1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Alaska Resource Data File (ARDF)

Golovnin Bay

Occurrence, Inactive

Map
KML
XML
GeoJSON

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities REE; U; W
Ore minerals scheelite; uranium-titanium-niobate
Gangue minerals allanite; biotite; hematite; hornblende; ilmenite; magnetite; sphene

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale SO
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale C-2
Latitude 64.52
Longitude -162.92
Nearby scientific data Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy This occurrence is on the northeast coast of Golovin Bay where outcrops of the Kachauik pluton are exposed (Till and others, 1986). This location is about 0.3 miles north of a coastal light and 1.5 miles northwest of the mouth of McKinley Creek. It is locality 135 of Cobb (1972, MF 445; 1978, OF 78-181); it is probably located within 0.5 mile.

Geologic setting

Geologic description

A heavy mineral concentrate from slope wash over intrusive rocks of the Kachauik pluton contained 0.074% equivalent uranium, primarily in an unidentified uranium-titanium-niobate mineral (West, 1953, p. 4). Other minerals identified in the heavy mineral concentrate included allanite, biotite, hematite, hornblende, ilmenite, magnetite, scheelite, and sphene. Most of these are probably accessory minerals in monzonite/syenite of the Kachauik pluton (Miller and others, 1972; Miller, 1972). However, parts of this pluton along nepheline syenite dikes locally contain up to 0.15% U3O8, 1.05% Th, and 2% REE (Miller and others, 1976). A K/Ar age for the Kachauik pluton is 99.9 +/- 3 Ma (Miller and Bunker, 1976).
Geologic map unit (-162.922585642889, 64.5192682420832)
Mineral deposit model Disseminated; heavy minerals in slope wash close to their source in intrusive rocks of the Kachauik pluton.
Age of mineralization Mid-Cretaceous; a K/Ar age for the Kachauik pluton is 99.9 +/- 3 Ma (Miller and Bunker, 1976).

Production and reserves

Indication of production None

References

MRDS Number D002605

References

Cobb, E.H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-445, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Cobb, E.H., 1978, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Solomon quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-181, 185 p.
Miller, T.P., and Bunker, C.M., 1976, A reconnaissance study of the uranium and thorium contents of plutonic rocks of the southeastern Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Journal of Research, v. 4, p. 367-377.
Miller, T.P., Grybeck, D.J., Elliott, R.L., and Hudson, T.L., 1972, Preliminary geologic map of the southeastern Bendeleben and eastern Solomon quadrangles, eastern Seward Peninsula, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 72-256, 11 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
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.
West, W.S., 1953, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in the Darby Mountains, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 1948: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 300, 7 p.
Reporters Travis L. Hudson (Applied Geology)
Last report date 8/19/1999