Webster Peridotite Deposit

Past Producer in Jackson county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Chromium, Nickel, Olivine, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Vermiculite
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10025907
MRDS ID K001884
Record type Site
Current site name Webster Peridotite Deposit
Alternate or previous names Webster Deposit, Webster Chromite Prospects
Related records 10272277

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.21599, 35.339 (WGS84)
Relative position 2 MI SOUTH OF SYLVA

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Jackson(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Sylva South(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Tuckasegee(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Nantahala National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Croatan National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

National Forests in North Carolina(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Jackson

Comments on the location information

  • DUNITE BODY EXTENDS FROM NORTH OF WEBSTER SOUTHWARD TO 0.75 MI SOUTH OF RIVER, THEN DUE EAST FOR 1 MI TO RIVER. LOCATION GIVEN IS GENERALIZED TO A CENTRAL LOCATION

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Chromium Critical Primary
Nickel Critical Secondary
Olivine Tertiary
Platinum Critical Tertiary
Palladium Critical Tertiary
Rhodium Critical Tertiary
Vermiculite Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • WEBSTERITE FORMS A 200 FT WIDE BAND. ALTHOUGH VERMICULITE IS PRESENT, IT IS SO SPARSE AS TO BE UNIMPORTANT

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chromite Ore
Olivine Ore
Vermiculite Ore
Chlorite Gangue
Talc Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Weak Serpentinization

Analytical data

Result 24 PPB PT, 39 PPB PD, 1.7 PPB RH IN ROCK SAMPLE. CHIP SAMPLE OF OLIVINE+CHROMITE YIELDED 22.61% CR2O3, 18.91% FE2O3, 16.9% SIO2, 16.7% AL2O3, 24.62% MGO
Result CR:FE=1.16:1. THE NI-RICH ZONE AVERAGES 1.5% NI

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 16
USGS model code 8b
Deposit model name Podiform chromite (major)

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Tallulah Falls Formation;Tallulah Falls Formation;
    Rock description Tallulah Falls Formation;Tallulah Falls Formation;
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite > Dunite
    Rock unit name Webster-Addie Dunite Body;Webster-Addie Dunite Body
    Rock description Webster-Addie Dunite Body;Webster-Addie Dunite Body

Nearby scientific data

(1) Meta-ultramafic Rock

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description East Of Brevard Fault Zone
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faulting And Fracturing Along East Rim. Minor Faults Cut Through Deposit

Ore body information

  • Name WEBSTER
    General form IRREGULAR ORE BODIES WITHIN RING STRUCTURE
    Length 4419.6M
    Width 548.64M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Magmatic Crystallization Processes

Comments on the geologic information

  • PEGMATITES CUT THE ORE BODY. (THIS FIELD CONTAINED THE NUMBER SEQUENCE: 1 001 010 003 IN RECORD W100655)

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Production years 1917-1918

Mining district

District name Webster-Balsam Area

Comments on the production information

  • THERE HAS BEEN INTERMITTENT PRODUCTION OF CHROMITE FOR 50 YEARS UP TO 1942

Comments on the workings information

  • CHROMITE TAKEN FROM OPEN CUTS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    LIPIN, 1984; HUNTER AND OTHERS, 1942; HUNTER, 1941

  • Deposit

    HUNTER, C.E., 1941, FORSTERITE OLIVINE DEPOSITS OF NORTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA: NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES BULLETIN 41, P. 91-97.

  • Deposit

    LARRABEE, D.M., AND SWEENEY, J.W., 1968, OLIVINE, IN MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE APPALACHIAN REGION: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 580, P. 326-327.

  • Deposit

    LIPIN, B.R., 1984, CHROMITE FROM THE BLUE RIDGE PROVINCE OF NORTH CAROLINA: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, V. 284, P. 507-529.

  • Deposit

    MURDOCK, T.G., AND HUNTER, C.E., 1946, THE VERMICULITE DEPOSITS OF NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA DEVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES BULLETIN 50, P. 27.

  • Deposit

    HUNTER, D.E., MURDOCK, T.G., AND MACCARTHY, G.R., 1942, CHROMITE DEPOSITS OF NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES BULLETIN 42, P. 9-12.

  • Deposit

    1941 GEOLMAP TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, REPOR

  • Production

    HUNTER, 1941; HUNTER AND OTHERS, 1942

  • Reserve-Resource

    HUNTER, 1941

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS IS LARGEST ULTRAMAFIC BODY IN WEBSTER-ADDIE COMPLEX. DEPOSIT IS MADE UP OF A SERIES OF DUNITE BODIES THAT HAVE UNDERGONE VARIOUS DEGREES OF ALTERATION, MOSTLY BY INTRUSION OF PEGMATITES. THE DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF MEDIUM-GRAINED, FAIRLY SOUND, GRANULAR, GREEN OLIVINE. SERPENTINIZATION IS MINIMAL. CRYSTALS OF CHROMITE ARE CONCENTRATED IN POCKETS AND LENSES, DISSEMINATED THROUGHOUT DUNITE, AND AS RESIDUAL AND PLACER ACCUMULATIONS. SOME AREAS OF CHROMITE HAVE BEEN MINED. A NICKEL-RICH ZONE AVERAGING 1.5% NI EXTENDS NEARLY THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE DEPOSIT AND IS ABOUT 300 FT THICK JUST SOUTH OF THE RIVER AT THE OLD NICKEL PLANT. NICKEL SILICATES FILL CRACKS AND FAULTS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1974 Fagan, James M. U.S. Geological Survey ADDITION OF PGM DATA AND MERGER OF DATA FROM MRDS W100655
Updater 01-NOV-1983 Whitlow, S. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 13-DEC-1993 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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