Gap Nickel Mine

Past Producer in Lancaster county in Pennsylvania, United States with commodities Nickel, Cobalt, Copper
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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Production statistics
  11. Reserves and resources
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10067832
MRDS ID W000685
Record type Site
Current site name Gap Nickel Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -76.08297, 39.95641 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lancaster(county)

Pennsylvania(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Gap(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

York(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Baltimore(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Susquehanna(hydrologic unit)

Lower Susquehanna(hydrologic accounting unit)

Susquehanna(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Pennsylvania Lancaster

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Critical Primary
Cobalt Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • FROM 1853 TO 1893, GAP MINE WAS PRINCIPAL NI-CO PRODUCER IN NORTH AMERICA. IN 1876, THE GAP NICKEL MINE'S OUTPUT OF 200,000 LBS. OF NICKEL REPRESENTED ONE-SIXTH OF THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pentlandite Ore
Pyrite Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro > Norite

Nearby scientific data

(1) Chickies Formation

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • GEOL.DESC: ORE MINERALS OCCUR ALONG CONTACT OF A METAMORPHOSED GABBRO MASS WITH PRECAMBRIAN MICA SCHIST. ORE DESCRIBED AS SIMILAR TO THAT AT SUDBURY, ONTARIO

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1718

Production statistics

  • Year 1893
    Period 1853-1893
    Material NI
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^1 - 3 % Ni, 0.4 - 0.9 % Cu
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Copper Copper 1wt-pct
    Trace Nickel Nickel 2wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • MINE CLOSED IN 1893 BECAUSE OF COMPETITION FROM RICHER AND LARGER DEPOSITS IN CANADA(SUDBURY)AND NEW CALEDONIA. GRADE OF ORE, AS MINED, RANGED FROM 1 TO 3% NI AND 0.4 TO 0.9% CU

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1973
    Total resources 900000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Nickel Ni 0.7 wt-pct Nickel Major 1973
    Cobalt Co 0.2 wt-pct Cobalt Minor 1973
    Copper Cu 0.4 wt-pct Copper Minor 1973

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RESERVES UNKNOWN; MINE FULL OF WATER; EXPLORATION IN 1942 INDICATED MODERATE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL CONTAINING 0.7% NI AND 0.4% CU. POOR INFORMATION REGARDING GRADE OF COBALT

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit GAP DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF LENSES OF MASSIVE SULFIDES SURROUNDED BY ZONES OF DISSEMINATED SULFIDES NEAR THE BASE OF A TROUGH-SHAPED INTRUSION OF NORITE OR GABBRO, 2000 FT. LONG AND AS MUCH AS 800 FT. WIDE, THAT HAS BEEN METAMORPHOSED TO AMPHIBOLITE AFTER UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO MINE COPPER, IN 1852, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT PYRRHOTITE, THROWN ON THE DUMPS AS WORTHLESS, CONTAINES MORE THAN 1% NICKEL. : UPDATE BY GLENN L. SHAFFER-1/75, RESERVES AND POTENTIAL RESOURCES. FURTHER UPDATE ON 7/75 TO SAME FIELDS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1972 Coury, Anny B. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUL-1975 Shaffer, Glenn L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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