Lead-, zinc-, and barite-bearing samples from the western Brooks Range, Alaska, with a section on petrography and mineralogy

Concentrations of base metal and barite of potential economic significance may be present in the western De Long Mountains, northwestern Alaska. Greater than 2 percent lead and 1 percent zinc were detected semiquantitatively in sulfide-bearing hand samples from one locality, and more than 10 percent lead was analyzed in a related stream sediment sample. The base metals as sulfides, along with barite, have been concentrated in Paleozoic and(or) Mesozoic sedimentary chert. Several other localities at which sulfides appear to be weathering are present within a 100-square-mlle area. Systematic prospecting should determine if the mineralization has regional significance and has resulted in deposits' of possible economic importance.