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Austinville Flatwood Pb Zn Mine

Past Producer in Wythe county in Virginia, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead
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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. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10067278
MRDS ID VA01769
Record type Site
Current site name Austinville Flatwood Pb Zn Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.89758, 36.86229 (WGS84)
Elevation 652
Relative position 8500 FEET NE OF AUSTINVILLE VAN MATER SHAFT, 1.3 MILES NE OF AUSTINVILLE FROM ROUTE 636.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Wythe(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Austinville(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Galax(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 Virginia Wythe

Comments on the location information

  • 0.6 MILE SOUTH FROM ROUTE 619 CROSS NEW RIVER ON SR 636, TAKE LEFT TURN THROUGH AUSTINVILLE AND CONTINUE 1.5 MILES FROM SR 636 ON PRIVATE ROAD TO FLATWOOD SHAFT AND QUARRY.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • AG IN GALENA (60PPM) TOO LOW FOR EXTRACTION. CADMIUM IN SPHALERITE 0.0-0.3% (FOLEY, 1980), IRON IN SPHALERITE 0.0-3.0% (FOLEY, 1980).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Anglesite Ore
Galena Ore
Hemimorphite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Marcasite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation At Surface And Along Fault Planes; Dolomite Recryallized ("Met Zone") In Barren Zone Around Ore.

Analytical data

Result GRADES AT FLATWOOD NOT KNOWN BUT OVERALL GRADE OF IVAHHOE AT CLOSING WAS 3% ZN 0.4% PB.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 228
USGS model code 32b
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, Appalachian Zn
Mark3 model number 42

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Shady Dolomite: Patterson Member (Usgs Usage) = Ribbon Member (Nj Zinc Usage);Shady Dolomite: Saccharoidal Member (Usgs) = Austinville Member (Nj Zinc)
    Rock description Shady Dolomite: Patterson Member (Usgs Usage) = Ribbon Member (Nj Zinc Usage);Shady Dolomite: Saccharoidal Member (Usgs) = Austinville Member (Nj Zinc)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.89758, 36.86229
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Multiple Imbricate, Steep Thrust Faults Parallel To Regional Structure; Fries Thrust.

Ore body information

  • General form LENSE: PENCIL SHAPED WITH LENSE-LIKE CROSS SECTION

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore Confined To Patterson And Saccarroidal Members Of Shady Dolomite.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE FLATWOOD ORE BODIES ARE PART OF AN ECHELON AUSTINVILLE SYSTEM OF SEVENTEEN SEPARATE ORE BODIES WHICH HAS AN OVERALL LENGTH OF 6 MILES AND WIDTH OF 0.5 MILE. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 1. THE ORE FLUIDS WERE WARM, METAL-RICH BRINES WITH TEMPERATURES OF 100-160 DEGREES C, AND HIGH SALINITIES (10-25% EQUIV. WT. NACL) BASED ON FLUID INCLUSIONS IN SPHALERITE. 2. THE ORE MINERALS ARE SIMPLE AND CONSIT LARGELY OF LENSES OF SPHALERITE-PYRITE-GALENA WITH TRACES OF MARCASITE AND CHALCOPYRITE. 3. PYRITE IS UBIQUITOUS AND IS THE FIRST MINERAL TO FORM IN ORE BODIES. IT MAKES UP ABOUT 5% OF TOTAL SULFIDES. 4. THE SPHALERITE IS BANDED, IN PLACES BOTH DARK BROWN AND HONEY COLORED AND WAS DEPOSITED CYCLICALLY. 5. ALL ORE IS DOLOMITE-HOSTED WITH VARYING AMOUNTS OF BLEACHING AND RECRYSTALLIZATION (WHITE "MET") AROUND ORE LENSES. RECRYSTALLIZATION OF DOLOMITE WITHIN ORE HAS LED TO ALTERNATING LAYERS OF WHITE AND DARK DOLOMITE IN MUCH OF THE ORE. THERE ARE UP TO THREE GENERATIONS OF DOLOMITE. 6. THE ORE
  • OCCURS AS BRECCIA FILLINGS AND THIN LENSLIKE REPLACEMENTS PARALLEL TO SEDIMENTARY LAYERING. BRECCIATION AND DOLOMITIZATION PRECEDED ORE DEPOSITION AND IS POST SEDIMENTATION. 8. THE MAJORITY OF ORE LENSES ARE PARALLEL TO SUBPARALLEL TO FAULTS AND SEVERAL ARE STACKED NEAR FAULT ZONES. SOME OF THE STACKS ARE CONNECTED VERTICALLY. 9. BOTH POST ORE AND PRE-ORE FAULTING ARE PRESENT BUT ONLY MINOR FAULTS INTERSECT ORE LENSES. ORE BODIES GENERALLY DO NOT MATCH ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAME FAULT. 10. SPHALERITE COLOR DOES NOT CORRELATE WELL WITH IRON CONTENT (0.0-3.0%). CADMIUM (0.0-0.3%) BEARS INVERSE RELATIONSHIP TO IRON. SPHALERITE STRATIGRAPHY CAN BE USED FOR CORRELATION. 11. LATE STAGE SPHALERITE, FLUORITE, QUARTZ, BARITE, GYPSUM AND ANHYDRITE OCCURE IN VUGS AND VEINS. THE FLUORITE IS COLORLESS TO PALE PURPLE. 12. ISOTOPIC DATA ON LEAD IN GALENA WAS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH A CAMBRIAN OR LATER AGE OF MINERALIZATION CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED FROM GEOLOGIC AND MINERALOGIC EVIDENCE. A "PSEUDOSECONDARY"
  • ISOCHRON INDICATED 3.51 +/- 0.4 BILLION YEAR AGE FOR SOURCE OF LEAD, UNREASONABLE FOR CRUSTAL ENVIRONMENT UNLESS INHERITED THROUGH MULTICYCLES FROM CRUSTAL OR ASTEROID SOURCE. DATA DOES INDICATE MIXING OF LEAD FROM AT LEAST TWO SOURCES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1965
Discoverer New Jersey Zinc Company
Year of first production 1965
Year of last production 1975

Mining district

District name New River-Criple Creek Region, Austinville-Ivanhoe District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner New Jersey Zinc Co.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Unknown
    Overall depth 243.84M

Comments on the workings information

  • OVER 4000 FEET TOTAL DRIFTS.

Comments on development

  • DEVELOPED IN 1960'S AND 1970'S MINED TO 7TH LEVEL 800 FEET BELOW SURFACE. MOST OF ORE FROM 3RD AND 4TH LEVEL. ABOUT 4,000 FEET OF DRIFTS, WATER PROBLEM SEVERE, ORE SPOTTY, DID NOT GENERATE NET PROFIT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BROWN, W.H., 1935, QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF ORE ZONING, AUSTINVILLE MINE, WYTHE CO., VIRGINIA ECON. GEOL., VOL 30 NO. 4, P. 425-433.

  • Deposit

    BROWN, W.H., 1953, AUSTINVILLE: MINING ENG., VOL. 5, NO. 12, P. 1216-1221.

  • Deposit

    BROWN, W.H., AND WEINBERG, E.L., 1967, GEOLOGY OF THE AUSTINVILLE-IVANHOE DISTRICT, VIRGINIA IN RIDGE, J.D., ED., ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES 1933-1967, MAPLE PRESS, YORK, PA.

  • Deposit

    CURRIER, L.W., 1935, ZINC AND LEAD REGION OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOL. SURV. BULL. 43, 122 P.

  • Deposit

    FOLEY, N.K., 1980, MINERALOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE AUSTINVILLE DISTRICT: UNPUBL. M.S. THESIS, VIRGINIA POLYTECH. INSTIT. AND UNIV., 84 P.

  • Deposit

    FOLEY, N.K., SINHA, A.K., CRAIG, J.R., 1981, ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF LEAD IN THE AUSTINVILLE-IVANHOE PB-ZN DISTRICT: ECON GEOL, VOL. 76, P. 2012-2013.

  • Deposit

    MCCREATH, A.S., AND D'INVILLIERS, E.V., 1887, THE NEW RIVER-CRIPPLE CREEK MINERAL REGION OF VIRGINIA: HARRISBURG PUBLISHING CO, HARRISBURG, PA., 171 P. WITH MAP.

  • Deposit

    MILLER, J.W., 1985, STATISTICAL MODELING OF AUSTINVILLE MINE: A GUIDE TO EXPLORATION: PHD DISSERT. UNIV OF GEORGIA, ATHENS, 142 P.

  • Deposit

    PHEIL, R.W., AND READ, J.F., 1980, CAMBRIAN CARBONATE PLATFORM FACIES, SHADY DOLOMITE, SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA, U.S.A., JOURN. SED. PET., VOL. 50, NO. 17.

  • Deposit

    VDMR, 1981, AUSTINVILLE MINE CLOSES: VIRGINIA MINERALS, VOL 27, NO. 4, NOV., 1980.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L., 1905, LEAD AND ZINC DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: GEOL. SURV. VIRGINIA, BULL. 1, 156 P.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L., 1907, MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA, THE JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION COMM., J.P. BELL CO., LYNCHBURG, VA, 618 P.

  • Deposit

    WEINBERG, E.L., 1963, GEOLOGY OF THE AUSTINVILLE-IVANHOE MINE AREA, IN GEOLO. EXCURSIONS IN SW VIRGINIA, VA POLYTECH. INSTIT. ENG. EXTENSION SERIES, GUIDEBOOK II, P. 5-10.

  • Deposit

    WEINBERG, E.L., 1971, SULFIDE MINERALIZATION IN SW VIRGINIA, AUSTINVILLE-IVANHOE MINE IN GUIDE BOOK TO APPALACHIAN TECTONICS AND SULFIDE MINERALIZATION: GEOL. SOC. AM., SECT. MTG., BLACKSBURG, VA, P. 7-23.

  • Deposit

    WEINBERG, E.L., 1980, AUSTINVILLE MINING - 1756 TO PRESENT: VIRGINIA MINERALS, VOL. 26 NO. 1, P. 11.

  • Deposit

    WEINBERG, E.L., 1988, FORMERLY NEW JERSEY ZINC COMPANY, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SEE MRDS LISTINGS FOR IVANHOE LEAD ZINC MINE AND AUSTINVIOLLE LEAD ZINC MINE FOR MORE COMPLETE INFORMATION OF THE HISTORY, GEOLOGY, AND UNDERGROUND WORKINGS ON STRIKE TO SW OF FLATWOOD SHAFT. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV; 5 PERS COMM
Deposit TWO ORE BODIES FLATWOOD AND UPPER AND LOWER (MINED).
Deposit Discovery Year: 1960'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-88 AS 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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