Regional Distribution of Critical and Strategic Minerals in the Kantishna Hills Area, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Abstract
In 1984, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, studied the abundance and distribution of critical and strategic minerals in the Kantishna Hills Study Area of the Denali National Park and Preserve, AK. The study is a continuation of the 1983 mineral resource study of the area mandated by section 202(3)(b) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Several areas containing anomalous critical and strategic minerals were identified. Analytical results for reconnaissance placer, panned concentrate, and stream sediment samples for the 1983 study were statistically treated and anomalous samples and their distribution identified. The elements evaluated were cobalt, chromium, gallium, germanium, manganese, palladium, platinum, nickel, tin, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, and columbium. Anomalies exist within areas of known mining activity and mineral occurrences as well as in areas with no previously known mining or mineral occurrences. Ten main anomalous areas identified for tin, tungsten, tantalum, titanium, columbium, cobalt, nickel, and germanium should be considered target areas for future critical and strategic mineral exploration.
