List of Quarries in Alaska & Quarry Links, Photographs and Articles
Prince of Wales Island (Continued)

• Prince of Wales Island, Craig, Alaska – the Admiral Calder Limestone Mine/Quarry (Limestone/Marble) (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
  <http://www.intierra.com/profiles/properties/A%5CAdmiral%20Calder%20Limestone%20Mine%20Project.htm>

  According to this web site, the Admiral Calder limestone quarry was originally discovered about 1900. The stone is described as “an ultra white marble deposit.” The original patents on the deposit were dated 1903. The Alaska Marble Company added land in 1908 and 1920, although the operations closed in 1910. Sealaska purchased the deposits in the mid-1980s and developed the deposit from 1995 to 1998. The mine was in operation from 1998 to 2000 and has been inactive up through December 2008, according to this article.

• Prince of Wales Island, Craig, Alaska – the Calder Limestone Mine (Quarry) – article entitled, “Lightloads for SeaCal,” in Alaska Business Monthly, September 1999, by Patricia Jones, on findarticles.com.
• Prince of Wales Island, Dickman Bay, Alaska – Alaska Shamrock Marble Company at Dickman Bay (circa 1920) (Marble) (Excerpt from Mineral Resources of Southeastern Alaska, Bulletin 682, by Ernest F. Burchard, U. S. Geological Survey, 1920)

  Dickman Bay.

  “Location. – an area of particular interest on account of the large variety of marble which it affords lies in the southeastern part of Prince of Wales Island, in the peninsula between Dickman Bay (so named on Coast and Geodetic Survey chart 8100) and the unnamed narrow inlet to the north, here designated Shamrock Inlet (No. 49). Dickman Bay is an extension of West Arm of Moira Sound, and the area lies 11 to 12 miles southwest of Dolomi. According to a booklet published in 1913 by the owners, the Alaska Shamrock Marble Co., of Portland, Oreg., two groups of claims have been located – group 1, consisting of eight claims (United States Mineral Survey No. 946), and group 2, consisting of four claims (United States Mineral survey No. 947), together aggregating 228 acres.

  “Relations and character of the marble. – The marble occurs in beds of varying thickness which strike N. 30° - 40° W. and dip steeply southwest. It is interstratified with graywacke and schistose beds and intersected by dikes of diabase and basaltic rock. A small area of dark-gray granitic rock is exposed at the southeast point of the peninsula and appears to be in contact with the marble mass. The marble is more or less schistose in places, especially near the contacts of schistose beds, and it is banded locally near the contacts of dikes by the interlamination of marble and dike rock in layers ranging from less than 1 inch to several inches in thickness. Ledges of marble 20 to 75 feet wide alternate with areas of graywacke 50 to 1,000 feet across and have been traced in the direction of the strike for a mile or more. The surface exposures show more or less jointing and fracturing of the beds.

  “The surface of the peninsula north of Dickman Bay is rough and wooded. The banks generally rise abruptly from deep water, and the highest marble ledges reach an altitude of 350 to 500 feet above sea level at a few hundred feet from the shore.

  “Most of the marble on the Alaska-Shamrock claims is of fine grain, although in a few places some very coarsely crystalline material was noted. Numerous samples sent from the prospects to Portland, Oreg., have been polished and have revealed a large variety of colors in a great many combinations. As a rule the rocks take a good polish. The veins which produce the beautiful effects in the strongly veined or schistose marble do not take so uniform a polish as the calcite portions of the stone. The inequalities in the polish are due to the presence in the veins of minerals of varying degrees of hardness, such as quartz, mica, and chloritic materials, and are not noticeable unless the light falls on the surface at an angle.

  “Certain of the varieties of marble obtained here are white with golden-yellow veining, grays of various shades, gray veined and mottled with white, pink, and yellow; pale green, grass-green, green with black and white, green with pink and white, black and white, plain black, and of other color combinations. (See Pls. XX to XXIII.) In thin sections the green color appears to be due to chloritic material and possibly to some epidote. Among the trade names adopted by the company to designate some of the more striking varieties of the marble are ‘white and gold,’ ‘Confederate gray,’ ‘moss-agate green,’ ‘raven-black,’ and ‘jewel marble.’ The last is a veined or mottled stone generally showing strong contrasts between dark green, white, and pink and having a few pink calcite crystals either isolated or in bunches. The color of these calcite crystals, which suggests that of garnet, is due to the presence of disseminated fine grains of hematite.

