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

Unnamed (near Salmon Bay)

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities REE, Thorium, Uranium, Molybdenum
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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 10308986
MRDS ID A010332
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed (near Salmon Bay)
Related records 10000284, 10308985

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -133.17086, 56.31973 (WGS84)
Relative position Coordinates are approximately the center of several sites that extend along the shoreline from about the mouth of Salmon Bay to Point Colpoys on northeastern Prince of Wales Island; in sections 11 to 13, and 19 to 24, T. 64 S., R. 78 E.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Prince of Wales-Hyder(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Petersburg B-4(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Petersburg S(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Petersburg(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Prince of Wales(hydrologic unit)

Southern 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

Commodities

Commodity Importance
REE Critical Primary
Thorium Primary
Uranium Primary
Molybdenum Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue = alkali feldspar

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bastnaesite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Monazite Ore
Parisite Ore
Thorite Ore
Chert Gangue
Quartz 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) -133.17086, 56.31973
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = Steeply-dipping, locally highly radioactive, carbonate veins occur at three localities in hematitically altered, hornfelsed Silurian graywacke. The graywacke is cut by deformed and sheared felsic dikes and undeformed basalt dikes (Brew, 1997 [OF 97-156-F]). The veins contain fluorite, monazite, and a variety of rare-earth fluocarbonate minerals, some of which are highly radioactive (Houston and others, 1953; Eakins, 1975, and Grybeck, Berg, and Karl, 1984). The veins are up to four feet thick but most are thinner and can be only traced for a few hundred feet where they disappear under vegetation or under water. The ore mineralogy of the veins varies greatly and includes red hematite, specular hematite, magnetite, pyrite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, thorite, monazite, zircon, parisite, and bastnaesite. Gangue minerals are mainly dolomite-ankerite, with varying amounts of alkali feldspar, chert, quartz, chalcedony, chlorite, epidote, sericite, kaolinite, fluorite, muscovite, apatite, topaz, and garnet. The maximum radioactivity of the veins as measured by the USGS is 0.095 eU; the average is 0.03 eU and the highest uranium content is 0.3% (Houston and others, 1958). The rare-earth carbonate veins contain an average of 0.79% combined rare-earth oxides; one high-grade grab sample contained about 5% rare-earth oxides. Only trace of the rare earths are present in the radioactive veins. 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, Berg, and Karl, 1984). Warner (1989) sampled several veins at this site to assess their columbium potential. A vein just south of Bay Point contains 0.2% REE across a width of 8.0 feet and a length of 1,300 feet. A vein at Bay Point contains 850 ppm Cb across a width of 3.4 feet and a length of 1,200 feet. Also see PE055 for a description of very similar if not identical veins to the south on Pitcher Island.
  • Age = Unknown other than host rock is Silurian.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic

Mining district

District name Ketchikan

Comments on the production information

  • Production Notes = None

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves = Warner (1989) indicates that the veins at this site and similar veins nearby on Pitcher Island (PE055) '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 elements.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Comments on the references

  • Primary Reference = Houston and others, 1958

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Uranium 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.