Security Cove

The Security Cove is a gold 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: Security Cove

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Platinum

Location

State: Alaska
District: Goodnews Bay

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

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

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation and iron-staining is locally present.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Ruthenium
Ore: Rhodium
Ore: Osmium
Ore: Iridium
Ore: Palladium
Ore: Platinum
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Placer Au-PGE (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 39a). Unclassified lodes in shear zones.

Comment (Geology): Age = the placer occurrences that have been sampled are Holocene. The bedrock mineralization in shear zones that cut the low-grade metasedimentary rocks is probably post-Jurassic, the age of the younger sedimentary rocks in the regional Goodnews terrane (Decker and others, 1994).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Fechner, 1988

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Fechner (1988) reported that minor prospecting pits were locally present in the area.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = On 6/1/72, Allen L. Clark (U. S. G. S.) reported to E. H. Cobb that lode gold had been found in this area (Cobb (1972 [MF 362]; 1980 [OF 80-909]). The area is underlain by low-grade metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks, including schistose calcareous siltstone and limestone, and greenish tuffaceous rocks (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). These rocks are part of a regional assemblage (Goodnews terrane of Kilburn and others, 1993, and Decker and others, 1994) of sedimentary and volcanic rocks that ranges in age from Devonian to Jurassic. On the peninsula that includes Security Cove, the metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks are intruded by small, Jurassic (?) ultramafic plutons (Hoare and Coonrad, 1978). Large parts of this peninsula, including areas around Security Cove, are covered by Quaternary gravel deposits. Fechner (1988) reported stream-sediment, beach-, and rock-sample data for the Security Cove area. The stream sediments contained up to 0.0033 ounce of gold per cubic yard and beach samples contained trace amounts of gold. One third of the gold in the stream sediments was + 20 mesh in size and rough and iron-stained. Three PGM grains were found in one sample. The bedrock outcrops along the west side of Security Cove are metavolcanic and argillaceous rocks cut by 4- to 15-foot-wide shear zones that strike N 45-55 E and dip 60 to 75 degrees south. The shear zones contain abundant pods of pyrite; one bedrock sample (no. 253, Fechner, 1988) contained 3,460 ppm lead, but gold was below detection limits (5 ppb).

References

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Hagemeister Island quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-362, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Fechner, S.A., 1988, Bureau of Mines mineral investigation of the Goodnews Bay mining district, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 1-88, 230 p.

Reference (Deposit): Decker, J., Bergman, S.C., Blodgett, R.B., Box, S.E., Bundtzen, T.K., Clough, J.G., Coonrad, W.L., Gilbert, W.G., Miller, M.L., Murphy, J.M., Robinson, M.S., and Wallace, W.K., 1994, Geology of southwestern 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. 285-310.

Reference (Deposit): Kilburn, J., Box, S.E., Goldfarb, R.J., and Gray, J.E., 1992, Geochemically anomalous areas in the eastern Goodnews Bay quadrangle, southwest Alaska, in Bradley, D. C., and Ford, A. B., eds., The U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Accomplishments in 1990: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1999, p. 156-162.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1980, Summaries of data and lists of references to metallic and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in fifteen quadrangles in southwestern and west-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-909, 103 p.

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