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Peachbottom Mine

Past Producer in Alleghany county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Lead, Silver, Copper, Molybdenum, Zinc, Gold, Barium-Barite
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  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. Ownership information
  15. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026281
MRDS ID K003526
Record type Site
Current site name Peachbottom Mine
Alternate or previous names Maxwell Mine
Related records 10272867

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.21732, 36.51702 (WGS84)
Relative position WEST OF SPARTA; 0.15 MILE SOUTHWEST OF JUNCTION OF THE STRATFORD ROAD WITH U.S. 221, AT STRATFORD.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alleghany(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Sparta West(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wytheville(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 Alleghany

Comments on the location information

  • PROSPECT IS ON THE SIDE OF A STREAM, OPPOSITE A HOUSE THAT IS ON A SMALL SPUR EXTENDING INTO THE STREAM VALLEY.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Silver Secondary
Copper Secondary
Molybdenum Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Gold Tertiary
Barium-Barite Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • IT IS RUMORED THAT EFFORTS TO OBTAIN MINERAL LEASES IN RECENT TIMES BY A FEW COMPANIES, HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED BECAUSE OF DISAGREEMENTS AMONG THE NUMEROUS HEIRS. ACCORDING TO AN UNDATED U.S. BUREAU OF MINES SUMMARY REPORT (PROBABLY AROUND WW II), MR. R. DOUGHTON, AN ATTORNEY AT SPARTA, N.C., ACTED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MAXWELL HEIRS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Malachite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Silver Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 91
USGS model code 24b
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)
Mark3 model number 30

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 Serpentenite Or Soapstone
    Rock description Ashe Formation; Amphibolite, Garnet Amphibolite, And Hornblende Gneiss; Includes Mostly Mafic Rocks Of Volcanic Origin And Some Ultramafic Rocks Consisting Of Serpentenite Or Soapstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Calc-Silicate Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    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 Gneisses 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 Gneisses Of Keith (1903)

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.21732, 36.51702
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Strike Belts Trend Northeast

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike N 54 E
    Dip 86 S
    Thickness 1.8M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding, Shear Zones

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE MINERALIZED ZONE IS NEARLY CONCORDANT WITH THE STRUCTURE OF THE ENCLOSING GNEISS. ACCORDING TO ROSS (1935), MINERALIZATION BEGAN WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF SEVERAL PARALLEL QUARTZ LENSES AND A QUARTZ-PLAGIOCLASE LENS. THESE WERE REPLACED BY BARITE AND CALCITE IN THAT ORDER, FOLLOWED BY REPLACEMENT OF GNEISS, QUARTZ, PLAGIOCLASE, AND CALCITE BY SULFIDES TO FORM A ZONE OF NARROW SULFIDE LENSES IN QUARTZ AND GNEISS AND DISSEMINATED SULFIDES IN THE QUARTZ-BARITE-CALCITE ROCK. IN THE QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST, CHALCOPYRITE OCCURS IN WELL-DEFINED BANDS AND STRINGERS PARALLEL TO SCHISTOSITY. OTHER SULFIDES ARE SCARCE IN THE SCHIST BUT OCCUR IN ORES ASSOCIATED WITH BARITE. IN THE BIOTITE-MUSCOVITE-QUARTZ SCHIST AND GNEISS, THE SULFIDES PARALLEL SCHISTOSITY AND ARE MOST INTIMATELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BIOTITE. BORNITE OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE ROCKS EXCEPT FOR THE QUARTZ-BIOTITE-MUSCOVITE SCHIST AND GNEISS. MOLYBDENITE OCCURS AS SMALL PLATES PARALLEL TO SCHISTOSITY AND LOCALLY CONCENTRATED INTO
  • ZONES, BEING ASSOCIATED WITH MUSCOVITE. THE MOLYBDENITE IS DISSEMINATED THROUGHOUT THE BARITE-CALCITE AS FINE PLATES AND VEINLETS, AS LARGER PLATES IN THE QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST, AND WAS NOT OBSERVED IN THE QUARTZ-BIOTITE-MUSCOVITE SCHIST AND GNEISS. PYRITE, GALENA, AND SPHALERITE ARE SUBORDINATE TO OTHER SULFIDES. GALENA IS ARGENTIFEROUS. BARITE-CALCITE OCCURS AS AN EVEN-TEXTURED ROCK IN LENSES RANGING FROM 9 TO 18 INCHES IN WIDTH. AN UNAUTHORED FILE REPORT STATES THAT THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE BARITE-CALCITE IS THE "MAIN VEIN AND THAT THE OTHER SULFIDE-BEARING ZONES REPRESENT MINERALIZED WALL ROCK.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1832
Year of first production 1832

