Unnamed (upper Niukluk River)

The Unnamed (upper Niukluk River) is a copper and lead 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 (upper Niukluk River)

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Lead

Location

State: Alaska
District: Council; Niukluk-Pargon River

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: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Text: Silicification; extensive oxidation and secondary mineral development; faulting and gouge development.

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Azurite
Ore: Cerussite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Chrysocolla
Ore: Galena
Ore: Duftite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Workings): Workings / Exploration = Shallow prospect pits and short caved adit are present in the area.

Comment (Reference): Primary Reference = Briskey, 1983

Comment (Geology): Age = Cretaceous ; this occurrence may be related to emplacement of the Pargon pluton which is assumed to be Cretaceous in age.

Comment (Exploration): Status = Inactive

Comment (Geology): Geologic Description = Complex intergrowths of limonite (replacing pyrite and chalcopyrite) and drusy comb-quartz are present in a tabular body of silicified breccia 2 feet-wide. Abundant secondary minerals include malachite, chrysocolla, azurite, cerussite, and duftite(?). This is at the silicified contact between marble and amphibolite schist and there is minor silicified gouge in the breccia. This locality, and several others in this part of the Bendeleben A-4 quadrangle, are in high grade metamorphic rocks that are structurally above or peripheral to the crosscutting Pargon pluton. The Pargon pluton is mostly granodiorite and assumed to be Cretaceous in age (Till and others, 1986). It was emplaced at shallower depths than the more deep-seated Bendeleben pluton to the east. The metamorphic rocks peripheral to the western Pargon pluton are also intruded by small, felsic dikes and plugs including quartz porphyry and muscovite granite.

Comment (Deposit): Model Name = Polymetallic vein (and breccia) in high grade metamorphic rocks (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c ?)

References

Reference (Deposit): Till, A.B., Dumoulin, J.A., Gamble, B. ., Kaufman, D.S., and Carroll, P.I., 1986, Preliminary geologic map and fossil data, Soloman, Bendeleben, and southern Kotzebue quadrangles, Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-276, 10 p., 3 plates, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Briskey, J.A., 1983, Summary of field observations on Seward Peninsula mineral deposits: U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished administrative report, 34 p.

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