1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Franklin Mine

Past Producer in Sussex county in New Jersey, United States with commodities Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum
Map
XML
JSON
KML
A
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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  17. Reserves and resources
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10073174
MRDS ID W019035
Record type Site
Current site name Franklin Mine
Alternate or previous names Franklin-Sterling Hill Zn-Mn-Fe Mines, Franklin Furnace, Franklin-Sterling Hill Zinc Mine
Related records 10126144

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -74.58736, 41.11888 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Sussex(county)

New Jersey(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Franklin(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Middletown(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Scranton(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rondout(hydrologic unit)

Upper Hudson(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Hudson(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New Jersey Sussex

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Iron Secondary
Manganese Critical Secondary
Nickel Critical Tertiary
Cobalt Critical Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Several hundred pound mass of Ni-Co material was cut at a depth of 340 feet in the Trotter shaft of the Franklin deposit. Only this one occurrence was found; relations to zinc ore is not known, although it may be related to a pegmatite. Chloanthite contained 18.6% Ni, 6.4% Co; arsenopyrite, 1.16% Co; and pyrite with 1.25% pyrite. Arsenopyrite and pyrite elsewhere in the district carried up to 1.25% Co (Bilbery, 1962).
  • Analyses of the ore at Franklin are: 43 wt % franklinite; 26 wt. % willemite; 1% zincite; 25 wt. % carbonates; 5 wt. % silicates (Palache, 1935). Manganese in franklinite yielded a by-product of some value. No concentrator was needed.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Willemite Ore
Franklinite Ore
Zincite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Augite Gangue
Diopside Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Molybdenite Unknown
Chloanthite Unknown
Arsenopyrite Unknown
Pyrite Unknown
Descloizite Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) Dolomitization

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Franklin Marble Formation
    Rock description Franklin Marble Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Proterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Cork Hill gneiss
    Rock description Cork Hill gneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Proterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Furnace Magnetite Bed
    Rock description Furnace Magnetite Bed
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Proterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Hardyston Quartzite
    Rock description Hardyston Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Kittatinny Limestone
    Rock description Kittatinny Limestone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -74.58736, 41.11888
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Major Syncline
Type of structure Local
Structure description Numerous Cross Folds, Faults, Fractures

Ore body information

  • General form CONFORMABLE, SYNCLINAL

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Stratigraphic Control

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geology is unique. Zincite, willemite, and franklinite occur as grains and bunches in calcite, as high-temperature replacement (?) in Precambrian granitic gneisses and crystalline marble cut by pegmatite dikes. The origin of these deposits (Franklin and Sterling Hill) are in dispute. First-rank zinc district of unique geology with major geochemical implications; however, there is no known counterpart anywhere in the world. The basic gangue is crystalline limestone with a wide variety of silicates gangue minerals. Sulfides, including sphalerite and galena, are present in the merest traces, and may have no direct relation to the major ore minerals ( Brown, 1968).
  • Both the Franklin and the Sterling Hill ore bodies are enclosed in the Prroterozoic Franklin Marble formation. Sterling Hill is near the center of the Franklin Marble band, which is approximately a half-mile (~800 meters) wide locally, but the Franklin deposit is closer to the formation?s west side, where it has proximity relations to the Furnace Magnetite Bed, the Cork Hill Gneiss, and the overlying Hardyston Quartzite and Kittatinny Limestone.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1750
Year of first production 1845

Mining district

District name Franklin-Sterling Hill Zinc District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner New Jersey Zinc Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1867
    Period 1850-1867
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 100000mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc ore Zinc Zinc 19wt-pct
  • Year 1900
    Period 1868-1900
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 1485019mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc ore Zinc Zinc 19wt-pct
  • Year 1910
    Period 1901-1910
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 3433169mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 19wt-pct
  • Year 1920
    Period 1911-1920
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 5424574mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 20wt-pct
  • Year 1930
    Period 1921-1930
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 4710518mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 19wt-pct
  • Year 1940
    Period 1931-1940
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 3804506mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 21wt-pct
  • Year 1950
    Period 1941-1950
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 3163438mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 20wt-pct
  • Year 1954
    Period 1951-1954
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 892130mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major zinc Zinc Zinc 19wt-pct
  • Year 1957
    Period 1850-1957
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 22000000mt

Comments on the production information

  • Zinc mining began about 1840 and was continuous since then by the New Jersey Zinc Company until the Franklin mine closed in 1957. Production in the Franklin-Sterling Hill district was large. When Franklin was exhausted, mining shifted to the nearby Sterling Hill mine, which closed down in 1986, ending zinc mining in New Jersey. Production numbers from Brown (1968).

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1975
    Total resources 2700000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Zinc Zn 20.1 wt-pct Zinc Major 1975

Comments on development

  • MILL.CAP: 398 MET TONS ; ECON.YEAR: 1968 ; ECON.COM: 1090 MTPD CRUSHER/GRINDER.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    PALACHE, C., 1935, THE MINERALS OF FRANKLIN AND STERLING HILL, SUSSEX COUNTY NEW JERSEY: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 180.

  • Deposit

    PINGER, A. W., 1950, GEOLOGY OF THE FRANKLIN - STERLING AREA, SUSSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY; INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS, 18TH, PT. 7 P. 77 - 87.

  • Commodity

    BILBREY, J. H., 1962, COBALT, A MATERIALS SURVEY: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 8130, P. 30.

  • Deposit

    BROWN, J.S., ORE DEPOSITS OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES, IN RIDGE, J.D., ED., ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES 1933-1967 (GRATON-SALES VOLUME) V. 1: AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, P. 1-19.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Discovery Year: 1700'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1972 Coury, Anny B. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-AUG-1974 King, Robert U. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-APR-1977 Schruben, Paul G. and Wedow, H. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-JAN-1983 Whitlow, S. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 13-NOV-2003 Woodruff, Laurel G. U.S. Geological Survey Work done in Filemaker

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site