Unnamed Near Salmon Bay

The Unnamed Near Salmon Bay is a uranium and thorium mine located in Alaska.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Unnamed Near Salmon Bay

Commodity

Primary: Uranium
Primary: Thorium
Secondary: REE
Tertiary: Copper

Location

State: Alaska

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Occurrence
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1950
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: SEE DEPOSIT DESCRIPTION COMMENTS

Structure

Type: R
Description: Deposit Is On West Flank Of N-Nw Trending Kashevarof Anticline. Regional Strike And Dip: N15w, 45sw

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Lamprophyre
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Silurian

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: AVERAGE EQUIVALENT URANIUM VALUE IS 0.03%, BUT CHEMICAL ANALYSIS HIGH IS 0.003%. BALANCE OF RADIACTIVITY DUE TO TH. SMALLER VEINS A FEW HUNDRED FEET SW HAVE UP TO 0.72% RAE

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Thorite
Ore: Parisite
Ore: Bastnaesite
Ore: Monazite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Pyrite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): 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

Comment (Deposit): PITCHER ISLAND.

Comment (Workings): 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.

Comment (Deposit): SEE ALSO SALMON BAY OCCURRENCE ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; USGS OPEN FILE 80-793, TABLE 2

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 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.'

Comment (Production): NONE

Comment (Commodity): CHALCOPYRITE IDENTIFIED IN ONLY ONE SAMPLE

Comment (Location): 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.

Comment (Deposit): 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,

References

Reference (Deposit): Glover, A. E., 1951, Salmon Bay - Red Bay reconnaissance, Prince of Wales Island: Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Mineral Investigation 117-1, 6 p.

Reference (Deposit): White, M. G., West, W. S., Tolbert, G. E., Nelson, A. E., and Huston, J R., 1952, Preliminary summary of reconnaissance of uranium in Alaska, 1951: U.S. Geological Survey Cicular 196, 17 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., and others, 1953, Preliminary summary of reconnaissance for uranium and thorium in Alaska, 1952, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 248, 15 p.

Reference (Deposit): Houston, J. R., Bates, R. G., Velikanje, R. S., and Wedow, Helmuth, Jr., 1958, Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in southeastern Alaska, 1952: U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1058-A, p. 1-31.

Reference (Deposit): Overstreet, W.C., 1967, The geologic occurrence of monzonite: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 530, 327 p.

Reference (Deposit): Eakins, G. R., 1975, Uranium investigations in southeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, Geologic Report 44, 62 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E. H., 1972, Summary of references to mineral occurrences (other than mineral fuels and construction materials) in the Petersburg Quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 78-870, 53 p.

Reference (Deposit): Cobb, E. H., 1972, Metallic mineral resources map of the Petersburg quadrangle, Alaska: U. S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-415, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1980, Claim map, Petersburg quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Map No. 117, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Grybeck, D. J., Berg, H. C., and Karl, S. M., 1984, Map and description of the mineral deposits in the Petersburg and eastern Port Alexander quadrangles: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 84-837, 86 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.

Reference (Deposit): Warner, J. D., 1989, Columbium-, rare-earth element-, and thorium- bearing veins near Salmon Bay, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report 6-89, 25 p.

Reference (Deposit): Brew, D.A., 1997, Reconnaissance geologic map of the Petersburg B-4 quadrangle, southeastern Alaska: U. S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-156-F, scale 63,360, one sheet, 23 p. pamphlet.

Reference (Deposit): Karl, S. M., Berg, H. C., Grybeck, D., and Abramson, B. S., 1980, Tables describing metalliferous and selected nonmetallic mineral deposits in the Petersburg and eastern Port Alexander quadrangles, Alaska: U. S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-793, 14 p., 4 sheets, scale, 1:250,000

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