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Counts Mine

Past Producer in Russell county in Virginia, United States with commodity Barium-Barite
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10025721
MRDS ID K001651
Record type Site
Current site name Counts Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.94706, 37.00063 (WGS84)
Elevation 623
Relative position 2.9 KM (1.8 MI) SOUTHEAST OF HONAKER.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Russell(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Honaker(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Bluefield(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bluefield(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Clinch, Tennessee, Virginia(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Russell

Comments on the location information

  • 0.8 KM (0.5 MI) NORTHWEST OF BLACKFORD. ABOUT 0.5 KM (0.3 MI) NORTH ON STATE ROAD 641 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 80, THEN 120 M (394 FT) WEST OF 641. ANOTHER OPENING ON THE COUNTS ESTATE IS 0.4 KM (0.25 MI) SOUTHWEST OF THE MAIN OPENING. ITS UTM COORDINATES ARE N 4094945. AND E 415360. (ZONE +17) AND ITS ELEVATION IS 1960 FT (598 M).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Fluorite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Clay Residuum;Beekmantown Formation
    Rock description Clay Residuum;Beekmantown Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.94706, 37.00063
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Copper Ridge Syncline, Honaker Fault, Copper Creek Fault.

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Clay Residuum, Veins

Comments on the geologic information

  • BEDROCK STRIKES AVERAGE N70E DIPS RANGE FROM 5 TO 30SE. A ZONE OF CLOSELY SPACED INTERSECTING FRACTURES IN BEDROCK, ABOUT 15 FEET WIDE, CONTAIN THE GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF BARITE. VEINS AND REPLACEMENT MASSES OF BARITE MEASURE MORE THAN ONE FOOT IN THICKNESS ARE COMMON. SOME REPLACEMENT MASSES OCCUR AS ROSETTES WITH INDIVIDUAL CLEAVAGE FRAGMENTS 3 TO 4 INCHES IN WIDTH. BARITE IS ASSOCIATED WITH CALCITE AND FLUORITE. SOME IS BADLY IRON STAINED.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1880
Year of first production 1880

Mining district

District name Russell-Tazewell Counties Barite District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Counts (Estate)

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION FIGURES FOR THE PRINCIPAL OPEN CUT ARE UNKNOWN, BUT AT THE SMALLER OPENING TO THE SOUTHWEST, SEVERAL TONS OF HIGH-GRADE BARITE WERE REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN RECOVERED.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SINCE THE RESIDUAL BARITE IS LARGELY EXHAUSTED, IT IS MOST PROBABLE THAT THE REMAINING BEDROCK OCCURRENCES ARE NOT OF COMMERCIAL VALUE.

Comments on the workings information

  • THE MAIN WORKINGS ARE ON A HILL 61 M (200 FT) ABOVE THE CLINCH RIVER. IT CONSISTS OF AN OPEN CUT ABOUT 122 M (400 FT) LONG, 9 TO 30 M (30 TO 100 FT) WIDE, AND AS MUCH AS 12 M (40 FT) DEEP. THE DIMENSIONS OF THE OPENING TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKINGS ARE UNKNOWN.

Comments on development

  • MINE WAS WORKED SOMETIME BETWEEN 1880 AND 1908.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LUTTRELL, G.W., 1966, BASE-AND PRECIOUS-METAL AND RELATED ORE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIV. MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESOURCES REPT. 6, 164 P.

  • Deposit

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, BARITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 53, 85 P.

  • Deposit

    ? DIREXPL ? -DUG OPEN CUTS, MINE

  • Production

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, VA. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 53.

  • Reserve-Resource

    EDMUNDSON (1938)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE OCCURS PRINCIPALLY IN RESIDUAL CLAY, BUT ALSO OCCURS AS VEINS AND REPLACEMENT MASSES. THE BEDROCK IS LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE.
Deposit ONE OF LARGEST PRODUCERS IN RUSSELL COUNTY ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1973 Fagan, James M. Tennessee Valley Authority
Updater 01-OCT-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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