Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale | DE |
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Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale | D-1 |
Latitude | 54.9064 |
Longitude | -132.1561 |
Nearby scientific data | Find additional scientific data near this location |
Location and accuracy | The Pieper's Purple prospect is about 0.7 mile south of Bokan Mountain at about the center of the NE1/4 section 28, T. 80 S., R. 88 E. Its location relative to the other uranium and REE prospects in the vicinity of Bokan Mountain is best shown on Plate 1 of MacKevett (1963). |
Geologic descriptionThis and several other nearby uranium-thorium-REE deposits (DE015 to DE025 and DE027 to DE031) are spatially and genetically related to a stock of Jurassic, peralkaline granite about 2 miles in outcrop diameter centered on Bokan Mountain. It commonly is referred to as the Bokan Mountain peralkaline granite or Bokan Mountain complex. The intrusion and its deposits have been mapped in detail several times using slightly different subdivisions of the granite (MacKevett, 1963; Thompson and others, 1980, 1982; Saint-Andre and others, 1983; Gehrels, 1992; Thompson, 1997). This description largely follows Gehrels' (1992) map units. The intrusion is a ring-dike complex with an outer border zone up to 14 meters thick of pegmatite and aplite; a nearly complete intermediate zone of aegirine granite porphyry, 15 to 180 meters thick; and a core of several varieties of riebeckite granite porphyry. It has been dated by several methods at 151 Ma to 191 Ma (Lanphere and others, 1964; Saint-Andre and others, 1983; Armstrong, 1985; Gehrels, 1992; Thompson, 1997). The peralkaline granite mainly intrudes a regionally extensive body of Silurian or Ordovician quartz monzonite, granite, and quartz diorite that makes up much of the southeast tip of Prince of Wales Island. The south and west sides of the peralkaline granite are in contact with a band up to about 3,000 feet wide of shale and argillite of the Silurian or Ordovician Descon Formation. The Bokan Mountain complex and surrounding Paleozoic rocks are cut by numerous pegmatite, andesite, dacite, and aplite dikes. The dikes are genetically related to the complex and commonly are associated with the uranium, thorium, and REE deposits. The deposits are marked by intense albitization, pervasive or fracture-controlled chloritization, calcite-fluorite replacement of aegirine, and hematitization. Three types of U-Th-REE deposits occur in the Bokan Mountain complex: 1) irregular cylindrical pipes; 2) steep, shear-zone-related pods or lenses ('veins'); and 3) quartz veins. The Pieper's Purple prospect consists of a few shallow pits and trenches (MacKevett, 1963). The workings are: 1) on an altered mafic dike along a fault at or near the contact between the Bokan Mountain peralkaline granite and slate of the Descon Formation; and 2) on aplite or pegmatite dikes just inside the border of the granite. The mafic dike is cut by fluorite-rich veinlets a few millimeters thick that also contain minor quartz, pyrite and unidentified radioactive minerals. The dikes are argillically altered and chloritized. | |
Geologic map unit | (-132.157743152253, 54.9060582525542) |
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Mineral deposit model | U-Th-F deposit associated with peralkaline granite. |
Age of mineralization | Genetically related to the Jurassic, Bokan Mountain peralkaline granite. |
Alteration of deposit | Argillic alteration and chloritization. |
Workings or exploration | Only a few pits and trenches. |
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Indication of production | None |
MRDS Number | A010271 |
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ReferencesArmstrong, R. L., 1985, Rb-Sr dating of the Bokan Mountain granite complex and its country rocks: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 22, p. 1233-1236.
Collett, B., 1981, Le granite albitique hyperalcalin de Bokan Mountain, S.E. Alaska et ses mineralisations U-Th. Sa place dans la cordillere canadienne: Doct. 3 degree cycle theseis, Montpellier II University, Montpellier, France, 238 p.
Lanphere, M. A., MacKevett, E. M., and Stern, T. W., 1964, Potassium-argon and lead-alpha ages of plutonic rocks, Bokan Mountain area, Alaska: Science, v. 145, p. 705-707.
Saint-Andre, Bruno de, Lancelot, J. R., and Collot, Bernard, 1983, U-Pb geochronology of the Bokan Mountain peralkaline granite, southeastern Alaska: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 20, p. 236-245.
Staatz, M. H., 1978, I and L uranium and thorium vein system, Bokan Mountain, southeastern Alaska: Economic Geology, v.73, p. 512-523.
Thompson, T. B., 1988, Geology and uranium-thorium mineral deposits of the Bokan Mountain granite complex, southeastern Alaska: Fluid Inclusion Research, v. 21, p. 193-210.
Thompson, T.B., 1988, Geology and uranium-thorium mineral deposits of the Bokan Mountain granite complex, southeastern Alaska, in Gabelman, J. W., ed., Unconventional uranium deposits: Ore Geology Reviews, v. 3, p 193-210.
Thompson, T.B., 1997, Uranium, thorium, and rare metal deposits of Alaska, in Goldfarb, R.J., and Miller, L.D., eds., Mineral deposits of Alaska: Economic Geology Monograph 9, p. 466-482.
Thompson, T. B., Lyttle, Thomas, and Pierson, J. R., 1980, Genesis of the Bokan Mountain, Alaska, uranium-thorium deposit: U.S.Department of Energy, Bendix Field Engineering Report GJBX-38(80), 232 p.
Thompson, T. B., Pierson, J. R., and Lyttle, T., 1982, Petrology and petrogenesis of the Bokan granite complex, southeastern Alaska: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 93, p. 898-908.
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Reporters | D.J. Grybeck (Applied Geology) |
Last report date | 9/1/2003 |