  Plate XX. Samples of colored marble from Dickman Bay in Office of Alaska-Shamrock Marble Co., Portland, Oreg. Some of these slabs afford striking illustrations of mashing and brecciation.

  Plate XXI. A. Fine-grained white marble with faint grayish-green veins, from Alaska-Shamrock Marble Co.’s property, Dickman Bay.

  Plate XXI. B. Fine-grained gray marble with yellowish streaks and white clouded areas, from Alaska-Shamrock Marble Co.’s property, Dickman Bay.

  Plate XXII. A. Fine-grained dark grayish-green and white brecciated marble (‘Black and White’) from Alaska -Shamrock Marble Co. ’s property. Dickman Bay.

  Plate XXII. B. Fine-grained green and white brecciated marble from Alaska-Shamrock Marble Co.’s property, Dickman Bay.

  “Thin sections of five samples of marble from the Alaska-Shamrock claims were examined microscopically by T. N. Dale and G. F. Loughlin.

  “A section of the grayish-white marble showed an uneven texture with streaks still firmer than the very fine grained groundmass. These streaks contained also sparse quartz and muscovite. Micrometer measurements of the general groundmass gave a grain diameter ranging from 0.025 to 0.5 millimeter, mostly between 0.05 and 0.25 millimeter, with an estimated average of 0.1 millimeter.

  “A section of the banded white and blue marble is composed of light bands of regular texture alternating with bands of finer grains with much graphite, a few large calcite grains, and a little muscovite. The grain diameter of the white bands ranges between 0.05 and 0.5 millimeter, mostly 0.125 to 0.25 millimeter, with an estimated average of 0.125 millimeter.

  “A section of the banded green and white marble showed a groundmass of white bands containing many grains of plagioclase (?) and some quartz measuring as much as 0.25 millimeter, with irregular bands of fine-grained epidote, chloritic material, calcite, and a little quartz. The groundmass has grain diameters of 0.025 to 0.32 millimeter, mostly 0.075 to 0.2 millimeter, with an estimated average of 0.075 millimeter. The calcite grains in the green bands have a grain diameter of about 0.06.

  “A section of grass-green marble consists of calcite plates, mostly untwined, quartz grains, with rarely one of the plagioclase, finely disseminated minute scales of chlorite, a few of biotite, and plates and quartz grains and some pyrite. The calcite plates measured by micrometer range between 0.02 and 0.094 millimeter, but mostly between 0.03 and 0.056 millimeter.

  “The section of the ‘jewel’ marble was not measured for grain diameter. The groundmass is mainly calcite, but chloritic material and quartz occur, especially in the green areas. The red or ‘jewel’ areas consist of calcite colored by hematite grains. These red areas are cross by colorless veinlike streaks which may be aragonite or possibly strained calcite.

  “Two samples analyzed by R. K. Bailey show high percentages of insoluble material and a moderate percentage of magnesia.

  Analyses of marble from Dickman Bay.

  Insoluble matter – (‘Jewel’ marble) 22.84 – (Dark-green marble) 37.32

  Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) – (‘Jewel’ marble) 74.61 – (Dark-green marble) 58.40

  Magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃ – (‘Jewel’ marble) 3.25 – (Dark-green marble) 6.61

  “Prospects. – Three or four openings have been made on marble beds that crop out on the shore of Shamrock Inlet. At the prospect nearest the southeast point of the peninsula work was in progress in October, 1912. A small clearing had been made, several houses and a machine shop had been built, and blocks were being detached from a ledge of marble banded with dark-gray and white veins. The marble is brittle and somewhat schistose and splits readily along the laminations. On weathered surfaces the harder portions of the rock stand in relief above the more calcareous portions. A hand derrick was used here in clearing away stumps and raising blocks of marble.

  “Northeastward along the shore of the inlet other openings disclose alternations of light-colored and blue marble. One opening is in beds of very fine grained cream-colored marble slightly veined with yellow. At this place the beds are exposed for about 100 feet horizontally and 30 to 40 feet vertically. The strike is N. 75° W., and the beds stand nearly vertical. The surface of the beds is rough and fractured, with deep crevices produced by solution, and the mass is cut by a basaltic dike that has been faulted and twisted since its intrusion into the marble. Where badly fractured the beds will have to be quarried deeply in order to ascertain the possibility of obtaining blocks of adequate size.

