Pigeonroost Branch Barite Mine

Past Producer in Cocke county in Tennessee, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, Iron
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. Ownership information
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026042
MRDS ID K002497
Record type Site
Current site name Pigeonroost Branch Barite Mine
Related records 10129014

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.08848, 35.9287 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.5 MILE NNE OF MORGAN 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 ARE ALONG PIGEONROOST BRANCH; COORDINATES ARE FOR THE SHAFT.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Limonite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Ankerite Gangue

Analytical data

Result TENN. DIV. GEOL. ANALYSIS OF MINERALIZED ZONE WHERE ANKERITE HAS REPLACED QUARTZITE AND CONGLOMERATE: 45.58% CACO3, 29.13% MGCO3, 10.85% FECO3 (6.73% FEO), 7.48% SIO2, 0.18% FE2O3, 0.10% AL2O3, 6.04% BASO4, AND 0.60% CAF2. THIS SAMPLE REPRESENTED UNWEATHERED VEIN MATERIAL.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Conglomerate
    Rock unit name Cochran Conglomerate; Cambrian; Conglomerate, Arkosic Grit, Quartzitic Sandstone
    Rock description Cochran Conglomerate; Cambrian; Conglomerate, Arkosic Grit, Quartzitic Sandstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.08848, 35.9287

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Great Smoky Thrust Fault

Ore body information

  • General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 50-55 E
    Dip 65-85 S

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Sheared Zone Along Bedding Plane Fault

Comments on the geologic information

  • BARITE IS COARSELY CRYSTALLINE AND GLASSY, ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE BARITE IS ABOUT MIDWAY IN TEXTURE BETWEEN THAT AND THE DENSE, PLATY BARITE WHICH IS TYPICAL AT THE WILLIAMS MINE. THIN VEINLETS AND PODS OF BARITE, THE LATTER UP TO ONE FOOT IN THICKNESS AND THREE FEET IN LENGTH, OCCUR IN THE SHEARED ZONE AND REPLACE THE HOST ROCK. VEIN BORDERS ARE IRREGULAR OR WAVY. SCATTERED PODS OF BARITE OCCUR IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE HANGING WALL (MOCCASIN GAP QUARTZITE MEMBER) AT ONE OF THE TRENCHES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Significant No

Mining district

District name Del Rio Barite District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Mr. John Jones
  • Type Owner
    Owner U.S. Forest Service

Comments on the workings information

  • MINERALIZED SHEARED ZONE RANGES FROM 1.5 TO 20 FEET IN WIDTH. THE WORKINGS INCLUDE A FLOODED 20-FOOT DEEP SHAFT, A 47-FOOT ADIT, A 40-FOOT ADIT, A 32-FOOT ADIT, AND A NUMBER OF PITS AND TRENCHES.

Comments on development

  • DEVELOPMENT ON THE PROPERTY WAS DONE AROUND 1900, 1916, AND 1930. ; ECON.COM: UNWEATHERED VEIN MATERIAL CONTAINS TOO LITTLE BARITE TO BE WORKED ECONOMICALLY. RESIDUAL BARITE IN WEATHERED VEIN MATERIAL IS ECONOMICALLY MINABLE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

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

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FERGUSON AND JEWELL (1951) CONSIDER THE HOST ROCK AS BELONGING TO THE UNICOI FORMATION; TVA FILE MAPS CLASSIFY THE HOST ROCKS AS COCHRAN CONGLOMERATE. THEY CLASSIFY THE DEPOSIT AS THE MOCCASIN GAP TYPE BECAUSE OF ITS COARSELY CRYSTALLINE HABIT AND OCCURRENCE ALONG A BEDDING PLANE FAULT. ; INFO.SRC : 4 OTHER SRC

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1974 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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