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Cullowhee Mine

Past Producer in Jackson county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Copper, Sulfur-Pyrite, Zinc, Iron, Pig 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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Ownership information
  15. Production statistics
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026282
MRDS ID K003527
Record type Site
Current site name Cullowhee Mine
Related records 10273012

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.15349, 35.264 (WGS84)
Elevation 1085
Relative position 2.55 MILES SSE OF DICKS GAP BRIDGE, ON THE UPPER EAST SLOPE OF CULLOWHEE MOUNTAIN.

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

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Iron, Pig Iron Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ROSS (1935) STATES THAT APPROXIMATELY 65% OF THE VEIN IS PYRITE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Covellite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Augite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Limonite Gossan After Weathered Sulfides

Analytical data

Result TVA ANALYSIS: 2.68% CU, TRACE ZN, 31.1% FE, 22.6% S, 29.7% INSOL. THIS ANALYSIS BASED ON 100-LB. SAMPLE FROM ORE BIN AT THE MINE. LARSEN, POTOSKY, AND RIBBE (1968) REPORT A COBALT CONTENT IN PYRITE OF 9500 PPM, BASED ON MICROPROBE ANALYSIS.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 184
USGS model code 28a
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, kuroko
Mark3 model number 93

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Pyroxenite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock
    Rock unit name Biotite Schist And Gneiss: Biotite-Quartz-Plagioclase Schist And Gneiss, Locally Contains Sillimanite, Graphite, Or Hornblende; Commonly Thinly Interlayered With Micaceous Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss; Less Commonly Interlayered With Amphibolite And Hornblende Schist (Hadley And Nelson, 1971). Hunter And Murdock (1943) Refer To The Host Rock As ...An Augite-Hornblende Complex..., Which In Turn Is Bordered By Hornblende Gneiss And Mica Schist
    Rock description Biotite Schist And Gneiss: Biotite-Quartz-Plagioclase Schist And Gneiss, Locally Contains Sillimanite, Graphite, Or Hornblende; Commonly Thinly Interlayered With Micaceous Quartz-Feldspar Gneiss; Less Commonly Interlayered With Amphibolite And Hornblende

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.15349, 35.264
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES AND PODS
    Strike N 50 E
    Dip 48 N
    Width 7.32M

Comments on the geologic information

  • ACCORDING TO HUNTER AND MURDOCK (1943), THE HOST ROCK IS A VERY COARSE-TEXTURED MIXTURE OF INTERLOCKING CRYSTALS OF AUGITE AND HORNBLENDE, WITH SUBORDINATE BOOKS OF BIOTITE AND CHLORITE. THE ROCK CONTAINS A SMALL AMOUNT OF DISSEMINATED PYRITE AND CHALCOPYRITE. APPROXIMATELY 65% OF THE SULFIDES IS PYRITE, WHICH IS IN CUBIC FORM, WITH SIZES UP TO 2 INCHES. PYRRHOTITE OCCURS AS A GROUND MASS WITH A GRAIN SIZE OF ABOUT 1 MM. CHALCOPYRITE OCCURS AS DISSEMINATED GRAINS IN THE PYRRHOTITE AND AS VEINLETS OR STRINGERS, AND SPHALERITE OCCURS IN TRACE AMOUNTS IN THE VEIN MATERIAL. THE WALL ROCK IS MINERALIZED A FEW INCHES FROM THE VEIN CONTACT, WITH SULFIDES OCCURING ALONG JOINTS OR AS SEAMS. GANGUE MATERIAL WITHIN THE SULFIDE VEINS OCCURS AS HORSES OF HORNBLENDE GNEISS OR MICA SCHIST, AND INCLUSIONS OF GRANULAR EPIDOTE MASSES. MOST OF THE GOSSAN AND SECONDARY ENRICHED COPPER ORE HAS BEEN MINED OUT. SURFACE GOSSAN HAS BEEN OBSERVED INTERMITTENTLY ALONG STRIKE FOR 1500 FEET, GENERALLY TO THE
  • SOUTHWEST.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1900

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Long Lac Mineral Exploration Ltd.

Production statistics

  • Year 1930
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^Sulfide Ore Averaging 4 % Cu
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Copper Copper 4wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION DURING 1929-1930 WAS BY TENNESSEE COPPER COMPANY. PRODUCTION BETWEEN 1900 1910 , SUPERGENE ORE; 1929 - 1930 , SULFIDES.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • THE RESERVE FIGURE IS A GUESS AS THE AMOUNT OF ORE THAT IS PRESENT TO A DEPTH OF 500 FEET.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 365.76M
    Overall depth 53.95M

Comments on the workings information

  • EARLY DEVELOPMENT WORK CONSISTED OF A SHORT ADIT, PROSPECT PITS, AND NUMEROUS CROSS-CUT TRENCHES. THE MAIN DEVELOPMENT CONSISTED OF A SHAFT WITH DRIFTS AT THE 50, 100, AND 150-FOOT LEVELS. ON AN AVERAGE, EACH DRIFT EXTENDS ABOUT 200 FT EACH WAY ALONG THE VEIN FROM THE SHAFT. UNPUBLISHED, OPEN-FILE (TVA, KNOXVILLE) MINE MAPS SHOW 8 SULFIDE VEINS, FIVE OF WHICH ARE LESS THAN 6 FT WIDE AND THREE THAT ARE ABOUT 24 FT WIDE. ESPENSHADE (1944) INFERS FROM HUNTER AND MURDOCK'S REPORT (1943) THAT THE ORE BODY (SIC) IS 200 TO 400 FT LONG AND IS CRESENT-SHAPED IN PLAN.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: EXCESSIVE WATER PROBLEM, POSSIBLY SOLVABLE BY A DRAINAGE TUNNEL.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • 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

    LARSEN, L.T., POTOSKY, R.A., AND RIBBE, P.H., 1968, GEOCHEMISTRY OF COBALT AND NICKEL IN SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MASSIVE SULPHIDE ORES (ABS.): GEOL. SOC. AMERICA, SOUTHEASTERN SECTION, PROGRAM FOR MEETING, APR. 1968, P. 51.

  • Deposit

    HADLEY, J.B., AND NELSON, A.E., 1971, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE KNOXVILLE QUADRANGLE, NORTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, AND SOUTH CAROLINA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISC. GEOL. INV. MAP I-654, 1:250,000.

  • Deposit

    ESPENSHADE, G.H., 1944, COPPER DEPOSITS IN JACKSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT, 10 P.

  • Deposit

    HUNTER, C.E., AND MURDOCK, T.G., 1943, CULLOWHEE COPPER MINE, JACKSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, IN COPPER DEPOSITS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY AND NORTH CAROLINA CONSERVATION DEVELOPMENT OPEN-FILE REPORT, 39 P.

  • Deposit

    1935 OTHER ROSS, C.S., P. 89-90.

  • Deposit

    1943 OTHER HUNTER AND MURDOCK, TVA, REPORT

  • Production

    HUNTER AND MURDOCK, 1943.

  • Reserve-Resource

    ESPENSHADE, 1944.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE COUNTRY ROCK WAS FORMERLY REFERRED TO AS THE CAROLINA GNEISS. HUNTER AND MURDOCK (1943) CONSIDERS THE AUGITE-HORNBLENDE AND PYROXENITE ROCK TO BE AN INTRUSION, WITH WHICH THE SULFIDE BODY IS DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-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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