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USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library

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48 Metallogenesis and Tectonics of the Russian Far East, <strong>Alaska</strong>, and the Canadian Cordillera<br />

tallic vein, and skarn deposits, occurs in the core of the Brooks<br />

Range in northern <strong>Alaska</strong> (Nokleberg and others, 1995a,<br />

1997b, 1998). The metallogenic belt is hosted in the Coldfoot,<br />

Hammond, and North Slope terranes of the Arctic <strong>Alaska</strong><br />

superterrane (Moore and others, 1992, 1994; Nokleberg and<br />

others, 1994c, 1997c). The belt is discontinuous but extends<br />

for over 900 km along the length of the Brooks Range. The<br />

significant deposits in the belt are: the Mount Igikpak and<br />

Arrigetch Peaks polymetallic vein, Au quartz vein, Sn skarn,<br />

Cu-Pb-Zn skarn deposits; the Ann (Ernie Lake), Galena Creek,<br />

Porcupine Lake, and Romanzof Mountains polymetallic vein<br />

deposits; the Jim-Montana Cu-Zn skarn deposit; the Sukakpak<br />

Mountain Sb-Zu vein deposit; the Victor, Venus, Evelyn Lee,<br />

and Ebo porphyry Cu and Cu skarn deposits; the Geroe Creek<br />

porphyry Cu-Mo deposit; the Esotuk Glacier Pb-Zn skarn and<br />

fluorite vein deposit; and the Bear Mountain porphyry Mo<br />

deposit (table 4) (Nokleberg and others 1997a,b, 1998). These<br />

significant deposits occur in two groups described below—a<br />

major group in the central Brooks Range, and a minor group<br />

in the northeastern Brooks Range. In the northeastern Brooks<br />

Range, the belt is sometimes referred to as the Chandalar belt<br />

(Newberry and others, 1997a,b).<br />

Vein, Skarn, and Porphyry Deposits Central Brooks Range<br />

Significant deposits in the central Brooks Range part of the<br />

belt are at Mount Igikpak and Arrigetch Peaks, Sukakpak Mountain,<br />

Victor, and Geroe Creek. These deposits include polymetallic<br />

quartz veins containing base-metal sulfides, Sn skarns containing<br />

both disseminated cassiterite and base-metal sulfides, Cu-Pb-Zn<br />

skarns containing disseminated Fe and base-metal sulfides, and<br />

porphyry Cu and Mo deposits (Nokleberg and others, 1995a).<br />

The Victor and associated porphyry Cu and Cu skarn<br />

deposits at Venus, Evelyn Lee, and Ebo (DeYoung, 1978;<br />

Donald Grybeck, written commun., 1984; Newberry and others,<br />

1997a) consist of veinlet and disseminated chalcopyrite, bornite,<br />

molybdenite, and pyrite in schistose Devonian granodiorite<br />

porphyry that intrudes either the Silurian and Devonian Skajit<br />

Limestone or older marble, calc-schist, and pelitic schist. The<br />

skarn minerals are mainly garnet, magnetite, and diopside, and<br />

retrograde vein and replacement epidote, amphibole, chlorite,<br />

calcite, and quartz. The skarns were subsequently regionally<br />

metamorphosed during the Mesozoic. Skarns in marble adjacent<br />

to plutonic rocks contain vugs with interstitial bornite, chalcopyrite,<br />

bornite, chalcocite, pyrite, magnetite, and some digenite.<br />

Zones in granitoid rocks as much as 30 m wide contain as much<br />

as 0.4 percent Cu. Grab samples of skarn contain as much as 5.5<br />

percent Cu, 0.41 g/t Au, and 0.29 g/t Ag.<br />

The felsic-magmatism-related deposits in the central<br />

Brooks Range are hosted in a structurally complex<br />

and polymetamorphosed assemblage of Devonian or older<br />

carbonate rocks, including Silurian and Devonian polymetamorphosed<br />

limestone, calc-schist, quartz-mica schist, and<br />

quartzite, which is intruded by mainly Late Devonian gneissic<br />

