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Lichtenstein Prospect

Occurrence in Ashe county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Copper, Titanium, Metal, Iron
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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. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026279
MRDS ID K003524
Record type Site
Current site name Lichtenstein Prospect
Alternate or previous names Church Copper Prospect
Related records 10175608

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.34065, 36.48091 (WGS84)
Relative position ON EAST BANK OF SOUTH FORK OF NEW RIVER, 1.9 MILE DUE WEST OF SCOTTSVILLE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Ashe(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Laurel Springs(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Boone(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper New(hydrologic unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic subregion)

Ohio(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Ashe

Comments on the location information

  • PROSPECT IS APPROXIMATELY 3,000 FEET NNW OF THE EAST END OF THE US 221 BRIDGE OVER THE SOUTH FORK OF NEW RIVER. THREE OTHER OCCURRENCES OF NATIVE COPPER WERE OBSERVED AT PROSPECTS ALONG STRIKE TO THE NORTHEAST, OVER A DISTANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Titanium, Metal Critical Primary
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Copper Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Malachite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Clinozoisite Gangue
Epidote Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result COPPER-BEARING EPIDOSITE FROM THE LICHTENSTEIN PROSPECT CONTAINED 2.9% CU
Result 3.2% TI AMPHIBOLITE FROM ROADSIDE EXPOSURE ABOUT 800 FEET SOUTH OF THE PROSPECT, CONTAINED 0.08% CU AND 2.3% TI.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Amphibolite
    Rock unit name Ashe Formation: Amphibolite, Garnet Amphibolite, And Hornblende Gneiss; Includes Mostly Mafic Rocks Of Volcanic Origin And Some Ultramafic Rocks Consisting Of Soapstone Or Serpentinite
    Rock description Ashe Formation: Amphibolite, Garnet Amphibolite, And Hornblende Gneiss; Includes Mostly Mafic Rocks Of Volcanic Origin And Some Ultramafic Rocks Consisting Of Soapstone Or Serpentinite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Amphibolite
    Rock unit name Ashe Formation; Sulfidic Biotite-Muscovite Gneiss With Mica Gneiss And Subordinate Amphibolite And Hornblende Gneiss. Some Schists Are Graphitic. Equivalent To Parts Of The Roan And Carolina Genisses Of Keith (1903)
    Rock description Ashe Formation; Sulfidic Biotite-Muscovite Gneiss With Mica Gneiss And Subordinate Amphibolite And Hornblende Gneiss. Some Schists Are Graphitic. Equivalent To Parts Of The Roan And Carolina Genisses Of Keith (1903)

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.34065, 36.48091
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Amphibolites And Associated Rocks Strike Northeast

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR, PINCH AND SWELL, LENSES
    Strike N 45 E
    Dip 70 S
    Thickness 3.35M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Or Fracture Zones In Amphibolite

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE MINERALIZED ZONE CONSISTS OF EPIDOTIZED AMPHIBOLITE (EPIDOSITE), QUARTZ-EPIDOTE-CLINOZOISITE LENSES, AND ALBITE LENSES WITH MINOR AMOUNTS OF MUSCOVITE-HORNBLENDE SCHIST. EPIDOTIZATION HAS BEEN SO PERVASIVE THAT MUCH OF THE MATERIAL CONSISTS OF EPIDOTE AND QUARTZ WITH SCATTERED RELICT HORNBLENDE GRAINS. THE EPIDOTIZED AMPHIBOLITE OR EPIDOSITE LOCALLY CONTAINS CALCITE, BUT CALCITE DOES NOT OCCUR IN ABSENCE OF EPIDOTE. ANHEDRAL TO EUHEDRAL MAGNETITE IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH EPIDOSITE. ILMENITE IS LACKING IN EPIDOSITE, BUT OCCURS AS BLADED CRYSTALS IN LENSES OF PURE ALBITE. NATIVE COPPER OCCURS AS IRREGULARLY SHAPED GRAINS THAT ARE UNEVENLY DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE EPIDOSITE. VEINLETS OF NATIVE COPPER AND EPIDOTE LOCALLY TRANSECT EPIDOSITE. NATIVE COPPER ALSO OCCURS AS IRREGULARLY-SHAPED MASSES UP TO 3 POUNDS (ESTIMATED) NEAR THE MARGINS OF THE QUARTZ-EPIDOTE-CLINOZOISITE LENSES AND AS SMALL BLEBS WITHIN THES LENSES. THERE IS A SUGGESTION THAT THESE LENSE-SHAPED BODIES WITHIN THE
  • EPIDOSITE ARE PROBABLY RECRYSTALLINE, BECAUSE OF THE COARSER-GRAINED HABIT OF THEIR MINERAL CONSTITUENTS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE COPPER AT THE PROSPECT REPRESENTS A CONCENTRATION OF THAT ELEMENT DERIVED BY LEACHING OF THE ORIGINAL PARENT MATERIAL BY CONNATE WATERS, WHICH WERE DRIVEN UPWARD BY HEATING AND COMPACTION TO DEPOSIT THE NATIVE COPPER ALONG FRACTURES AND OTHER PERMEABLE ZONES, NOW REPRESENTED BY EPIDOTIZED AMPHIBOLITE. THAT EPIDOTE IS CHARACTERISTIC OF SHEARED BELTS IN BASIC VOLCANICS AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH COPPER-BEARING BASALTIC LAVAS, HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN THE LITERATURE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1985

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner New Jersey Zinc Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Mr. Church (Property Owner); New Jersey Zinc Co. (Lessee)

Comments on the workings information

  • THE MAIN PROSPECT CONSISTS OF A FACE WHICH HAS BEEN OPENED IN THE HILLSIDE. BEDROCK IS POORLY EXPOSED IN THE PARTLY FILLED PITS AND TWO SHAFTS AT PROSPECTS TO THE NORTHEAST.

Comments on development

  • THE PROPERTY WAS UNDER LEASE BY THE NEW JERSEY ZINC COMPANY, WHICH DID SOME DIAMOND DRILLING IN THE AREA DURING 1967. NO DEVELOPMENT WORK IS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN DONE SINCE THAT TIME. ; ECON.COM: THE OVERALL TONNAGE APPEARS TO BE TOO SMALL TO BE ECONOMIC.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HALE, R.C., AND CARPENTER, R.H., 1968, NATIVE COPPER MINERALIZATION IN ASHE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: GEOL. SOC. AMERICA, SOUTHEASTERN SECTION, PROGRAM FOR MEETING, APR. 1968, P. 41-42.

  • Deposit

    RANKIN, D.W., ESPENSHADE, G.H., AND NEUMAN, R.B., 1972, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE WEST HALE OF THE WINSTON-SALEM QUADRANGLE, NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, AND TENNESSEE: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISC. GEOL. INV. MAP I-709-A, 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    HALE, R.C., AND CARPENTER, R.H., 1967, A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF NATIVE COPPER OCCURRENCES IN THE VICINITY OF THE LICHTENSTEIN PROSPECT, ASHE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY OPEN-FILE REPORT, 15 P.

  • Deposit

    1967 RECON HALE AND CARPENTER, TVA REPOR

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS OCCURRENCE IS SIMILAR TO ONE ON THE JAMES EARLY PROPERTY (APPROXIMATELY 2.5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HILLSVILLE, CARROLL COUNTY, VIRGINIA) DESCRIBED BY STOSE AND STOSE (1957); AND MAY BE EQUIVALENT TO SIMILAR OCCURRENCES REPORTED FOR THE CATOCTIN GREENSTONE IN VIRGINIA.
Deposit Discovery Year: MID-1800'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1975 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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