Unnamed (between North Star Creek and Windy Creeks)

Site Name

Primary: Unnamed (between North Star Creek and Windy Creeks)

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Commodity

Primary: Uranium
Primary: Beryllium
Primary: Thorium

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Location

State: Alaska
District: Nome

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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: Occurrence
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Beryl
Gangue: Tourmaline
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Feldspar

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Comments

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Hawley and Associates, 1978

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = These pegmatites are south of the Thompson Creek orthogneiss, and their age is uncertain. Granite pegmatites are abundant in the Kigluaik Mountains, and others may be present near these occurrences. The pegmatites are noticeably radioactive; radioactivity measured on the ground with a scintillometer is as much as 500 counts per second or 3 to 5 times common background (Hawley and Associates, 1978, Section IV). Tourmaline and garnet are common accessory minerals, and the more radioactive pegmatites commonly contain smoky quartz. Beryl occurs in some of the pegmatite, including a body described by Moffit (1913, p. 25) about 1 mile west of the mouth of North Star Creek (NM046). Some granite pegmatites are within the Thompson Creek orthogneiss or appear to be spatially associated with it, particularly on its south or hanging wall side (Hummel, 1962 [MF 248]; Till, 1980). The Thompson Creek orthogneiss has been dated as latest Proterozoic (555 Ma, Amato and Wright, 1998) and some pegmatites may also be this age. However, metasedimentary rocks of the Kigluaik Mountains underwent granulite facies metamorphism and partial melting in the mid-Cretaceous, and some pegmatites are crosscutting to local structure and mid-Cretaceous in age (Throckmorton and Hummel, 1979; Till, 1983; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Hudson, 1994; Till and Dumoulin, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). The host rocks to these pegmatites are amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks that are derived from Precambrian or early Paleozoic protoliths (Sainsbury, 1972; Bunker and others, 1979; Till and Dumoulin, 1994). They are thought to have undergone regional high-pressure metamorphism along with many other rocks of Seward Peninsula in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous (Sainsbury, Coleman, and Kachadoorian, 1970; Forbes and others, 1984; Thurston, 1985; Patrick, 1988; Patrick and Evans, 1989; Armstrong and others, 1986; Hannula and McWilliams, 1995). Higher temperature metamorphism overprinted these rocks in conjunction with regional extension, crustal melting, and magmatism in the mid-Cretaceous (Throckmorton and Hummel, 1979; Till, 1983; Evans and Patrick, 1987; Leiberman, 1988; Patrick and Leiberman, 1988; Miller and Hudson, 1991; Miller and others, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995; Hannula and others, 1995; Hudson and Arth, 1983; Hudson, 1994; Amato and others, 1994; Amato and Wright, 1997, 1998). Uplift of the higher temperature metamorphic rocks took place in the mid- to Late Cretaceous and in the Eocene (Calvert, 1992; Dumitru and others, 1995).

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Proterozoic or mid-Cretaceous; either the age of the Late Proterozoic Thompson Creek orthogneiss or mid-Cretaceous amphibolite facies metamorphism.

Comment (Geology): Ore Material = unknown thorium- and uranium-bearing minerals

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Simple granite pegmatite with rudimentary zoning.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Probably inactive

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Reconnaissance uranium exploration including airborne radiometrics, stream sediment surveys, and ground traverses have been completed in the Kigluaik Mountains.

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References

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): Moffit, F.H., 1913, Geology of the Nome and Grand Central quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 533, 140 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): Calvert, A.T., 1992, Structural evolution and thermochronology of the Kigluaik Mountains, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Stanford Califronia, Stanford University, M.Sc. thesis, 50 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): Patrick, B.E., and Evans B.W., 1989, Metamorphic evolution of the Seward Peninsula blueschist terrane: Journal of Petrology, v. 30, p. 531-555.

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., 1983, Granulite, peridotite, and blueschist: Precambrian to Mesozoic history of Seward Peninsula: Alaska Geological Society Journal, Proceedings of the 1982 Symposium on Western Alaska Resources and Geology, p. 59-65.

Reference (Deposit): Patrick, B.E., 1988, Synmetamorphic structural evolution of the Seward Peninsula blueschist terrane, Alaska: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 10, p. 555-565.

Reference (Deposit): Patrick, B.E., and Leiberman, J.E., 1988, Thermal overprint on blueschists of the Seward Peninsula, the Lepontine in Alaska: Geology, v. 16, p. 1100-1103.

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., 1980, Crystalline rocks of the Kigluaik Mountains, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: University of Washington, Seattle, M.Sc. thesis, 97 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hawley, C.C., and Associates, 1978, Uranium evaluation of the Seward-Selawik area, Alaska: Department of Energy, Grand Junction, Colo., Report GJBX-105(78), 155 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hummel, C.L., 1975, Mineral deposits and occurrences, and associated altered rocks, in southwest Seward Peninsula, western Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-2, 1 sheet, scale 1:125,000.

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): 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): 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): Leiberman, J.E., 1988, Metamorphic and structural studies of the Kigluaik Mountains, western Alaska: Seattle, University of Washington, Ph.D. dissertation, 191 p.

Reference (Deposit): Evans, B.W. and Patrick, B.E., 1987, Phengite 3-T in high pressure metamorphosed granitic orthogneisses, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Canadian Mineralogist, v. 25, part 1, p. 141-158.

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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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.

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