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Howie Mine

Past Producer in Union county in North Carolina, United States with commodity Gold
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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. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Production statistics
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026532
MRDS ID K005239
Record type Site
Current site name Howie Mine
Alternate or previous names Colossus, Condor Mine, Lawson
Related records 10297501

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.71508, 34.9565 (WGS84)
Relative position 2.9 MI. NORTHEAST OF WAXHAW AND 3 MI. NORTHWEST OF MINERAL SPRINGS.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Union(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Waxhaw(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lancaster(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Spartanburg(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Catawba(hydrologic unit)

Santee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Edisto-Santee(hydrologic subregion)

South Atlantic-Gulf(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Union

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION APPROXIMATE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Sericite, Biotite, Silica, And Potash Feldspar

Analytical data

Result AU GRADES OF 0.3 TO 0.85 OPT ARE INDICATED BY PARDEE AND PARK (1948) BASED ON CALCULATIONS OF OTHERS.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Argillite
    Rock unit name Tillery Formation
    Rock description Tillery Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.71508, 34.9565
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Gold Hill Fault Zone
Type of structure Local
Structure description Dextral Ene-Trending Shear Zone

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike N 60 E
    Dip 90
    Length 850M
    Width 50M
    Depth to bottom 106M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zone

Comments on the geologic information

  • FELSIC LAMINATED MUDSTONE STRIKE N 60 DEG E. AND VERTICAL DIP. TINY CUBES OF PYRITE ARE DISSEMINATED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ROCK. PORTIONS OF THE LODE ARE ENRICHED WITH PYRITE. IN THE ORE ZONE, MUCH OF THE WEATHERED ROCK IS FINE-GRAINED, SUGARY QUARTZ AND SERICITE. AT DEPTH, THE MATERIAL BECOMES A BANDED, FLINTY ROCK. THE GOLD IS REPORTED TO OCCUR AS MINUTE GRAINS DISTRIBUTED PRIMARILY ALONG MICACEOUS LAYERS IN QUARTZ-RICH ULTRAMYLONITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1840
Year of first production 1841
Year of last production 1935

Mining district

District name Carolina Slate Belt

Production statistics

  • Year 1935
    Period 1842-1935
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^0.3-0.8 Opt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Gold Gold 16g/mt

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • FIGURES COMBINE THE ESTIMATED PRODUCTION AND THE INFERRED RESOURCES FROM MINING JOURNAL

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 250M
    Overall depth 60M
    Overall length 974.75M
    Overall width 46M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE MINE WORKINGS ARE ALONG A NORTHEAST-TRENDING BELT APPROXIMATELY 250 FT. WIDE AND 2,800 FT. LONG. THE MINE WAS WORKED BY A SERIES OF VERTICAL SHAFTS AND EXTENSIVE UNDERGROUND WORKINGS. THE CURETON SHAFT, WHICH WAS DEEPENED AND ENLARGED BY THE COLOSSUS COMPANY, WAS 365 FT. DEEP IN 1935. IN 1970, THE WORKINGS WERE OVERGROWN WITH VEGETATION, BUT SEVERAL SHAFTS WERE CLEAR TO A CONSIDERABLE DEPTH. SOME DUMP MATERIAL IS NEAR THE WORKINGS NORTHEAST OF SR 1323. THE OLD MILL REMAINS ON THE PROPERTY, BUT ALL THE EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN REMOVED.

Comments on development

  • THE HOWIE MINE WAS OPERATED PRIOR TO 1840 AS A PLACER DEPOSIT. NUMEROUS SMALL-SCALE OPERATIONS WERE CARRIED OUT ON THE LODES UNTIL 1854, WHEN COMMODORE STOCKTON TOOK OVER THE PROPERTY. HE WORKED THE DEPOSIT UNTIL AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. FOLLOWING THE CIVIL WAR, THE MINE WAS OPERATED BY SEVERAL DIFFERENT COMPANIES, INCLUDING THE COLOSSUS GOLD MINING AND MILLING COMPANY AND THE CONDOR CONSOLIDATED MINES, LTD., OF CANADA. A TOTAL OF 41,300 OUNCES OF GOLD IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN PRODUCED FROM THE MINE UP TO 1934. IN 1940, 1941 AND 1942 THE CONDOR MINE WAS THE LEADING GOLD PRODUCER IN THE STATE. IN 1955, AND AGAIN IN THE EARLY 1960'S THE MILL AT THE CONDOR MINE WAS USED FOR THE PROCESSING OF GOLD ORE FROM THE STAR MINE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CARPENTER, P. A., 1976, METALLIC MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE CAROLINA SLATE BELT, NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA MINERAL RESOURCES BULL. 84, 166 P.

  • Deposit

    PARDEE, J. T., AND PARK, C. F., JR., 1948, GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT: U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROF PAPER 213, 156 P.; SCHROEDER, K.E. AND ALLEN, C.R., 1988, STRUCTURAL CONTROLS OF A SHEAR-ZONE HOSTED GOLD DEPOSIT IN THE CAROLINA SLATE BELT: IN KISVARSANYI AND GRANT EDS. NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON TECTONIC CONTROL OF ORE DEPOSITS AND THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL EXENT OF ORE SYSTEMS. UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, P 482-490.

  • Production

    PARDEE AND PARK, 1948; MINING JOURNAL MAY 30, 1986.

  • Reserve-Resource

    PARDEE AND PARK, 1948; MINING JOUNAL MAY 30,1986

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SERIES OF NORTH-EAST PLUNGING HIGH-GRADE ORE SHOOTS WITHIN THE 50MuWIDE SHEAR ZONE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1976 Mcdaniel, Ronald D. North Carolina Division of Land Resources
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.

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