Unnamed (near mouth of Port Camden) (ARDF #PE001) Th, U

Unnamed (near mouth of Port Camden)

Prospect, Probably inactive

Commodities and mineralogy

Main commodities	Th; U
Other commodities	Ce; La
Ore minerals	pyrite; unidentified radioactive minerals
Gangue minerals	apatite; magnetite; siderite

Geographic location

Quadrangle map, 1:250,000-scale	PE
Quadrangle map, 1:63,360-scale	D-6
Latitude	56.80657
Longitude	-133.9509
Nearby scientific data	Find additional scientific data near this location
Location and accuracy	This prospect consists of a number of radioactiive occurrences on northeastern Kuiu Island that consist of outcrops of Tertiary sandstone along the shoreline at the end of the peninsula that juts out between the mouth of Kadake Bay and the north end of Port Camden. These are commonly referred to as the Port Camden prospect. The coordinates are approximately at the center of the radioactive occurrences which are localities 7 and 8 of Grybeck, Berg, and Karl (1984). Called the the 'Kadake Bay' occurrence by Still and others (2002).

Geologic setting

Geologic description The Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation consists of light brown, poorly sorted, non-marine, dolomitic sandstone that contains clay clasts, carbonized wood fragments, and dolomitic concretions; thin shale layers are in the sandstone (Muffler, 1967). The sandstone ranges from silty, fine-grained and thin-bedded to medium- and coarse-grained; it is partly conglomeratic, and medium- to thick-bedded. Siderite, magnetite, pyrite, and apatite are present in some lithologies. All carbonized wood fragments show radioactivity when tested in place. Instrument readings varied from 2 to 50 times background. One sample gave readings in eU of 1300, plus-or-minus 400 parts per million (ppm) uranium, and gamma eU of 2300, plus-or-minus 700 ppm uranium. Samples from a four-inch-thick bed of fine-grained Tertiary sandstone contained 11 and 12 ppm uranium and up to 30 percent magnetite. (The description is summarized from Eakins, 1975; Dickinson, 1979; Dickinson and Campbell, 1982; Dickinson and Pierson, 1988; and Still and others, 2002). Still and others (2002) collected several samples of thin, black carbonaceous shale interbeds in the sandstone that gave slightly elevated readings on a Scintillometer; they contained up to 46 ppm uranium, 23 ppm lanthanum, and 41 ppm cerium.
Geologic map unit	(-133.9526242487, 56.8062301257881)
Mineral deposit model	Sandstone uranium (Cox and Singer, 1986; model 30c).
Mineral deposit model number	30c
Age of mineralization	Tertiary or younger based on age of the host rock, the Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation.

Production and reserves

Workings or exploration	Block of 30 claims staked in 1976 and active until at least 1981 (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1980). A few samples were collected and analyzed by the Bureau of Land Management (Still and others, 2002) but there has apparently been little private work done in recent years.
Indication of production	None
Additional comments This area has been selected for transfer to Sealaska and the Kake Tribal Corporations and in 2002 was classified as 'interim conveyed, pending patent'.

References

MRDS Number	A010324
References Dickinson, K.A., 1979, A uranium occurrence in the Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation on Kuiu Island, southeast Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1427, 5 p. Dickinson, K.A., and Campbell, J.A., 1982, The potential for uranium deposits in the Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation of the southern part of the Admiralty trough, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 82-983, 18 p. Dickinson, K.A., and Pierson, C.T., 1988, A statistical analysis of chemical and mineralogic data from the Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation in southeastern Alaska, with emphasis on uranium and thorium: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1851, 19 p. Eakins, G.R., 1975, Uranium investigations in southeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Report 44, 62 p. 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. Muffler, L.J.P., 1967, Stratigraphy of the Keku Islets and neighboring parts of Kuiu and Kupreanof Islands, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1241-C, p. C1-C52. Still, J.C., Bittenbender, P.E., Bean, K.W., and Gensler, E.G., 2002, Mineral assessment of the Stikine area, central Southeast Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Land Management Technical Report 51, 560 p. U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1980, Claim map, Petersburg quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Bureau of Mines Map 117, 1 sheet, scale 1:250,000.
Reporters	D.J. Grybeck (Port Ludlow, WA)
Last report date	4/8/2007