  “Two of the most interesting prospects are on a ridge extending northwest from the camp, in the direction of the strike of the rocks. The marble ledge that has been opened is 70 to 75 feet wide between two dikes that have weathered more slowly than the calcareous mass and that form walls on either side of it. At the upper opening, about 800 feet from the shore and 350 to 400 feet above tidewater, the marble is principally green. The beds are exposed for about 150 feet along the strike. The green color appears to become paler toward the northwest, although small patches of stone among the paler areas are of fully as deep a green color as any others in the deposit. The deeper shades of green seem also to occur nearest the top or surface edges of the beds. Prospecting with a core drill is recommended if more definite knowledge is desired regarding the continuation of green shades in depth. The rock here is not so badly fractured at the surface as along the shore, and it is possible to get out some very good sized blocks without quarrying deeply. A 1-ton block, which was moved on skids down the trail to the beach, has already been shipped to Portland, Oreg. Another opening on this same ledge was noted about 600 feet from the beach and about 200 feet above water. the beds here are banded with dark blue or gray and white near the southwest wall, but the blue bands change to dark green near the middle of the ledge. A small mass of garnet-colored calcite was noted in the rock at this place.

  “Other prospects of the Alaska-Shamrock Marble Co. are situated on this peninsula on the north shore of Dickman Bay and extend up a small bight about three-quarters of a mile from the extremity of the peninsula. The dip and strike and the position of the beds exposed here indicate that they are probably continuations of the ledges near Shamrock Inlet. Diabase dikes have intruded the beds in this locality, and the surface exposures of the stone show much jointing and fracturing. The marble occurs in various shades of white, bluish gray, and green. In polished samples some of the green marble compares favorably with the ‘verde antique’ types produced in the United States. The beds crop out in bold cliffs on both sides of the small cove, and they also form its floor and extend inland beyond the head of the cove. This area was the first one to be prospected by the Alaska-Shamrock Marble Co. The prospecting has been done mainly by hand drilling and loosening the blocks with black powder. Considerable material has been shipped to Portland for exhibition. Another possible resource of this company is the gray granite that crops out on the shore of Dickman Bay between the two marble localities.

  “A letter from the company dated September 9, 1914, indicates that prospecting had been continued with encouraging results consisting of additional discoveries of large quantities of attractive marble, including the ‘jewel’ stone, pink and gray, ‘Irish green,’ white and gold, verde antique, dark stone with a grain resembling that of fir when cut in the direction of the grain, and stone having intermingled green, black, gray, white, and pink colors. Eight blocks having an average weight of 7; tons each and two blocks of 12 tons each are reported to have been shipped from this locality to Portland, Oreg.

  “Some decorative work in Portland is reported to have been done with this marble, such as the entrance to the Charlotta Court at Seventeenth and Everett streets, in which was used a reddish-brown and white-banded combination with a background of Colorado Yule marble, and the entrance to the Majestic Theater at Park and Washington streets (see Pl. XXVI), which was paneled with black and white brecciated marble having a garnet –colored stain in some of the black areas.

  “The reported discovery of a large quantity of verde antique marble seems to be especially important, as there is a considerable demand for marble of this type for trimmings in interior decorative work, and it is beginning to be used for exterior work, such as borders for doorways or show windows.

  “Much of the marble available in this locality is of great beauty when finished, but the geologic structure of the beds suggests that there will probably be considerable waste in quarrying and in finishing. Much more prospecting and development work must be done in order to ascertain whether or not the properties can be exploited on a commercial basis. All the properties are situated most favorably for shipping quarry products. Deep water extends practically to the shore line, except in the small cove, and both Dickman Bay and Shamrock Inlet afford roomy and sheltered harbors.”

  Plate XXVI. Entrance to Majestic Theater, Portland, Oreg., decorated with colored marble from Dickman Bay.