granitoid rocks that together with the metasedimentary rocks<br />

constitute the Hammond passive continental margin terrane of<br />

the Arctic <strong>Alaska</strong> superterrane (Moore and others, 1992).<br />

Skarn, Vein, and Porphyry Deposits Northeastern<br />

Brooks Range<br />

Significant deposits in the Brooks Range metallogenic<br />

belt in the northeastern Brooks Range are a cluster of Pb-<br />

Zn skarn, fluorite vein, polymetallic vein, and porphyry Cu<br />

deposits at Esotuk Glacier, Porcupine Lake, Romanzof Mountains,<br />

and Galena Creek (Nokleberg and others, 1995a). This<br />

part of the belt is sometimes referred to as the Chandalar belt<br />

(Newberry and others, 1997a,b).<br />

The Romanzof Mountains polymetallic vein and Pb-Zn<br />

skarn deposit (Brosge and Reiser, 1968; Grybeck, 1977; Sable,<br />

1977; W.P. Brosge, oral commun., 1984; Newberry and others,<br />

1997a) consists of numerous scattered mineral occurrences<br />

of polymetallic sulfides. The most common types of deposits<br />

are (1) zones of disseminated galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite<br />

and pyrite, locally with Au and Ag, in Devonian(?) granite, (2)<br />

Pb-Zn skarn in marble with disseminated magnetite, pyrite,<br />

pyrrhotite, sphalerite, and galena in gangue of carbonate,<br />

clinopyroxene, epidote, amphibole, beryl, tourmaline, and<br />

fluorite, (3) disseminated galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and<br />

(or) molybdenite in quartz veins along sheared contact in in<br />

Devonian(?) granite, and (4) local fluorite greisen in in Devonian(?)<br />

granite. Grab samples contain as much as 0.15 percent<br />

Sn. The skarns and quartz veins occur in Precambrian marble<br />

and calc-schist of the Neruokpuk Quartzite at the periphery of<br />

the Silurian or Early Devonian Okpilak (granite) batholith.<br />

These felsic-magmatism-related deposits are hosted in<br />

a variety of Paleozoic and late Proterozoic metasedimentary<br />

rock that consist mainly of marble, calc-schist, limestone,<br />

quartzite, and greenstone of the North Slope passive continental<br />

margin terrane (part of the Arctic <strong>Alaska</strong> superterrane)<br />

that were intruded by Devonian gneissose granite plutons<br />

(Newberry and others, 1997a). The paucity of deposits in the<br />

northeastern Brooks Range most likely reflects the limited<br />

geological exploration of the area. Although not part of this<br />

metallogenic belt, a nearby porphyry Mo deposit in this area at<br />

Bear Mountain consists of molybdenite- and wolframite-bearing<br />

Tertiary(?) granite porphyry stock (Barker and Swainbank,<br />

1986). The stock intrudes the Late Proterozoic(?) Neruokpuk(?)<br />

Quartzite, and the Tertiary(?) isotopic age for the stock<br />

may be a reset Devonian age. If so, the Bear Mountain deposit<br />

would be part of the Brooks Range metallogenic belt.<br />

Origin of and Tectonic Controls for Brooks Range<br />

Metallogenic Belt<br />

Field, chemical, and isotope data indicate the granitic magmatism<br />

deposits in the Brooks Range metallogenic belt formed<br />

during intrusion of the Devonian gneissic granitoid rocks (Dillon<br />

and others, 1987; Nokleberg and others, 1995a). High initial<br />

Sr ratios (about 0.715) and Pb and Sm-Nd isotopic studies<br />

indicate the presence of an older, inherited crustal component<br />

(about 1,000 to 800 Ma) and involvement of Proterozoic or<br />

older continental crust in the genesis of the plutons (Dillon and<br />

others, 1987; Nelson and others, 1993; Miller, 1994; Moore and<br />

others, 1994). U-Pb zircon and Rb-Sr isotopic studies indicate

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