USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
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