  • Prince of Wales Island, Dickman Bay, Alaska – “Dickman Bay, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Prospect of Alaska Shamrock Marble Company. Circa 1912.” (Photographic from the United States Geological Survey Photographic Library.)
    • “Dickman Bay, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Prospect of Alaska Shamrock Marble Company. Circa 1912.”
• Prince of Wales Island, Dolomi, Alaska – Marble Deposits at Dolomi (circa 1920) (Marble) (Excerpt from Mineral Resources of Southeastern Alaska, Bulletin 682, by Ernest F. Burchard, U. S. Geological Survey, 1920)

  Southeastern Part of Prince of Wales Island – Dolomi.

  “Certain marble deposits on the east side of Prince of Wales Island in the vicinity of Dolomi were described by the Wrights,* as no new work was reported to have been done on the claims, they were not visited by the writer. The notes originally published are given below.

  (* Footnote 1, page 85: Wright, F. E. and C. W. The Ketchikan and Wrangell mining districts, Alaska : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 347, pp. 196-197, 1908.)

  “‘The properties of the American Coral Marble Co., are located at two localities – at the head of North Arm (47), where 12 claims have been located along the north shore of the inlet, and at the north entrance to Johnson Inlet (48, where the company has several claims extending from Dolomi eastward to Clarence Strait. The principal developments have been made at the North Arm property, and at this point a post office named Baldwin has been established. Active work at this locality began in 1904, and the marble deposits were prospected during that year. In 1905 a wharf was built, machinery installed, and buildings erected preparatory to quarrying the marble. During 1905, however, practically no work was done, and all of the machinery was removed in 1907. At the Dolomi property a small quarry was started on the hillside, at a point a quarter of a mile northeast of Dolomi post office and a few hundred feet from tidewater on the Clarence Strait side, and buildings were erected. No operations were in progress at these localities during 1907 [and none has been reported up to 1916].

  “‘The deposits at North Arm and at Dolomi consist of marble beds interstratified with chloritic and calcareous schists, striking northwest with steep dips, usually southwest. The surrounding area is mantled by a dense growth of vegetation, and the limits of the deposits have not been definitely determined, though where the marble is exposed it is much fractured, variable in color and composition, and intersected by a few narrow dikes of diabase. The fracture planes were probably formed principally during the period of tilting and folding of the beds and existed before erosion exposed the present surface outcrops.

  “‘Since that time weathering has accentuated and to some extent increased the number of fracture planes, and it seems probable, however, that in depth these numerous planes, although potentially present at lines of weakness, will become less numerous and will not interfere greatly in quarrying.

  “‘Although some parts of the deposits consist of pure-white fine-grained marble of excellent quality, other parts are poorly colored, coarse grained, and of little commercial value, and it will probably be difficult to obtain large quantities of uniform grade. The better grade is reported to give the following analysis: Calcium carbonate, 94 per cent; alumina, 3.9 per cent; silica, 1.4 per cent; magnesia, 0.7 per cent. Pyrite is also present in small amounts, occurring in thin seams and finely disseminated in some of the marble.’”

• Prince of Wales Island, Dolomi, Alaska – the American Coral Marble Company Quarry at Dolomi (circa 1907) (Marble) Excerpt from “The Building Stones and Materials of Southeastern Alaska,” by Charles W. Wright, in Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Progress of Investigations in 1907, Bulletin 345, by Alfred H. Brooks and Others, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, 1908, 120-121.

  American Coral Marble Company.

  “The properties of the American Coral Marble Company are at two localities – (1) at the head of North Arm, where 12 claims have been located along the north shore of the inlet, and (2) at the north entrance to Johnson Inlet, where the company has several claims extending from Dolomi eastward to Clarence Strait…At the Dolomi property a small quarry was started on the hillside, at a point a quarter of a mile northeast of Dolomi post-office and a few hundred feet from tide water on the Clarence Strait side, where buildings were erected. No operations were in progress at these localities during 1907.

  “The deposits at North Arm and Dolomi consist of marble beds interstratified with chloritic and calcareous schists, striking northwest with steep dips, usually to the southwest. The surrounding area is mantled by a dense growth of vegetation, and the limits of the deposits have not been definitely determined, though where the marble is exposed it is much fractured, variable in color and composition, and intersected by a few narrow dikes of diabase. The fracture planes were probably formed principally during the period of tilting and folding of the beds and existed before erosion exposed the present surface outcrops. Since that time weathering has accentuated and to some extent increased the number of fracture planes. It seems probable, however, that in depth these planes, although potentially present as lines of weakness, will become less numerous and will not interfere greatly in quarrying.

