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Paystreak Vein

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Uranium, Thorium, REE, Molybdenum
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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. Host and associated rocks
  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 10308985
MRDS ID A010332
Record type Site
Current site name Paystreak Vein
Alternate or previous names Marker Vein
Related records 10000284, 10308986

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -133.11686, 56.26173 (WGS84)
Relative position Several radioactive and non-radioactive REE-bearing carbonate veins occur along the shoreline of Pitcher Island in an area about 500 feet by 100 feet that comprises the northeastern two-thirds of the island. Pitcher Island is about 3.3 miles south, southwest of the mouth of Salmon Bay on northeastern Prince of Wales Island. (Pitcher Island is not named on the current (1998) USGS 1,63,360-scale topographic map, but is identified as such in Houston and others, 1950.) Locality 57 of Grybeck, Berg, and Karl (1984). See also PE056, a similar deposit nearby.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Petersburg B-4 SE(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Petersburg S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Petersburg(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

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

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Uranium Primary
Thorium Primary
REE Critical Primary
Molybdenum Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = alkali feldspar
  • Ore Material = red

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bastnaesite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Marcasite Ore
Monazite Ore
Parisite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Thorite Ore
Zircon Ore
Apatite Gangue
Chalcedony Gangue
Chert Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Epidote Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Kaolinite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Topaz Gangue

Alteration

  • The Silurian host rock adjacent to both the radioactive carbonate and the REE-carbonate veins are commonly marked by alteration zones a few inches thick adjacent to them marked by dark red by hematititc alteration. The alteration is somewhat more intense adjacent to the radioactive veins.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Silurian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -133.11686, 56.26173
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Two steeply dipping, radioactive carbonate-hematite veins--the Paystreak and Marker veins--are exposed along the shoreline on the northeast end of Pitcher Island (Houston and others, 1958). They each are exposed for about 100 feet, and the largest, the Pitcher vein, is about 2-4 feet thick. The veins consist dominantly of a carbonate of the dolomite-ankerite series, with up to 10% alkalic feldspar, and hematite. The radioactive mineral have not fully been defined but the veins contain small to rare amounts of pyrite magnetite, quartz and chalcedony, chlorite, parisite, bastnaesite, muscovite, fluorite, radioactive apatite, monazite, thorite, zircon, and minute amounts of several other minerals. The only uranium bearing minerals that have been identified are thorite, monazite, zircon, and apatite in trace amounts. Only traces of REE are present in the radioactive veins. The maximum radioactivity of the veins as measured by the USGS is 0.095 eU; the average for the Paystreak vein is 0.03 eU and the highest uranium content is 0.3%. There are also three (relatively) non-radioactive, REE-carbonate veins that can be traced along the shoreline on either side of Pitcher Island for up to 300 feet (Houston and others, 1958). They range in size from several inches to as thick as 10 feet. They consistently strike northeast and have steep dips to the southeast. They carry many of the same minerals as the radioactive veins but contain parisite as the main REE-bearing mineral. These rare-earth carbonate veins contain an average of 0.79% combined rare-earth oxides; one high-grade grab sample from a similar vein nearby (PE056) contains about 5% rare-earth oxides. The radioactive carbonate veins and the REE-carbonate veins are probably genetically related and share much of the same mineralogy. Grab samples of veins and felsic dikes taken during USGS work in the early 1980's commonly contain more than 1000 ppm La, and several contain 1000 ppm Mo (Grybeck, Karl, and Berg, 1984). Recent work by Warner (1989) to define the columbium potential of the deposit indicates the Paystreak vein contains a weighted average of 1670 ppm Th and 0.13% REE across a width of 2.6 feet over a length of 180 feet. The host rock for both types of veins is a Silurian sedimentary sequence mainly of volcaniclastic graywacke,argillitic turbides, and minor limestone that is widespread on the northeast corner of Prince of Wales Island (Brew, 1997 [OF 97-156-F]).
  • Age = Unknown other than host rock is Silurian.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Probably inactive

Mining district

District name Ketchikan

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = None

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Houston and others (1958) calculated that the Paystreak vein contained 'about 70 pounds of thorium or 80 pounds of thorium dioxide per foot of depth for the 100-foot section of the vein sampled'. (They considered that most of the radioactivity was due to thorium). Warner (1989) indicates that the veins at this site and similar veins nearby at Salmon Bay (PE056) 'contain combined indicated reserves of approximately 340,000 lb Cb, 2.2 MMlb REE, minimal estimate, and 11,700 lb Th within approximately 763,000 st of rock.'

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings / Exploration = At least 34 claims were staked on the veins in 1951 and 1952 and some were restaked in 1977 (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1980). There has been little interest or work on these occurrences in recent years because of the relatively depressed market for radioactive commodities.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Houston and others, 1958

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Radioactive carbonate veins and REE-carbonate veins

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1998 H.C. Berg and D.J. Grybeck 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.