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East Meyer Barite Mine

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10025889
MRDS ID K001864
Record type Site
Current site name East Meyer Barite Mine
Alternate or previous names Mccoy Barite Mine
Related records 10202057

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.06626, 35.93592 (WGS84)
Elevation 457
Relative position 1.5 MILE NE OF PIGEONROOST GAP

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Cocke(county)

Tennessee(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Neddy Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper French Broad(hydrologic unit)

French Broad-Holston(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Cherokee National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Tennessee Cocke

Comments on the location information

  • WORKINGS EXTEND ALONG THE NORTHWEST SLOPE OF THE NORTH SPUR OF STONE MOUNTAIN, 1,400 FEET ESE OF BM Z 127.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Analytical data

Result VEIN AS MINED, CONTAINS LESS THAN 50 PERCENT BARITE
Result HOWEVER, PICKED SAMPLES CONSIST OF 97-98% BARITE WITH TRACE IMPURITIES.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Cochran Conglomerate, Chilhowee Group, Quartzite & Conglomerate
    Rock description Cochran Conglomerate, Chilhowee Group, Quartzite & Conglomerate
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.06626, 35.93592
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Bedding Averages N. 45 Deg. E And Dips 45 To 60 Deg S. Mine Is In Proximity To The Great Smoky Fault.

Ore body information

  • General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Thickness 2.13M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding Plane Fault Or Sheared Zone, According To Ferguson & Jewell (1951).

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE BARITE VEINS GENERALLY PARALLEL BEDDING OF THE QUARTZITES AND CONGLOMERATES. SLICKENSIDES ARE COMMON. NARROW STRINGERS AND PODS OF BARITE EXTEND INTO THE COUNTRY ROCK FROM THE MAIN VEIN(S). THE VEINS, WHICH PINCH AND SWELL, CONTAIN VERY PURE BARITE; HOWEVER, THE THICKER PORTIONS LOCALLY CONTAIN ALTERED QUARTZITE INCLUSIONS. FERGUSON & JEWELL (1951) STATE THAT THE BARITE DEVELOPED PARTLY "..BY FILLING OPEN FRACTURES IN THE SHEARED AND BRECCIATED ZONE, PARTLY BY REPLACEMENT OF THE PYRITIZED AND CARBONATED QUARTZITE." THIS, AND THE PURE, ALMOST WATER-WHITE, COMMONLY TWINNED HABIT OF THE BARITE PLACE THE DEPOSIT IN THE MOCCASIN GAP TYPE OF OCCURRENCE. AGE OF MINERALIZATION: LATE - OR POST - PALEOZOIC ( FERGUSON & JEWELL, 1951 )

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Year of first production 1885
Production years 1880'S TO 1907

Mining district

District name Del Rio Barite District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Clinchfield Sand And Feldspar Corp.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION CEASED WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE PURE FOOD LAW IN TENNESSEE DURING 1907. MOST OF THE PRODUCTION FROM THE EAST MEYER MINE WAS USED IN THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • FERGUSON AND JEWELL (1951) STATE THAT THE EAST MEYER VEIN IS "THE MOST PROMISING VEIN IN THE DISTRICT CARRYING BARITE OF THE COARSE, CRYSTALLINE, VERY PURE TYPE." THEY CONSIDER THAT MUCH MORE BARITE REMAINS TO BE RECOVERED, AND ALSO RECOMMEND A CORE DRILLING PROGRAM.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 45.72M
    Overall length 457.2M
    Overall width 60.96M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE VEIN REPORTEDLY (GORDON, C.H., 1920) RANGES FROM 18 TO 24 INCHES IN THICKNESS AT THE SURFACE AND INCREASED TO 7 FEET AT A DEPTH OF 150 FEET.

Comments on development

  • EAST MEYER MINE IS ONE OF OLDEST IN DISTRICT. IT WAS DEVELOPED IN THE 1880'S BY THE WHITWELL COMPANY (A BRITISH CONCERN) AND ACQUIRED ABOUT 1890 BY THE DAUGHERTY BROTHERS. BY 1900, THE PROPERTY HAD BEEN ACQUIRED BY THE HIWASSEE MINING COMPANY OF KNOXVILLE. BY 1904, THE MINE WAS OPERATED BY THE COMMERCIAL MINING AND MILLING COMPANY OF KNOXVILLE. MINE SHUT DOWN IN 1907. NATIONAL BARIUM COMPANY OF KNOXVILLE LEASED PROPERTY IN 1918 BUT DID NO MINING. PROPERTY ACQUIRED BY MR. MCCOY OF KNOXVILLE BETWEEN 1926 AND 1936. IN 1936, THE CLINCHFIELD SAND AND FELDSPAR CORPORATION OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND BOUGHT THE LAND. THE LATTER DID SOME DEVELOPMENT WORK IN 1937 BUT NO PRODUCTION RESULTED BECAUSE OF SHIPPING DIFFICULTIES. PLANS TO DRILL THE PROPERTY BY THE USBM WERE NOT CONSUMMATED BECAUSE OF LACK OF FUNDS AND THE END OF WW2. ; ECON.COM: MINE IS WITHIN 0.2 MILE OF A FORMER RAILROAD SIDING, ON THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER. UNDERGROUND MINING WOULD PROBABLY BE NECESSARY. ROCK IS RELATIVELY UNWEATHERED
  • QUARTZITE AND ARKOSE. BARITE IS COARSE, CRYSTALLINE, AND VERY PURE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    GORDON, C.H., 1920, BARITE DEPOSITS IN UPPER EAST TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BULL. 23, P. 65-70.

  • Deposit

    FERGUSON, H.W., AND JEWELL, W.B., 1951, GEOLOGY AND BARITE DEPOSITS OF THE DEL RIO DISTRICT, COCKE COUNTY, TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 57, 235 P.

  • Deposit

    MAHER, S.W., 1970, BARITE RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY, REPT. INV. 28, 40 P.

  • Deposit

    1920 OTHER GORDON, C.H., TENN. GEOL. SUR. BULL. 23

  • Deposit

    1951 OTHER FERGUSON & JEWELL, TENN. DIV. GEOL. BULL. 57

  • Deposit

    1970 COMPILE MAHER, S.W., TENN. DIV. GEOL. RPT. INV. 28

  • Production

    FERGUSON & JEWELL, 1951, TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 57

  • Reserve-Resource

    FERGUSON, H.W., AND JEWELL, W.B., 1951, TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 57.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FERGUSON & JEWELL (1951) REFER TO THE HOST ROCK AS ARKOSIC GRIT AND THE MOCASSIN GAP QUARTZITE MEMBER, BOTH OF THE UNICOI FORMATION. GEOLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE MAPS (TVA FILES) SHOW THE EAST MEYER MINE WITHIN THE COCHRAN CONGLOMERATE, AND IN PROXIMITY TO THE GREAT SMOKY FAULT. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1974 Hale, Robin 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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