Rock Quarries on Popof Island

2011 - Western Marine Construction is currently leasing out our rock quarry.

Historical Information

There are two rock quarries located on Popof Island. Both are owned by Shumagin Corporation. One of the quarries is located adjacent to the harbor, and is known as the Knoll Quarry. A cautionary note: Some Corps of Engineers documents mistakenly refer to this quarry as the Dome Quarry. The second quarry is the Red Cove Dome Quarry, and is located near the present landfill site. A map showing the locations of both quarries is available from Shumagin Corporation.

The Aleut Corporation owns the subsurface rights to both of these quarries, and has contractually delegated management of these quarries to Shumagin Corporation. Our contract with The Aleut Corporation imposes a number of requirements on Shumagin Corporation, and any contract for access to our quarries is going to mirror those requirements. A summary of those requirements may be viewed in PDF format:

One of the requirements imposed by The Aleut Corporation is that we pay their royalties based on bank cubic yards. We understand that various contracts pay contractors based on other units of measure, including weight, cubic yards, and placed cubic yards. Because of our contract with The Aleut Corporation, any contract for the use of our quarries will require that we be paid by the bank cubic yard.

Shumagin Corporation has established a unitary royalty rate for rock from our quarries. This rate is presently (February, 2005) set at $7.55 per bank cubic yard. This royalty rate includes the royalty payments to The Aleut Corporation, which will be made by Shumagin Corporation. In addition, a contract which basically mirrors the requirements imposed on Shumagin Corporation by The Aleut Corporation will be required, complete with insurance coverage and bonding.

Our royalty rate is based upon the rock actually removed. This leaves undecided the manner of calculating the amount of shot rock which is not removed and converting that back into bank cubic yards. We presume that this can be resolved through good faith negotiations.

The City has addressed the issue of whether or not the City sales tax applies to rock sales in a 2003 letter opinion, a copy of which may be downloaded below.

For more information, contact Shumagin Corporation at (907) 383-3525.

There is a barge loading ramp located at the base of the Knoll Quarry, with a haul road connecting the ramp to the quarry. A contractor who has leases the Knoll Quarry may also lease the barge loading ramp for an additional fee of $15,000.00 per year or portion thereof.

Knoll Quarry

The Knoll Quarry appears to be an excellent source for armor rock. We have several reports that have been prepared over the years on the Knoll Quarry and its rock resource. A list of those reports is set out below:

A copy of each report may be downloaded in PDF format by clicking on the report name.

Western Marine Construction has leased the Knoll Quarry for work on the new Sand Point Harbor project.

Red Cove Dome Quarry

The Red Cove Dome Quarry appears to be an excellent source for smaller rock. We have no reports or tests in our possession that have been done on this quarry, except for one laboratory report contained in the Sand Point Detail Project Report, above, which shows tests on the Knoll Quarry (identified as the Dome Quarry) and on the Red Cove Dome Quarry (identified as the East Quarry). BC Contractors has the current lease on this quarry.

Knoll Quarry

This photograph shows the haul road, as well as the quarry itself.

Quarry-small.jpg