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Lee Grear
    First year 1902
  • Type Owner
    Owner Maxwell Heirs

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION FIGURES NOT AVAILABLE. PRODUCTION YEARS: 1832 , 1850'S, 1902

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 43M
    Overall length 1000M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS INCLUDE THREE SHAFTS, TWO OF WHICH ARE ALONG STRIKE AND THE THIRD IS OFFSET TO THE SOUTH. THE WEST SHAFT IS 80 FT DEEP AND THE EAST SHAFT IS 140 FT DEEP. THE LATTER INTERSECTS AN 80-FOOT DRIFT AT THE 50-FOOT LEVEL. THERE ARE SEVERAL SMALL PITS ON THE HILLSIDE.

Comments on development

  • THE PEACHBOTTOM MINE WAS FIRST WORKED ABOUT 1832; A SECOND PERIOD OF MINING TOOK PLACE JUST PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR. THE MOST-RECENT MINING ACTIVITY WAS IN 1902, WHEN THE MINE WAS DEWATERED AND OPERATED FOR ABOUT A YEAR BY LEE GREAR. A STAMP MILL IS REPORTED TO HAVE OPERATED ON THE PROPERTY AT THAT TIME, BUT WITH NO SUCCESS. ; ECON.COM: THE DEPOSIT APPEARS TO BE LIMITED IN EXTENT, AND NO SIMILAR OCCURRENCES HAVE BEEN REPORTED ELSEWHERE IN THE VICINITY. HOWEVER, PREVIOUS EXPLORATION HAS BEEN LIMITED TO EXPLORATION BY SHAFTS AND PITS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE DISCOVERY EXPOSURES, AND NO SYSTEMATIC DRILLING IS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN DONE. THE POTENTIAL IS REGARDED AS GOOD, COMPARED TO OTHER UNDEVELOPED AND UNEXPLORED COPPER OCCURRENCES IN THE REGION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    KERR, W.C., AND HANNA, G.B., 1887, ORES OF NORTH CAROLINA, IN GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CH. 2, VOL. 2, P. 204, 230-231.

  • 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

    ROSS, C.S., 1935, ORIGIN OF THE COPPER DEPOSITS OF THE DUCKTOWN TYPE IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROF. PAPER 179, 165 P.

  • Deposit

    TENNESEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, (N.D.), PEACHBOTTOM COPPER MINE REPORT: KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, MINERAL RESOURCES SECTION, GEOLOGIC BRANCH.

  • Deposit

    1887 COMPILE KERR AND HANNA, P. 204, 230-231

  • Deposit

    1935 OTHER ROSS, C.S., P. 85-87.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE PEACHBOTTOM DEPOSIT DIFFERS FROM OTHER SULFIDE OCCURRENCES IN THE REGION IN THAT BARITE IS ABUNDANT AND PYRRHOTITE IS APPARENTLY ABSENT. SPECIMENS FROM ONE OF THE DUMPS SUGGEST THAT THE HOST ROCK REPRESENTS METAMORPHOSED SEDIMENTS OF NON-VOLCANIC ORIGIN.
Deposit LAYER WIDENS WITH DEPTH FROM 1.2 M AT THE 80 FT. LEVEL TO 2 M ATuTHE 140 FT. LEVEL. SILVER-BEARING GALENA LAYER ON THE NORHTuWALL WAS 15-23 CM THICK.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1975 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1992 Klein, T.L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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