Unnamed Along Snow Passage

Occurrence in Alaska, United States with commodity Fluorine-Fluorite

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Commodities
Nearby scientific data
Ore body information
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10003662
MRDS ID	A106431
Record type	Site
Current site name	Unnamed Along Snow Passage

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-132.94463, 56.28168 (WGS84)
Relative position	SEE LOCATION COMMENTS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Petersburg B-3 SW(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Petersburg S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Petersburg(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Central Southeast Alaska(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southeast Alaska(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Tongass National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country	State
United States	Alaska

Comments on the location information

ACCURATELY KNOWN TO WITHIN 300 FEET IN THE NW1/4, SECTION 33, T. 64 S., R. 80 E ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF ZAREMBO ISLAND. WELL-EXPOSED LOCALITY ALONG THE WAVE-SCOURED ROCKY COASTLINE ON THE EAST SIDE OF SNOW PASSAGE, CLARENCE STRAIT.

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical	Primary

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-132.94463, 56.28168	ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

General form SEE DEPOSIT DESCRIPTION COMMENTS

General form	SEE DEPOSIT DESCRIPTION COMMENTS

Comments on the geologic information

TERTIARY OR QUATERNARY; FLUORITE VEINS AND FILLS BRECCIA IN TERTIARY OR QUATERNARY RHYOLITE AND IS EITHER LATER THAN OR PART OF THE COOLING HISTORY AND EMPLACEMENT OF THE RHYOLITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Occurrence
Commodity type	Non-metallic
Significant	No

Comments on exploration

Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name	Ketchikan

Comments on the production information

AS NOW KNOWN, APPEARS TO BE NO MORE THAN AN INTERESTING MINERALOGICAL OCCURRENCE.

Comments on the workings information

LONG KNOWN IN GOOD EXPOSURES ALONG THE COAST; NO RECORD OF ANY EXPLORATION OTHERWISE.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	A106431
USGS	Alaska Resource Data File	ARDF	PE060

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Buddington, A. F., 1923, Mineral deposits of the Wrangell district; U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 739, p. 51-75.
Deposit

Cobb, E. H., 1972, Summary of mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Petersburg Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-870, 53 p.
Deposit

Grybeck, D. J., Berg, H. C., and Karl, S. M., 1984, Map and description of the mineral deposits in the Petersburg and eastern Port Alexander quadrangles: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 84-837, 86 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Deposit

Philpotts, John, and Evans, J. R., 1992, Rare earth minerals in 'thunder eggs' from Zarembo Island, southeast Alaska: in U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2041, p. 98-105.

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	SPARSE FLUORITE OCCURS IN TERTIARY-QUATERNARY RHYOLITE OVER AN AREA AT LEAST 300 FEET LONG ALONG THE COAST. THE FLUORITE OCCURS AS FILLINGS IN NARROW, VUGGY FRACTURE ZONES, COATING CHALCEDONY- OR QUARTZ-ENCRUSTED FRAGMENTS IN BRECCIA ZONES, AND AS GEODE-LIKE BODIES COMMONLY CALLED 'THUNDEREGGS' (BUDDINGTON, 1923). FOR PICTURES OF THE LATTER AND A DETAILED STUDY OF THEIR REE CONTENT AND MINERALOGY SEE PHILPOTTS AND EVANS (1992). ALTHOUGH MINERALOGICALLY INTERESTING, THE SITE AS NOW KNOWN IS LITTLE MORE THAN A MINERAL OCCURRENCE. THE ORIGIN OF THE FLUORITE IS UNCLEAR BUT THE SIMPLEST INTERPRETATION IS THAT IT FORMED DURING A DEGASSING PHASE OF THE EMPLACEMENT OF THE RHYOLITE IN WHICH IT OCCURS.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

SPARSE FLUORITE OCCURS IN TERTIARY-QUATERNARY RHYOLITE OVER AN AREA AT LEAST 300 FEET LONG ALONG THE COAST. THE FLUORITE OCCURS AS FILLINGS IN NARROW, VUGGY FRACTURE ZONES, COATING CHALCEDONY- OR QUARTZ-ENCRUSTED FRAGMENTS IN BRECCIA ZONES, AND AS GEODE-LIKE BODIES COMMONLY CALLED 'THUNDEREGGS' (BUDDINGTON, 1923). FOR PICTURES OF THE LATTER AND A DETAILED STUDY OF THEIR REE CONTENT AND MINERALOGY SEE PHILPOTTS AND EVANS (1992). ALTHOUGH MINERALOGICALLY INTERESTING, THE SITE AS NOW KNOWN IS LITTLE MORE THAN A MINERAL OCCURRENCE. THE ORIGIN OF THE FLUORITE IS UNCLEAR BUT THE SIMPLEST INTERPRETATION IS THAT IT FORMED DURING A DEGASSING PHASE OF THE EMPLACEMENT OF THE RHYOLITE IN WHICH IT OCCURS.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	01-NOV-1998	Berg, H. C. (Grybeck, D. J.)	U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Alaska resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.