Minnamax Cu-Ni Prospect

St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States

CopperNickelPalladiumPlatinumOsmiumIridiumRhodiumCobaltTitaniumRuthenium

⌖ Show on map USGS source ↗

Description

Bear Creek Mining Co.

Commodities

PrimaryCopper, Nickel, Palladium, Platinum

SecondaryOsmium, Iridium, Rhodium, Cobalt, Titanium, Ruthenium

Commodity typeM

Deposit

Model9: Duluth Cu-Ni-PGE

Deposit sizeN

WorkingsUnderground

Orebody formDISSEMINATED, MASSIVE, VEINLETS, SULFIDE-SILICATE INTERGROWTHS

Ore controlSulfides Segregated In Basal Troctolites Sub-Parallel To Lower Contacts, Faults And Folds Were Responsible For Localizing Sulfide Mineralization As Well As For Providing Conduits For Later Syn- To Post-Magmatic Hydrothermal Fluids. For Example, Structurally Controlled Massive Sulfides Of The Local Boy Are Are Associated With The Local Boy Anticline. Both Primary/Magmatic And Secondary/Hydrothermal Processes Appear To Have Been Factors In Controlling Pge Distribution In The Local Boy Area.

Materials

Ore mineralsBornite, Bravoite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Copper, Covellite, Cubanite, Digenite, Galena, Magnetite, Pentlandite, Pyrite, Pyrrhotite, Silver, Sphalerite, Tenorite

GangueApatite, Biotite, Graphite, Olivine, Plagioclase

Other materialsIlmenite

Geology

Host rockTroctolite · Partridge River Intrusion

Associated rockArgillite · Virginia Formation

StructureSeveral Ne-Trending Normal Faults Parallel The Midcontinent Rift System Near The Margin. These Faults Formed During The Opening Of The Rift And Controlled Emplacement Of The Troctolitic And Late Intrusions., In the Babbitt Area, The Grano Fault, A North-Trending Scissors Fault, Is In The Zone Separating The Partridge River And The South Kawishiwi Intrusions. Pre- To Syn-Complex Sub-Horizontal Folds Are Present In The Footwall Virginia Formation. Structural Contours On The Top Of The Biwabik Iron-Formation And At The Base Of The Duluth Complex Define Anticlinal And Synclinal Structures In The Bathtub And Local Boy

AlterationPyroxene And Plagioclase Have Been Replaced By Amphiboles, Biotite, Chlorite, And Carbonate In Pge Rich Zone. Local Uralitization And Serpentinization

