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Wayhutta Mine

Occurrence in Jackson county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Copper, Zinc, Lead, Sulfur-Pyrite, 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. 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. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026285
MRDS ID K003530
Record type Site
Current site name Wayhutta Mine
Related records 10248967

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.1371, 35.33483 (WGS84)
Relative position SOUTHEAST SIDE OF WAYEHUTTA CREEK, 2.15 MILES AIRLINE NORTHEAST OF ITS CONFLUENCE WITH THE TUCKASEGEE RIVER.

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

Comments on the location information

  • PROSPECT IS ABOUT 100 FEET ABOVE THE CREEK.

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Plagioclase Gangue

Analytical data

Result TVA ANALYSIS (RANKIN AND STUCKEY, 1943): 1.72% CU, 36.0% FE, 23.4% S, 16.9% INSOL.

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 Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Muscovite Schist And Gneiss (Hadley And Nelson, 1971)
    Rock description Muscovite Schist And Gneiss (Hadley And Nelson, 1971)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.1371, 35.33483
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast

Ore body information

  • General form PODS
    Strike N 45-60 E
    Dip 60 N
    Thickness 1.83M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Vein Follows The Structure Of The Gneiss Hostrock.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE PRINCIPAL SULFIDE IS PYRRHOTITE, WITH SUBORDINATE PYRITE AND CHALCOPYRITE AND SPHALERITE. ABUNDANT BIOTITE AND AMPHIBOLE OCCUR WITH THE SULFIDES. A FEW TONS OF ORE ARE ON THE DUMP.u MICA-QUARTZ-PLAGIOCLASE SCHIST GENERALLY INTERLAYERED WITH GNEISSICu METASANDSTONE; SCHIST LOCALLY GRAPHITIC AND SULFIDIC, COMMONLYu GARNETIFEROUS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1860
Year of last production 1930

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Carolina Copper Co.
    Home office West Detroit, Mich.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Carolina Copper Co., West Detroit, Mich.; T.A. Cox Of Cullowhee, N.C.
    First year 1944

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 60.96M

Comments on the workings information

  • A 55-FOOT DEEP SHAFT AND 200 FT OF TUNNELS WERE DUG BY THE CAROLINA COPPER COMPANY, ACCORDING TO ONE REPORT. HOWEVER, ANOTHER REPORT STATES THAT AN ADIT, A 200-FOOT LONG DRIFT, AND TWO SHAFTS 30 OR 40 FT DEEP ARE ON THE PROPERTY, AS WELL AS SEVERAL PITS.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: ROSS (1935, P. 90) STATES THAT THE COPPER VALUES ARE SO LOW THAT THE DEPOSIT HAD LITTLE VALUE IN DAYS OF HIGH-PRICED COPPER. ESPENSHADE (UNPUBLISHED REPORT, 1944) ALSO CONCLUDES THAT THE COPPER CONTENT IS TOO LOW TO BE ECONOMIC.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1975 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1991 Klein, T.L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site