1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Beach Vein

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Arsenic, Copper, Mercury, Lead, Zinc
Map
XML
JSON
KML
C
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10308139
Record type Site
Current site name Beach Vein

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -160.70541, 55.19923 (WGS84)
Relative position This prospect is located on the beach at the head of Acheredin Bay on Unga Island (Wilson and others, 1988, locality 34). The map site is due south of the center of sec. 32, T. 57 S., R. 75 W., of the Seward Meridian. The location is accurate to within 1,200 feet.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Aleutians East(Borough)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Port Moller A-3(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Unga Island(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Port Moller(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Cold Bay(hydrologic unit)

Aleutian Islands(hydrologic accounting unit)

Southwest(hydrologic subregion)

Alaska(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Unga Corporation(ANCSA Village)

ANCSA Village NTVPIC(Type of land area)

NTVPIC(Federal land areas administered by NTVPIC)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Alaska

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Mercury Secondary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The alteration consists of argillization and minor silicification.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Nearby scientific data

(1) -160.70541, 55.19923
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This prospect consists of a multiphase quartz vein system, locally called the Beach Vein, that averages approximately 10 feet in width and has been traced for 1,500 feet along strike. It occurs in argillized and silicified andesite of the late Eocene to early Oligocene Popof volcanic rocks (Wilson and others, 1995). Trenches have exposed 10 feet or more of mineralized quartz veins and as much as 18 feet of clay-rich, sheared andesite containing numerous thin quartz veins (Peterson and others, 1982). Drusy quartz breccias, as much as 400 feet long and 100 feet wide are present in the area. These contain abundant pyrite and minor chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. Single-phase quartz veins as much as 6 inches wide occur along the margins of the Beach Vein. Ranges of metal values in the vein system are: gold, 0.005 to 4,937 ppm; silver, 1.8 to 14.6 ppm; copper, 45 to 5,400 ppm; lead, 18 to 11,300 ppm; zinc, 15 to 29,000 ppm; arsenic, 19 to 380 ppm; and mercury, 0.095 to 1,000 ppm (Peterson and others, 1982). Grab samples collected by Battle Mountain Exploration Company contained as much as 0.69 ppm gold; channel samples from trench 5 contained from 0.21 to 3.77 ppm gold (Pilcher, 1986).
  • Age = Eocene or younger.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Inactive

Mining district

District name Alaska Peninsula

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = In 1982 UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company mapped the prospect, dug 421 feet of trenches, collected 105 channel and 25 grab samples, and conducted 2.8 line-miles of VLF-EM survey. The highest values from trench channel samples are 4,937 ppm gold, 14.6 ppm silver, 5,400 ppm copper, 11,300 ppm lead, 29,000 ppm zinc, 380 ppm arsenic, and 1,000 ppm mercury (Peterson and others, 1982).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Peterson, R.J., Lemmers, J., Handverger, P., Gallagher, J., Pilcher, R., East, J., Macleod, T., Bartels. E., 1982, Geology and precious metals potential Unga, Popof, and Korovin Islands, Shumagin Group, Aleutian Chain, Alaska: UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company report, 127 p., 5 map sheets, various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Pilcher, S.H., 1986, Unga project: Battle Mountain Exploration Company report, 33 p. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Wilson, F.H., White, W.H., and DuBois, G.D., 1988, Brief descriptions of mines, prospects, and mineral occurrences in the Port Moller and Stepovak Bay quadrangles, Alaska Peninsula: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-666, 128 p., scale 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    Wilson, F.H., Detterman, R.L., Miller, J. W., and Case, J.E., 1995, Geologic map of the Port Moller, Stepovak Bay, and Simeonof Island quadrangles, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigation Series Map I-2272, 1 map sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Peterson and others, 1982

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Epithermal gold veins, Polymetallic veins (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 22c)
Deposit Other Comments = This prospect is located on land patented by, or interim-conveyed to, the Aleut Corporation.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 13-JAN-01 S.H. Pilcher 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.