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Graybeal Mines

Past Producer in Ashe county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Iron, Manganese, 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. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Ownership information
  14. Workings at the site
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026388
MRDS ID K004798
Record type Site
Current site name Graybeal Mines
Related records 10126944

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.49899, 36.47314 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.3 MILE E OF LANCING

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Ashe(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Jefferson(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

  • LOCATION IS APPROXIMATE. WORKINGS SCATTERED ABOUT WEST END OF HILL.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Manganese Critical Tertiary
Iron, Pig Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Magnetite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Hornblende Gangue

Analytical data

Result ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO PRATT, IN BAYLEY (1923): 67.40% FE, 1.15% SIO2, 0.06% S, 0.005% P, NO TIO2. A CRANBERRY FURNACE COMPANY ANALYSIS OF A CARLOAD OF ORE: 61.80% FE, 12.16% SIO2, 1.82% MN, 4.69% AL2O3, 3.35% CAO, 2.00% MGO, 0.012% TI, 0.0094% P, NO CU.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Cranberry Gneiss: Augen Gneiss And Porphyritic Gneiss, (Rankin, Espenshade, And Neuman, 1972)
    Rock description Cranberry Gneiss: Augen Gneiss And Porphyritic Gneiss, (Rankin, Espenshade, And Neuman, 1972)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.49899, 36.47314
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast

Ore body information

  • General form LENS, PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike NE
    Dip S
    Thickness 5.49M

Comments on the geologic information

  • ORE IN THE MAIN CUT CONSISTED OF A 4 - FOOT SEAM OF COMPACT, GANGUE - FREE MAGNETITE AND AN 18 - FOOT SEAM CONTAINING SOME HORNBLENDE. VEINS OF MANGANIFEROUS EARTH OR MANGANESE - IRON OXIDES ARE LOCALLY ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THE VEINS ALONG THE 1/4 - MILE LENGTH OF WORKINGS; THE WIDEST OF THESE MANGANIFEROUS SEAMS IS 6 FEET. IN ONE OF THE PITS TO THE NORTHEAST, A CUT DUG BY DR. TOM JONES AROUND 1905 EXPOSED A 4 - FOOT SEAM OF MAGNETITE AND A MIXTURE OF PYRITE AND HORNBLENDE. BAYLEY (1923) DESCRIBES WORK DONE AROUND 1919, AND BELIEVES THAT THE DEPOSITS ARE ON DIFFERENT BUT PARALLEL VEINS, SOME OF WHICH VARY SLIGHTLY IN THEIR STRIKE. HE DESCRIBES ONE VEIN OF RICH MAGNETITE ORE RANGING FROM 18 INCHES TO 12 FEET IN WIDTH, THAT TRENDS THROUGH A LARGER VEIN OF LEAN ORE COMPOSED OF MAGNETITE, HORNBLENDE, AND EPIDOTE. "THE RICH ORE RUNS IRREGULARLY THROUGH THE VEIN - MATTER BUT ON THE WHOLE IT FOLLOWS THE STRIKE OF THE LARGER VEIN...IN SOME PLACES SMALL QUARTZ AND PEGMATITE VEINS ALSO
  • TRAVERSE THE LEAN ORE." VEINLETS OF PURE MAGNETITE LOCALLY CUT THE VEIN MATTER BUT DO NOT CROSS VEIN BORDERS INTO THE HOST ROCK.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1825
Year of first production 1825

Mining district

District name Poison Branch Belt Of Deposits

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Mr. Cooke
  • Type Owner
    Owner Graybeal Heirs

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RESERVES ESTIMATED ON BASIS OF A MINABLE WIDTH OF 17 FEET OF MATERIAL CONTAINING 75% AND A LENGTH OF 800 FEET FOR ORE MINED ABOVE THE MOUTH OF THE TUNNEL ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE HILL.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall length 402.33M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE PRINCIPAL CUT IS NEAR THE RIDGE CREST, IS 50 FEET LONG, AND EXPOSED TWO ORE SEAMS THAT ARE 4 FEET AND 18 FEET THICK. SEVERAL OPEN CUTS, PITS, ADITS, AND SHAFTS HAVE BEEN DUG ALONG A 1/4 - MILE INTERVAL. A TUNNEL WAS STARTED NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE SLOPE NEAR THE LANCING - PINEY CREEK ROAD, TO REACH THE LOWER PARTS OF DEPOSITS ON THE HILLCREST 180 FEET HIGHER, BUT WORK WAS STOPPED BEFORE ORE WAS REACHED, AND CONSEQUENTLY NO EVIDENCE AS TO THE LOWER EXTENT OF THE ORE. THE MINES AND PROSPECTS APPEAR TO BE ON DIFFERENT BUT PARALLEL VEINS.

Comments on development

  • SOME OF THE COMPANIES WHICH PROSPECTED OR MINED THE PROPERTY DURING THE LATE 1800'S AND EARLY 1900'S INCLUDE: PULASKI IRON COMPANY, THE VIRGINIA IRON, COAL AND COKE COMPANY, AND A MR. COOKE, WHO MAY HAVE BEEN WITH THE CRANBERRY FURNACE COMPANY. ; ECON.COM: THE MAGNETITE IS EASILY SEPARATED FROM GANGUE AND IS EXCEPTIONALLY LOW IN PHOSPHOROUS AND SULFUR.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ACCORDING TO BAYLEY (1923), THE POISON BRANCH BELT IS A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF DEPOSITS, WITH EACH DEPOSIT COMPRISED OF A NUMBER OF NEARLY PARALLEL, CLOSELY SPACED VEINS. COMMERCIAL PORTIONS OF THE ORE BODIES ARE "...IN THE FORM OF VEINS OR DIKES OF RICH MAGNETITE THAT CUT MASSES OF LEANER ORE. THE LEAN ORE COMPRISES THE LENSES."
Deposit Discovery Year: EARLY 1800'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-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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