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

Prays

Prospect in Alaska, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Mercury, Lead, Antimony
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. 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 10308137
Record type Site
Current site name Prays
Alternate or previous names P.V.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -160.59541, 55.21123 (WGS84)
Relative position This prospect is located on Unga Island approximately 1 mile southeast of Red Mountain and 1 mile west of Bloomer Peak (Wilson and others, 1988, locality 27). 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-2(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
Mercury Secondary
Lead Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Barite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The rocks exhibit intense silicification and argillization.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 104
USGS model code 25a
Deposit model name Hot-spring Au-Ag
Mark3 model number 45

Nearby scientific data

(1) -160.59541, 55.21123
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geologic Description = This prospect occurs in rocks mapped as late Eocene to early Oligocene Popof volcanic rocks (Wilson and others, 1995). In the immediate area of the prospect an interlayered sequence of silicified and argillized andesitic crystal and lithic tuffs is overlain by unaltered dacite tuff (Ellis and Apel, 1990). A diorite plug crops out in the southeast part of the area. Silica-replaced permeable tuffs are best exposed at the discovery site, defined in 1979 and 1980 by Resource Associates of Alaska as a siliceous knob (Anderson and others, 1980). Other less exposed zones of silica replacement, siliceous breccias, and areas of clay-pyrite alteration occur throughout the area. The siliceous zones appear to grade laterally into argillically altered rock. The knob contains pyritic zones and abundant drusy quartz veins. Two stages of silicification have been recognized. The earlier is a pervasive replacement by amorphous silica and the later is represented by small, discontinuous quartz veins. A hot-springs origin of the silica has been suggested by Trujillo and others (1981). Sparse quartz-barite veins contain as much as 11.8 ppm gold, 19 ppm silver, 1,000 ppm lead, 750 ppm arsenic, 170 ppm mercury, and 150 ppm antimony (Trujillo and others, 1981). Drilling of the knob in 1981 and 1983 by Resource Associates of Alaska and UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company penetrated a 60- and a 90-foot zone of intense silicification. These holes contained as much as 0.085 ppm gold, 4.25 ppm silver, 55 ppm arsenic, and 5 ppm or more mercury.
  • 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 = From 1979 to 1983, Resource Associates of Alaska and UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company mapped and sampled the prospect, ran magnetometer and EM surveys, and drilled two core holes for a total of 339 feet. They collected 270 soil and about 100 rock samples. In 1990 Battle Mountain Exploration Company mapped and sampled the prospect and relogged the core.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Anderson, G.L., Butherus, D.L., Fankhauser, R.E., Pray, J.C., Lindberg, P.A., and Hoffman, B.L., 1980, Exploration and evaluation of lands leased from Aleut Native Corporation 1980; Resource Associates of Alaska Report, 84 p, 16 map sheets, various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Trujillo, R.S., Anderson, G., MacLeod, T., Hendrick, K., Farnham, S., Peterson, J., 1981. Exploration and evaluation of the Unga-Popof-Korovan Islands portion of lands leased from Aleut Native Corporation: Resource Associates of Alaska report, 70 p., 38 map sheets, various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • Deposit

    Peterson, R.J., Handverger, P., Rosenkrans, D., Bartels, E, and Woolston, D., 1983, Shumagin Islands precious metal exploration program southwest Alaska: UNC Teton Exploration Drilling Company report, 61 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

    Ellis, W.T., and Apel, R.A., 1990, Unga/Alaska Peninsula 1990 final report, Battle Mountain Exploration Company report, 49 p., 29 map sheets at various scales. (Report held by the Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.)

  • 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 = Ellis and Apel, 1990

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Model Name = Epithermal gold veins, Hot-springs Au-Ag (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 25a)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 09-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.