Unnamed (on Tin Creek, tributary to Lost River)

The Unnamed (on Tin Creek, tributary to Lost River) is a beryllium, tin, and fluorine-fluorite 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: Unnamed (on Tin Creek, tributary to Lost River)

Commodity

Primary: Beryllium
Primary: Tin
Primary: Fluorine-Fluorite

Location

State: Alaska
District: Port Clarence

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: Sn skarn

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Calc-silicate, magnetite, and fluorite replacement of limestone

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Cassiterite
Ore: Chrysoberyl
Ore: Fluorite
Ore: Helvite
Gangue: Idocrase
Gangue: Magnetite
Gangue: Mica

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Ore Material = sulfide minerals

Comment (Geology): Age = the age of the mineralization is assumed to be related to the development of tin systems in the Lost River area and therefore Late Cretaceous, the age of the tin-mineralizing granites there (Hudson and Arth, 1983).

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Sainsbury, 1963; Sainsbury, 1969

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = Not defined

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = A few surface pits and trenches are present in the area.

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The headwaters of Tin Creek are in an area where a small stock of biotite granite, the Tin Creek stock (Sainsbury, 1969; Hudson and Arth, 1983) intrudes Orovician limestone and dolomite. The Tin Creek stock covers a 1,000 by 2,000 foot area on the crest of the rounded hill between Tin Creek and its northern tributary. The south contact of the stock is irregular and includes granite offshoots, dikes, and apophyses in the bordering carbonate rocks. Two types of mineralization are present in the carbonate country rocks on the south flank of the Tin Creek stock: (1) laminar magnetite-fluorite- idocrase skarn (wrigglite) with helvite, and (2) fluorite-diaspore-white mica veins and replacements that contain chrysoberyl. The laminar skarn forms replacement veins along fractures in limestone and larger irregular bodies adjacent to granite intrusions. The fluorite-diaspore-white mica-chrysoberyl veins, from less than an inch up to a few feet wide, are scattered through limestone and localized along borders to granite dikes. They contain cassiterite, stannite, and other sulfide minerals in places. Oxidation of the sulfide-bearing veins has produced gossanous materials at the surface. The helvite-bearing skarn is reported to carry up to 0.45% BeO (Sainsbury, 1969, p. 80). Three samples of beryllium-bearing veins contained 0.13 to 1.11% BeO (Sainsbury, 1963, p. 13). Samples of skarn from this area contained 1,020 to 4,500 ppm tin and more than 20,000 ppm fluorine; one of these samples contained 175 ppb gold (Hudson, 1983).

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Veins and tactite in limestone intruded by granite. Tin skarn model (14b) of cox and Singer (1986).

Comment (Commodity): Gangue = white mica

References

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., 1969, Geology and ore deposits of the central York Mountains, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1287, 101 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E.H., 1975, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Teller quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 75-587, 130 p.

Reference (Deposit): Hudson, T.L., 1983, Interim report on the Lost River district, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: Anchorage, Alaska, Anaconda Minerals Company internal report (Report held by Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska).

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., and Sainsbury, C.L., 1972, Metallic mineral resource map of the Teller quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-426, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Sainsbury, C.L., 1963, Beryllium deposits of the western Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 479, 18 p.

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