Beryllium deposits of the western Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Deposits of beryllium ore in the Lost River area of the western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, consist of replacement veins, pipes, and stringer lodes is limestone in a zone about 7 miles long and 2 to 3 miles wide which is faulted and intruded by dikes and stocks.

The ores are remarkably alike and typically consist of the following minerals, in percent: fluorite, 45-65; diaspore, 5-10; tourmaline, 0-10; chrysoberyl, 3-10; white mica, 0-5; small amounts of hematite, sulfide minerals, manganese oxide, other beryllium minerals; and traces of minerals not yet identified. The ores generally are cut by late veinlets which are of the same mineralogy as the groundmass ore, or which consist of fluorite, white mica, and euclase. The ores are fine grained, and many of the individual mineral grains, except fluorite, are less than 1 mm in size. The beryllium content of bulk samples of ore ranges from 0.11 to 0.54 percent (0.31 to 1.50 percent BeO). High-grade nodules, composed principally of chrysoberyl, diaspore, fluorite, and mica, contain as much as 6 percent BeO.

Geochemical reconnaissance has disclosed other areas of anomalous beryllium in stream sediments elsewhere on the Seward Peninsula, generally around biotite granites that have them associated with tin deposits; additional exploration probably will disclose other deposits.