Mineral Investigations in the Colville Mining District and Southern National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hicks RW ; Kurtak, Joseph M. ; Meyer MP ; Mull CG ; Werdon MB
• Description:
  The U.S Bureau of Mines conducted a five-year mineral resource assessment of the 16.6 million acre Colville Mining District in northern Alaska, which includes part of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The study was initiated at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, which administers the majority of the region. The study was done in cooperation with the Alaskan Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the University of Alaska. During fieldwork, 1593 rock, soil, and stream sediment samples were collected and four bulk samples taken for beneficiation studies. A total of 40 mineral occurrences were documented, including 27 which were previously undescribed. No mining has occurred within the district. Mississippian carbonaceous shale and siliceous mudstone contain stratiform exhalative lead-zinc-silver occurrences. Grades average 8.0% combined lead/zinc and 51 gm/mt silver. Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian sandstones host breccia veins, containing up to 29t combined lead/zinc and 274 gm/mt silver. Mineralized quartzites of similar age have potential for disseminated-type lead-zinc deposits. Samples from Lower Cretaceous mudstone and shale beds up to 6.5 meters thick, contain as much up to 12% manganese. Upper Mississippian carbonaceous shale and limestone beds contain up to 231 phosphate. Stratiform barite deposits hosted by cherts, are up to 27 meters thick with an average specific gravity of 4.16. Veintype fluorite occurrences are associated with Mississippian limestone. Moderate potential exists for development of zinc-lead-silver, barite, and phosphate deposits. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Lead Minerals Mining Occupational Health Safety Silicon Compounds Silver Zinc Compounds
• Keywords:
  Alaska Economic-feasibility Lead-compounds Mineral-deposits Models Quantitative-analysis Reserves Sampling Sampling-methods Silicon-compounds Silver-compounds Zinc-compounds

  More +
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Subseries:
  Open File Report
• Publisher:
  U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  AFOC - Alaska Field Operations Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039546
• Citation:
  Juneau, AK: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, OFR 08-95, 1995 Jan; :1-223
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Silver (CAS RN 7440-22-4) ; Zinc (CAS RN 7440-66-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Juneau, AK: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, OFR 08-95
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e6566a01397c615a65dccd2e936b55be1cc7f63a840501fa02dce6dfbf9eebde87f9b5bced37e83e16e6bba439002c03531409804a309ba386e9d51a4fa920d9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207079/cdc_207079_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 22.64 MB ]