  “Although some parts of the deposits consist of pure-white, fine-grained marble of excellent quality, other parts are poorly colored, coarse grained, and of little commercial value, and it will probably be difficult to obtain large quantities of uniform grade. The better grade is reported to give the following analysis: Calcium carbonate 94 percent; alumina, 3.9 per cent; silica, 1.4 per cent; magnesia, 0.7 per cent. Pyrite is also present in small amounts, occurring in thin seams and finely disseminated in some of the marble.”

  • Prince of Wales Island, Dolomi, Alaska – the American Coral Marble Company Quarry at Dolomi (circa 1907/1908) (Marble) Excerpt from “Building Stones,” The Ketchikan and Wrangell Mining Districts of Alaska, Bulletin 347, by Fred Eugene Wright and Charles Will Wright, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908, pp. 196-197.

    American Coral Marble Company.

    “General description. – The properties of the American Coral Marble Company are located at two localities – (1) at the head of North Arm, where twelve claims have been located along the north shore of the Inlet, and (2) at the north entrance to Johnson Inlet, where the company has several claims extending from Dolomi eastward to Clarence Strait (see Pl. I)…At the Dolomi property a small quarry was started on the hillside, at a point a quarter of a mile northeast of Dolomi post office and a few hundred feet from tide water on the Clarence Strait side, and buildings were erected. No operations were in progress at these localities during 1907.

    “Marble deposits. – The deposits at North Arm and at Dolomi consist of marble beds interstratified with chloritic and calcareous schists, striking northwest with steep dips usually southwest. The surrounding area is mantled by a dense growth of vegetation, and the limits of the deposits have not been definitely determined, though where the marble is exposed it is much fractured, variable in color and composition, and intersected by a few narrow dikes of diabase. The fracture planes were probably formed principally during the period of tilting and folding of the beds and existed before erosion exposed the present surface outcrops. Since that time weathering has accentuated and to some extent increased the number of fracture planes, and it seems probable, however, that in depth these planes, although potentially present as lines of weakness, will become less numerous and will not interfere greatly in quarrying.

    “Although some parts of the deposits consist of pure white, fine-grained marble of excellent quality, other parts are poorly colored, coarse-grained, and of little commercial value, and it will probably be difficult to obtain large quantities of uniform grade. The better grade is reported to give the following analysis: Calcium carbonate, 94 per cent; alumina, 3.9 per cent; silica, 1.4 per cent; magnesia, 0.7 per cent. Pyrite is also present in small amounts, occurring in thin seams and finely disseminated in some of the marble.”

• Prince of Wales Island, Dolomi, Alaska – American Coral Marble Company at Dolomi (circa 1920) (Marble) (Excerpt from Mineral Resources of Southeastern Alaska, Bulletin 682, by Ernest F. Burchard, U. S. Geological Survey, 1920)

  Southeastern Part of Prince of Wales Island - Dolomi.

  “Certain marble deposits on the east side of Prince of Wales Island in the vicinity of Dolomi were described by the Wrights,* as no new work was reported to have been done on the claims, they were not visited by the writer. The notes originally published are given below.

  (* Footnote 1, page 85: Wright, F. E. and C. W. The Ketchikan and Wrangell mining districts, Alaska : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 347, pp. 196-197, 1908.)

  “‘The properties of the American Coral Marble Co., are located at two localities – at the head of North Arm (47), where 12 claims have been located along the north shore of the inlet, and at the north entrance to Johnson Inlet (48, where the company has several claims extending from Dolomi eastward to Clarence Strait. The principal developments have been made at the North Arm property, and at this point a post office named Baldwin has been established. Active work at this locality began in 1904, and the marble deposits were prospected during that year. In 1905 a wharf was built, machinery installed, and buildings erected preparatory to quarrying the marble. During 1905, however, practically no work was done, and all of the machinery was removed in 1907. At the Dolomi property a small quarry was started on the hillside, at a point a quarter of a mile northeast of Dolomi post office and a few hundred feet from tidewater on the Clarence Strait side, and buildings were erected. No operations were in progress at these localities during 1907 (and none has been reported up to 1916).”

[Top of Page]

Commercial use of material within this site is strictly prohibited. It is not to be captured, reworked, and placed inside another web site ©. All rights reserved. Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo.