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Gardner Mine

Past Producer in Smyth county in Virginia, United States with commodity Barium-Barite
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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. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  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 10067276
MRDS ID VA01767
Record type Site
Current site name Gardner Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.57455, 36.8223 (WGS84)
Elevation 677
Relative position 3.2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN MARION

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Smyth(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Marion(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wytheville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Holston(hydrologic unit)

French Broad-Holston(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Smyth

Comments on the location information

  • PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS INCLUDE THE MILES-GARDNER MINES TOGETHER AS ONE LOCATION. FROM FIELD WORK AND PERSONAL COMMUNICATION (GRAHAM GARDINER) SEPARATE MILES AND GARDNER MINE SITES WERE LOCATED AND WILL BE DESCRIBED AS SEPARATE MINES. THE GARDNER MINE IS 1000 FEET WEST OF THE MILES MINE. UTM COORDINATES AND ELEVATION LOCATE THE CENTER OF THE WORKINGS. THE MINE IS NORTH OF MCMULLIN SUBDIVISION, 3450 FEET N16E FROM BENCH MARK BM X 23, 3950 FEET N43W FROM BENCH MARK BM N 375, AND 1000 FEET SOUTH OF THE MIDDLE FORK OF HOLSTON RIVER.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Beekmantown Formation
    Rock description Beekmantown;Residual Clay And Soil

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.57455, 36.8223
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Southwest Trending Thrust Faults
Type of structure Local
Structure description Mine Is Located On The Southern Flank Of The Marion Dome, 1 Mile North Of The Seven Springs Thrust Fault.

Ore body information

  • General form LENSE, PINCH AND SWELL, IRREGULAR
    Strike EAST-WEST
    Dip SHALLOW 12 DEGREES SOUTH
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures In The Bedrock

Comments on the geologic information

  • BEEKMANTOWN OUTCROPS IN THE AREA AS FINE GRAINED, DARK GRAY DOLOMITIC LIMESTONE, WITH THIN DISCONTINUOUS CHERT BANDS AND NODULES, STRIKING EAST-WEST AND DIPPING 12 DEGREES SOUTH. REGIONAL GEOLOGY FROM C. BUTTS (1933), B. COOPER (1936), AND B. FRENCH (1967).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Discoverer Gardner (?)
Year of first production 1875
Year of last production 1902

Mining district

District name Smyth County Barite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Gardner
  • Type Owner
    Owner Graham Gardner

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 121.92M
    Overall width 182.88M

Comments on the workings information

  • EDMUNDSON (1938) STATED WORKINGS ON THE GARDNER FARM WAS MORE EXTENSIVE THAN THE WORKINGS ON THE MILES FARM. SEVERAL TRENCHES TOTALED A LENGTH OF 400 AND AVERAGED 10 FEET DEEP. FIELD EXAMINATION WAS CONDUCTED 11/20/85. WORKINGS ARE LOCATED ON THE NORTH SLOPING HILLSIDE IN AN OPEN FIELD. WORKINGS CONSIST OF SHALLOW PITS UP TO 15 FEET IN DIAMETER AND 5 TO 10 FEET DEEP, SHALLOW TRENCHES TRENDING N 80 DEGREES E TO EAST-WEST, AND HEAVILY WEATHERED DUMP MATERIAL. THE WORKINGS ARE PARTIALLY FILLED IN AND GRASSED OVER.

Comments on development

  • MINING PROBABLY BEGAN BETWEEN 1875 AND 1885, AND WORKED AT THE SAME TIME AS THE MILES MINE, WHICH WAS ON THE ADJOINING FARM TO THE EAST. GRAHAM GARDINER (PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, 1985) STATED THE MINE WAS LOCATED ON HIS FAMILY'S PROPERTY AND WAS WORKED PRIOR TO 1902.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    OBSERVATION

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSIT WAS NOT EXPOSED, NOR DESCRIBED IN THE LITERATURE. SMALL MASSES AND CLUSTERS OF BARITE CRYSTALS FOUND ON THE WEATHERED DUMPS. AS WITH THE OTHER DEPOSITS IN THE DISTRICT, BARITE MOST LIKELY OCCURS AS VEINS AND REPLACEMENT MASSES ALONG FRACTURES IN THE BEDROCK, AND AS IRREGULAR FRAGMENTS IN THE OVERLYING RESIDUAL CLAY AND SOIL.
Deposit THE MILES-GARDNER MINES WERE PREVIOUSLY LISTED WITH 1 DESCRIPTION AND 1 LOCATION. BECAUSE THE WORKINGS WERE NOT CONTINUOUS, SEPARATE LOCATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED FOR THE TWO MINES AND WILL BE LISTED AS TWO SEPARATE MINES. EDMUNDSON (1938) STATES THE GARDNER MINE (AND THE MILES MINE) IS ALONG THE SAME MINERALIZED ZONE AS THE H.P. COPENHAVER AND SHANKLIN MINES, BUT WAS A RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT PRODUCER. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV; 5 PERS COMM

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1987 Lovett, James A. (Sweet Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

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