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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Alaska Garnet

Producer in Alaska, United States with commodity Garnet
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Nearby scientific data
  7. Ore body information
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Mining district
  10. Links to other databases
  11. Bibliographic references
  12. General comments
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10003659
MRDS ID A106428
Record type Site
Current site name Alaska Garnet
Alternate or previous names Wrangell Garnet

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -132.36268, 56.57364 (WGS84)
Relative position SEE LOCATION COMMENTS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Wade Hampton(Census area)

Alaska(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Petersburg C-2(quadrangle 1:63,360 scale)

Petersburg N(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

  • A FAMOUS ALASKA MINERAL LOCALITY KNOWN SINCE THE EARLY 1900'S THAT HAS LONG BEEN MINED FOR GARNET SPECIMENS. MINE SITE IS AT AN ELEVATION OF FROM ABOUT 50 TO 200 FEET AND ABOUT 1000 FEET FROM THE SHORELINE IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL PORTION OF SECTION 19, T 61 S, R 83 E.; IT CAN BE REACHED BY A WELL MARKED TRAIL ALONG GARNET CREEK FROM A LANDING ON THE STIKINE RIVER. CURRENTLY (1998) THE PROPERTY IS OWNED BY THE BOY SCOUTS IN WRANGELL AND PERMISSION TO ENTER IT SHOULD BE OBTAINED FROM THEM. LOCATION OF MINE IS KNOWN TO WITHIN 100 M.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Garnet Primary

Nearby scientific data

(1) -132.36268, 56.57364
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form SEE DEPOSIT DESCRIPTION COMMENTS

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No

Comments on exploration

  • Status = Active

Mining district

District name Petersburg

Comments on the production information

  • THIS SITE IS A CLASSIC ALASKA MINERAL LOCALITY THAT IS KNOWN WORLDWIDE. THE GARNET IS UNSUITABLE FOR FACETING AS A GEMSTONE, BUT IT HAS BEEN MINED ON A MODEST SCALE FOR DECADES FOR MINERALOGICAL SPECIMENS AND WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE TO BE INDEFINITELY. WRANGELL GARNETS ARE A STAPLE OF TOURIST AND ROCK SHOPS THROUGHOUT ALASKA AND HAVE BEEN WIDELY EXPORTED AS WELL. THE GARNET HAS BEEN CONSIDERED FOR USE AS AN INDUSTRIAL ABRASIVE AND THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME MINOR PRODUCTION OR AT LEAST TEST SHIPMENTS AS AN ABRASIVE AND FOR FOUNDRY POWDER PRIOR TO WW II. THE DEPOSIT'S RELATIVELY LOW GRADE, LIMITED EXTENT, AND LACK OF A NEARBY MARKET, HOWEVER, SUGGEST THAT PRODUCTION OF THIS GARNET AS A HIGH-VOLUME INDUSTRIAL MINERAL IS UNLIKELY IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • LARGE AS A SOURCE OF MINERALOGICAL SPECIMENS. BRESSLER (1950) INDICATES THE RESOURCES AS ABRASIVE TO BE ABOUT 11,900 TONS OF GARNET IN ABOUT 238,340 TONS (1,125,000 CUBIC YARDS) OF ROCK .

Comments on the workings information

  • CURRENTLY (1998) BEING MINED FROM SMALL SURFACE PITS AS IT HAS BEEN FOR DECADES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE COUNTRY ROCKS IN THE AREA OF THIS DEPOSIT ARE CRETACEOUS PELITIC SCHIST AND HORNFELS INTRUDED BY EOCENE TONALITE AND GRANODIORITE (BREW AND OTHERS, 1984). THE DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF DARK RED, EUHEDRAL TO SUBHEDRAL ALMANDINE GARNET CRYSTALS UP TO 3 CM IN DIAMETER DISSEMINATED IN SEVERAL LAYERS OF QUARTZ-BIOTITE SCHIST UP TO 10 OR MORE FEET THICK.

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.