Unnamed

The Unnamed is a thorium and uranium 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

Commodity

Primary: Thorium
Primary: Uranium
Secondary: Zirconium
Secondary: Tin

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: Occurrence
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 Text: Feldspars are altered to clay minerals; quartz is a 'smokey' variety, possibly due to radioactive decay.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Thorite
Gangue: Feldspar
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Age = Late Tertiary, based on age (25Ma) of Windy Fork composite pluton (Solie and others, 1991).

Comment (Commodity): Ore Material = uranothorite

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = The occurrence was found by the late Bruce Reed while conducting mineral resource investigations and regional geologic mapping for the U.S. Geological Survey in the western Alaska Range (Reed and Miller, 1980). Composite grab samples of quartz-feldspar-hematite joint-filled material as reported by Reed and Miller (1980) contain up to 490 ppm uranium and 376 ppm thorium.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Reed and Miller, 1980

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = The occurrence consists mainly of several feldspar-hematite-quartz veins infilling joints and fractures in the Windy Fork composite pluton about one mile from the contact zone with sandstone and limestone of the Lower to mid-Paleozoic Dillinger subterrane (Reed and Miller, 1980; Gilbert and others, 1988; Bundtzen, Harris, and Gilbert, 1997). The individual joint fillings are 3 to 6 centimeters thick and continue for 2 to 3 meters along strike. Much of the mineralization trends N65W. Feldspars are typically altered to a clay matrix; quartz is the 'smokey' variety due to radioactive(?) decay (Gunter and others, 1993). Green-to-purple fluorite is common in talus but was not recognized in place. Composite grab samples of quartz-feldspar-hematite joint-filled material reported by Reed and Miller (1980) contain up to 490 ppm uranium and 376 ppm thorium.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Reserves = None estimated.

Comment (Deposit): Other Comments = See Eudialyte Prospect (MG036).

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

References

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): 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): 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): 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.

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