Washburn Mine

Past Producer in Cherokee county in North Carolina, United States with commodity Iron
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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026114
MRDS ID K002585
Record type Site
Current site name Washburn Mine
Related records 10199595

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.80796, 35.20039 (WGS84)
Relative position ON THE NORTH SIDE OF VALLEYTOWN CEMETERY, BETWEEN TATHAM AND JUNALUSKA CREEKS.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Cherokee(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Andrews(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Hiwassee(hydrologic unit)

Middle Tennessee-Hiwassee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Middle Tennessee-Hiwassee(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 Cherokee

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS APPROXIMATE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Weathering Of Iron-Bearing Minerals To Form Limonite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Rock description Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Residuum;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist;Murphy Marble, White To Bluish-Gray Or-Black, Fine-To Coarse-Grained Marble
    Rock description Residuum;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist;Murphy Marble, White To Bluish-Gray Or-Black, Fine-To Coarse-Grained Marble

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.80796, 35.20039

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Strike Belts Define A Major Syncline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 7.62M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding, Fractures, And Residuum

Comments on the geologic information

  • COMPACT, MASSIVE LIMONITE IS EXPOSED AT TWO LOCALITIES, WHERE IT IS 18 AND 25 FEET THICK. BAYLEY (1925) STATED THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE LIMONITE GRADED INTO PYRITE WITH DEPTH. BOULDERS AS LARGE AS 30 BY 40 FEET WERE REPORTEDLY MINED.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No

Mining district

District name Murphy Marble Belt

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner J. Q. Barker

Comments on the production information

  • A SMALL AMOUNT OF LIMONITE WAS PRODUCED.

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF THREE PITS, THE LARGEST OF WHICH IS 150 FEET IN LENGTH AND HAS ITS BOTTOM FROM 10 TO 15 FEET BELOW WATER LEVEL. THE LIMONITE VEIN IS REPORTED TO FOLLOW THE TREND OF THE CONTACT OF THE MURPHY MARBLE AND ANDREWS FORMATION.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: THE DEPOSIT IS IN A POPULATED AREA.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

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

Beyond USGS

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