Economic & production

Development statusProspect

Discovery year1957

Identification

Deposit ID10039042

MRDS IDM046566

Alternate namesBabbitt Deposit, Amax Underground Mine, Mesaba Project

RegionNA

Data scoreA

Coordinates47.63166, -91.88323

References

BOUCHER, M.L., 1975, COPPER-NICKEL MINERALIZATION IN A DRILL CORE FROM THE DULUTH COMPLEX OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 8084, 55 P.MORTON, PENELOPE, AND HAUCK, S.A., 1987, PGE, AU AND AG CONTENTS OF CU-NI SULFIDES FOUND AT THE BASE OF THE DULUTH COMPLEX, NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA: NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE TECHNICAL REPORT NRRI/GMIN-TR-87-04, 81 P.PAGE, N. J, 1986, DESCRIPTIVE MODEL OF DULUTH CU-NI-PGE, IN COX, D.P. AND SINGER, D.A., MINERAL DEPOSIT MODELS: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1693, P. 16.SEVERSON, M.J., 1991, GEOLOGY, MINERALIZATION, AND GEOSTATISTICS OF THE MINNAMAX/BABBITT CU-NI DEPOSIT (LOCAL BOY AREA), MINNESOTA, PART I: GEOLOGY: NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE TECHNICAL REPORT MRRI/TR-91/13A, 96 P.SEVERSON, M.J., AND BARNES, R.J., 1991, GEOLOGY, MINERALIZATION, AND GEOSTATISTICS OF THE MINNAMAX/BABBITT CU-NI DEPOSIT (LOCAL BOY AREA), MINNESOTA, PART II: MINERALIZATION AND GEOSTATISTICS: NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE TECHNICAL REPORT NRRI/TR-91/13B, 216 P.ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, 1976, AMAX STEPS UP EXPLORATION AT MINNAMAX COPPER-NICKEL PROSPECT IN MINNESOTA: ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, V. 177, NO. 2, P. 17, 135.HOLLISTER, V.F., 1980, ORIGIN OF GRAPHITE IN THE DULUTH COMPLEX: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, V. 75, P. 764-766.HAUCK, S.A., SEVERSON, M.J., ZANKO, L., BARNES, S-J., MORTON, P., ALMINAS, H., FOORD, E.E., AND DAHLBERG, E.H., 1997, AN OVERVIEW OF THE GEOLOGY AND OXIDE, SULFIDE AND PLATINUM-GROUP ELEMENT MINERALIZATION ALONG THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN CONTACTS OF THE DULUTH COMPLEX: GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA SPECIAL PAPER, V. 312, PP. 137-185.TYSON, R.M., AND CHANG, L.L.Y., 1984, THE PETROLOGY AND SULFIDE MINERALIZATION OF THE PARTRIDGE RIVER TROCTOLITE, DULUTH COMPLEX, MINNESOTA: CANADIAN MINERALOGIST, V. 22, P. 23-38.RIPLEY, E.M., 1986, APPLICATION OF STABLE ISOTOPIC STUDIES TO PROBLEMS OF MAGMATIC SULFIDE ORE GENESIS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE DULUTH COMPLEX, MINNESOTA, IN FRIEDRICH, G.H., AND OTHERS, EDS., GEOLOGY AND METALLOGENY OF COPPER DEPOSITS: NEW YORK, SPRINGER-VERLAG, P. 25-42FOOSE, M., AND WEIBLEN, P., 1986, THE PHYSICAL AND PETROLOGIC SETTING AND TEXTURAL AND COMPOSITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SULFIDES FROM THE SOUTH KAWISHIWI INTRUSION, DULUTH COMPLEX, MINNESOTA, USA, IN FRIEDRICH, G.H., AND OTHERS, EDS., GEOLOGY AND METALLOGENY OF COPPER DEPOSITS: NEW YORK, SPRINGER-VERLAG, P. 8-24.MORTON, PENELOPE, AND HAUCK, S.A., 1989, PRECIOUS METALS IN THE COPPER-NICKEL DEPOSITS OF THE DULUTH COMPLEX, IN MOREY, G.B., ED., WORKSHOP ON THE APPLICABILITY OF GOLD AND PLATINUM-GROUP-ELEMENT MODELS IN MINNESOTA: MINNESOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INFORMATION CIRCULAR 30, P. 47-48.WEIBLEN, P.W., 1989, THE IMPORTANCE OF EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL OF THE DULUTH COMPLEX AS A PLATINUM GROUP ELEMENT RESOURCE, IN MOREY, G.B., ED., WORKSHOP ON THE APPLICABILITY OF GOLD AND PLATINUM-GROUP-ELEMENT MODELS IN MINNESOTA: MINNESOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INFORMATION CIRCULAR 30, P. 51-55.BONNICHSEN, BILL, 1974, COPPER AND NICKEL RESOURCES IN THE DULUTH COMPLEX, NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA: MINNESOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INOFRMATION CIRCULAR 10, 24 P.LISTERUD, W.H., AND MEINEKE, D.G., 1977, MINERAL RESOURCES OF A PORTION OF THE DULUTH COMPLEX AND ADJACENT ROCKS IN ST. LOUIS AND LAKE COUNTIES, NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA: MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, DIVISION OF MINERALS, MINERALS EXPLORATION SECTION, REPORT 93, 74 P.