Minnesota · St. Louis County
Prospect

Dunka Road

St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States
NickelPlatinumPalladiumCopperCobaltGoldRhodiumRuthenium
⌖ Show on mapUSGS source ↗
Description

U.S. Steel (Usx)

Commodities
PrimaryNickel, Platinum, Palladium, Copper
SecondaryCobalt, Gold
TertiaryRhodium, Ruthenium
Commodity typeM
Deposit
Model9: Duluth Cu-Ni-PGE
Deposit sizeN
WorkingsSurface
Orebody formDISSEMINATED
Ore controlSulfides Segregated In Basal Troctolites Sub-Parallel To Lower Contacts. Sulfur Derived From Country Rock. Redox Boundaries Important To Deposition Of Late-Stage Mineralization, Faults And Folds Were Responsible For Localizing Sulfide Mineralization As Well As For Providing Conduits For Later Syn- To Post-Magmatic Hydrothermal Fluids.
Materials
Ore mineralsBornite, Chalcopyrite, Cubanite, Gold, Pentlandite, Pyrrhotite, Sphalerite
GangueAnalcime, Apatite, Biotite, Chlorite, Ilmenite, Kaolinite, Magnetite, Natrolite, Olivine, Plagioclase, Sericite
Geology
Host rockTroctolite · Partridge River Intrusion
Associated rockArgillite · Virginia Formation
StructureProposed Faults Offsetting Ultramafic Subunits Trend Northeast And Dip Steeply Southeast. Northwest Trending Strike-Slip Faults, Several 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.
AlterationAlteration Assemblage Of Chlorite, Bleached Plagioclase, Serpentine, And Uralite
Economic & production
Development statusProspect
Discovery year1967
Identification
Deposit ID10097433
MRDS IDW018674
Alternate namesDunka River Area
RegionNA
Data scoreA
Coordinates47.6656, -91.9004
References
BONNICHSEN, BILL, 1974, COPPER AND NICKEL RESOURCES IN THE DULUTH COMPLEX, NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA: MINNESOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INFORMATION CIRCULAR 10, 24 P.COOMBES, J.S., 1990, PLATINUM 1990: LONDON, JOHNSON MATTHEY PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY, 64 P.HAUCK, S.A., AND BARNES, R.J., 1989, PRECIOUS METALS (PT-PD-AU-AG) IN THREE COPPER-NICKEL DEPOSITS IN THE DULUTH COMPLEX: NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE, CENTER FOR APPLIED RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, TECHNICAL SUMMARY REPORT NRRI/GMIN-TSR-89-1, 19 P.BONNICHSEN, BILL, 1972, SULFIDE MINERALS IN THE DULUTH COMPLEX, IN SIMS, P.K., AND MOREY, G.B., EDS., GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA: A CENTENNIAL VOLUME: MINNESOTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, P. 388-393.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.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.MINING JOURNAL OF LONDON, 1989, FLECK AGREEMENT ON DUNKA: MINING JOURNAL OF LONDON, V. 312, NO. 8006, FEB. 10, 1989, P. 104.IPLEY, E.M., 1986, ORIGIN AND CONCENTRATION MECHANISMS OF COPPER AND NICKEL IN DULUTH COMPLEX SULFIDE ZONES - A DILEMMA: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, V. 81, P. 974-978.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 OTHERD, EDS., GEOLOGY AND METALLOGENY OF COPPER DEPOSITS: NEW YORK, SPRINGER-VERLAG, P. 8-24.RIPLEY, E.M., 1981, SULFUR ISOTOPIC STUDIES OF THE DUNKA ROAD CU-NI DEPOSIT, DULUTH COMPLEX, MINNESOTA: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, V. 76, P. 610-620GEERTS, STEPHEN, BARNES, R.J., AND HAUCK, S.A., 1990, GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION IN THE DUNKA ROAD COPPER-NICKEL MINERAL DEPOSIT, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MINNESOTA: NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE TECHNICAL REPORT NRRI/GMIN-TR-89-16, 69 P.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.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.