Low Moor White Rock Mine

Past Producer in Alleghany county in Virginia, United States with commodity Iron
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. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Land status
  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 10067220
MRDS ID VA00000
Record type Site
Current site name Low Moor White Rock Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.89116, 37.76839 (WGS84)
Elevation 408
Relative position 9000 FT. S 17 DEGREES W OF ALLEGHANY REGIONAL HOSPITAL IN LOW MOOR

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Alleghany(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Covington(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Buena Vista(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper James(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

George Washington National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

George Washington and Jefferson National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Alleghany

Comments on the location information

  • ALONG WHITE ROCK CREEK, ABOUT 1000 FEET FROM JUNCTION WITH KARNES CREEK

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Goethite Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Ridgeley Sandstone
    Rock description Ridgeley Sandstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.89116, 37.76839

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Thickness 35M
    Length 304.8M

Comments on the geologic information

  • RIDGELEY SANDSTONE IS EQUIVALENT TO ORISKANY SANDSTONE

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1875
Year of last production 1897

Mining district

District name Clifton Forge Iron District

Land status

Ownership category State

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Low Moor Iron Co.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Area 1.214HA
    Overall depth 19.81M

Comments on the workings information

  • TWO SHAFT MINES ABOUT 50 FT. DIAMETER SURROUNDED BY 20 TO 50 FT HIGH SPOIL PILES

Comments on development

  • TOTAL PRODUCTION FROM LOWMOOR MINES WAS 967,640 TONS OF ORE (1873-1925). MINE CLOSED DUE TO WATER PROBLEMS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HOTCHKISS, JED., 1880, THE LOW MOOR IRON COMPANY OF VIRGINIA: THE VIRGINIAS, V.1, P. 150-151.

  • Deposit

    LESURE, FRANK G., 1957, GEOLOGY OF THE CLIFTON FORGE IRON DISTRICT, VIRGINIA: BULLETIN OF VPI & SU ENG EXP STA, SERIES NO. 118, V. L, N.7, 130 P.

  • Deposit

    LYMAN, B.S., 1886, GEOLOGY OF THE LOW MOOR, VIRGINIA, IRON-ORES: AIME TRANS., V. 14, PP. 801-809

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SEE LOW MOOR MINE NUMBER 1
Deposit SEE LOW MOOR NUMBER 1 MINE ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV
Deposit Discovery Year: LATE 1800S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1987 Wilkes, Gerald P. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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