Eudialyte

The Eudialyte is a ree and zirconium 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: Eudialyte

Commodity

Primary: REE
Primary: Zirconium
Secondary: Uranium
Secondary: Thorium

Location

State: Alaska
District: McGrath

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: Alkaline margin fluorite

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: None.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Thorite
Ore: Eudialyte
Gangue: Feldspar
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Hornblende

Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Gunter and others, 1993

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Thorium-Rare Earth Veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 11b).

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = potassic feldspar

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Tertiary (25 Ma), based on K-Ar age of Windy Fork pluton.

Comment (Production): Production Notes = Some eudialyte crystals have been collected as mineral specimens by various individuals since 1982.

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Reed and Miller (1980) first reported the existence of eudialyte, radioactive minerals and anomalous uranium and thorium values near the contact zone of the Windy Fork peralkaline granite complex. The site was later described by Gilbert and others (1988), Gunter and others (1993), and Bundtzen, Harris, and Gilbert (1997), who reported locally abundant pink eudialyte, a zirconium-enriched REE mineral, in foliated hornblende-rich diorite. Reed and Miller (1980) reported values of 33.3 ppm uranium and 46.3 ppm thorium from grab samples at the prospect.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Eudialyte-bearing dike is of a small size.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The Eudialyte Prospect consists of thin (3-10 centimeter thick), uranium and thorium-enriched veins in mainly coarse talus of a eudialyte-bearing hornblende diorite dike that intrudes into the contact zone between the Windy Fork peralkaline granite complex and Dillinger subterrane clastic rocks (Gilbert and others, 1988; Bundtzen, Harris, and Gilbert, 1997). The eudialyte-bearing dike averages about one meter thick and can be traced for about 90 meters along strike. The Dillinger subterrane lithologies in the prospect area are Silurian whereas the Windy Fork pluton has been dated at 25 Ma (Solie and others, 1991). Pink eudialyte, a zirconium-enriched REE mineral, and thorite occur as disseminations and blebs in a coarse grained hornblende-rich diorite dike that displays a distinct foliated-flow texture. Reed and Miller (1980) reported values of 33.3 ppm uranium and 46.3 ppm thorium at the Eudialyte prospect.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = the Eudialyte Prospect is a likely area for discovery of specimen-quality, eudialyte and other REE-bearing minerals.

References

Reference (Deposit): Solie, D.N., Bundtzen, T.K., and Gilbert, W.G., 1991, K-Ar ages of igneous rocks in the McGrath quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Public Data File Report 160, 17 pages, one sheet, 1:250,000 scale.

Reference (Deposit): Gilbert, W.G., Solie, D.N., and Kline, J.T., 1988, Geologic map of the McGrath A-3 quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 92, 2 sheets, 1:63,360 scale.

Reference (Deposit): Gunter, M.E., Johnson, N.E., Knowles, C.R., and Solie, D.N., 1993, Optical, x-ray, and chemical analyses of four eudialytes from Alaska: Mineralogical Magazine, v. 57, p. 741-744.

Reference (Deposit): Bundtzen, T.K., Harris, E.E., and Gilbert, W.G., 1997, Geologic Map of the eastern McGrath quadrangle, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 97-14, 34 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:125,000.

Reference (Deposit): Reed, B.L., and Miller, T.P., 1980, Uranium and thorium content of some Tertiary granitic rocks in the southern Alaska Range: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-1052, 16 p.

Reference (Deposit): Solie, D.N., 1983, The Middle Fork plutonic complex, McGrath A-3 quadrangle, southwest Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations 83-16, 22 pages.

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