657-670.

Reference (Deposit): Ford, R.C., 1993, Geology, geochemistry, and age of gold lodes at Bluff and Mt. Distin, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Golden, Colorado School of Mines, Ph.D. dissertation, 302 p.

Reference (Deposit): Miller, E.L., and Hudson, T.L., 1991, Mid-Cretaceous extensional fragmentation of a Jurassic-Early Cretaceous compressional orogen, Alaska: Tectonics, v. 10, p. 781-796.

Reference (Deposit): Miller, E.L., Calvert, A.T., and Little, T.A., 1992, Strain-collapsed metamorphic isograds in a sillimanite gneiss dome, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Geology, v. 20, p. 487-490.

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.

---

The Top Ten Gold Producing States

These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. The Top Ten Gold Producing States.