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Toncrae Mine

Past Producer in Floyd county in Virginia, United States with commodities Copper, Iron, Iron, Pig Iron, Sulfur-Pyrite, Silver, Cobalt, Nickel
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  17. Reserves and resources
  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 10068221
MRDS ID W001171
Record type Site
Current site name Toncrae Mine
Alternate or previous names Toncray Mine, Toncrae-Howard Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.37562, 36.83007 (WGS84)
Elevation 853
Relative position 9.9 KM (6.2 MI) ESE OF WILLIS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Floyd(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Willis(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 Floyd

Comments on the location information

  • 0.5 KM (0.3 MI) OFF SOUTH SIDE OF STATE ROAD 605 ABOUT 2.6 KM (1.6 MI) BY ROAD SOUTH OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 726.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Iron Primary
Iron, Pig Iron Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Secondary
Silver Secondary
Cobalt Critical Tertiary
Nickel Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • MAIN ORE BODY CONSISTS OF MOSTLY PYRRHOTITE WITH SOME CHALCOPYRITE, PYRITE, AND MAGNETITE. OTHER MINERALS ARE PART OF GOSSAN.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Covellite Ore
Limonite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result KINKEL (1960) REPORTS 120, 450, AND 900 PPM COBALT. ESPENSHADE (1944) REPORTS: 11 BEST CU ASSAYS, AVERAGE 5.11% CU, 0.23% CO
Result BEST CO ANALYSES AVERAGE 5.21% CU, 0.31% CO. DIETRICH (1959) REPORTS NI, LESS THAN 0.05%, CO, TRACE. (KINKEL, A R, 1960, WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TO J S VHAY
Result ESPENSHADE, G M, 1944, WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TO J S VHAY.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 91
USGS model code 24b
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)
Mark3 model number 30

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Lynchburg Formation
    Rock description Lynchburg Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.37562, 36.83007
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Blue Ridge Anticlinorium
Type of structure Local
Structure description Foliation Strikes N 15-25 Deg E And Dips 35-50 Deg Se.

Ore body information

  • General form FOLDED LENS
    Strike N10DEGE
    Dip 30DEGSE
    Plunge GENTLY()
    Plunge direction S()
    Thickness 15M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 91M

Comments on the geologic information

  • GEOL.DESC: ORE OCCURS IN ALTERED AMPHIBOLITE DIKE THAT CUTS CAROLINA GNEISS, PYRRHOTITE, CHALCOPYRITE, PYRITE. SECONDARY CHALCOCITE IN "SMUT ORE"

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1800
Year of first production 1800

Mining district

District name Southern Lead/Southern Section - Blue Ridge Province

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Chevron Minerals

Production statistics

  • Year 1945
    Material AG
    Description Ap_Grade: ^Ag: 0.38 Ozs Per Ton.
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Silver Silver 11g/mt
  • Year 1947
    Period 1938-1947
    Material CU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^ 0.38 Opt Ag
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Silver Silver 11g/mt
  • Year 1947
    Period 1938-1947
    Material ORE CU
    Description Cp_Grade: ^6.6% Cu
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Copper Copper 7wt-pct
  • Year 1947
    Period 1938-1947
    Material ORE CU
    Description Cp_Grade: ^7% Cu Ave
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Copper Copper 7wt-pct
  • Year 1947
    Period 1938-1947
    Material ORE CU
    Description Cp_Grade: ^14.5 % Cu Ave
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Copper Copper 15wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • IRON ORE WAS MINED FROM THE GOSSAN AND SMELTED NEARBY FOR ABOUT 60 YEARS PROBABLY UNTIL ABOUT 1850

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1943
    Total resources 13000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 3.5 wt-pct Copper Major 1943

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ESPENSHADE, 1944, REPORTS IF AVERAGE COBALT CONTENT IS AROUND 0.2%, THEN 50 TO 60 TONS OF METALLIC COBALT MAY BE PRESENT WITHIN 75 FT. OF SURFACE . (ESPENSHADE, G M, 1944, WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TO J S VHAY).

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 259M
    Overall depth 48.8M

Comments on the workings information

  • IN 1975, SITE CONSISTED OF TRENCHES, PITS, AND CAVED SHAFTS, TWO OF WHICH ARE ABOUT 6 M DEEP IN AREA OF OLD GOSSAN WORKINGS; AND IN RECENT WORKINGS: SEVERAL SHAFTS, WASTE AND SLAG PILES, COLLAPSED BUILDING, AND SEVERAL FOUNDATIONS.

Comments on development

  • 1935-1947: MR C H THOMPSON: CONDUCTED INTERMITTENT INVESTIGATION AND MINING; 1943: U S B M: DRILLED 666.8 M OF TEST HOLES AND CONDUCTED MINE DEVELOPMENT; 1954-1955: APPALACHIAN SULPHIDES, INC: CONDUCTED GEOPHYSICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDY, DRILLED OVER 1525 M OF EXPLORATORY HOLES. CHEVRON MINERALS IS PRESENTLY CONDUCTING EXPLORATORY DRILLING (1979-1980).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    DIETRICH, R V, 1959, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF FLOYD COUNTY OF THE BLUE RIDGE UPLAND, SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE BULLETIN, ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION SERIES NO 134, 160 P.

  • Deposit

    ESPENSHADE, G H, 1963, GEOLOGY OF SOME COPPER DEPOSITS IN NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, AND ALABAMA: U S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1142-I, 50 P.

  • Deposit

    SWEET, P C AND BELL, S C, 1980, METALLIC MINERALIZATION IN THE BLUE RIDGE PROVINCE OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, IN PREPARATION.

  • Deposit

    GROSH, W.A., 1948, INVESTIGATION OF THE TONCRAE-HOWARD COPPER DEPOSITS, FLOYD COUNTY, VA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES REPORT OF INVESTIGATION 4362, 4 P.

  • Deposit

    1800? DIREXPL MINING OF GOSSAN FOR IRON UNTIL ABOUT 1850, FOLLOWED BY MINING OF SMUT ORE FOR CU, 1854-1855.

  • Deposit

    1905 DIREXPL NEW YORK AND VIRGINIA COPPER CO.: DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY SULFIDES UNTIL 1908.

  • Deposit

    1938 DIREXPL AMERICAN METALS CO: DRILLING AND SELECTIVE MINING UNTIL 1941.

  • Production

    ESPENSHADE (1963), SWEET AND BELL (1979)

  • Reserve-Resource

    UNPUBLISHED REPORT BY R.J. WRIGHT, 1943, USGS

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit RECENT DRILLING SUGGESTS AN ANTICLINAL STRUCTURE.
Deposit Discovery Year: 1800 (?)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1973 Coury, Anny B. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1979 Meintzer, Robert E. (Le Van, D.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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