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Busby Mine

Producer in Goochland county in Virginia, United States with commodity Gold
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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. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10079851
MRDS ID W030595
Record type Site
Current site name Busby Mine
Alternate or previous names Busbee Mine, Groom Property

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.07915, 37.85116 (WGS84)
Elevation 136
Relative position 1.05 MI (1.69 KM) SW OF TABSCOTT.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Goochland(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Caledonia(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillwyn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle James-Willis(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Goochland

Comments on the location information

  • 0.15 MI (0.24 KM) OFF SSE SIDE OF STATE ROAD 605, 0.35 MI (0.56 KM) BY ROAD SW OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 681.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Analytical data

Result RECORDS INDICATE THAT A RANDOM SAMPLE WAS CRUSHED AND WASHED, YIELDING SIX GRAINS, EQUIVALENT TO $81 PER TON. ANOTHER TEST OF TWO POUNDS OF ORE YIELDED APPROXIMATELY $250 PER TON.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock
    Rock unit name Arvonia Formation;Alluvium
    Rock description Arvonia Formation;Alluvium
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Columbia Syncline , Ne-Sw Trend

Ore body information

  • Width 0.8M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE BUSBY VEIN IS SUPPOSED TO BE A CONTINUATION OF THE MOSS VEIN, BUT CONTINUOUS TRACING ON THE SURFACE BETWEEN THE TWO MINES IS NOT POSSIBLE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1829
Discoverer Fisher
Year of first production 1830

Mining district

District name Gold-Pyrite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Richmond Mining Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Durwood G. And James Ashby Payne

Comments on the production information

  • ORE ASSAYS VARIED FROM $81 TO $250 PER TON. 600 TO 650 TONS OF ORE HAD BEEN ACCUMULATED FOR MILLING IN 1836 WHEN SILLIMAN VISITED THE MINE. IN 1865 WHEN H. CREDNER VISITED THE MINE NO ORE WAS SEEN SO IT HAD EITHER BEEN MILLED OR REMOVED.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 17.4M

Comments on the workings information

  • SEVERAL SHAFTS REPORTEDLY SUNK. IN 1974, WATER-FILLED SHAFT, THREE SHALLOW PITS AND SCATTERED QUARTZ EVIDENT. ONE SHAFT WAS SUNK TO A DEPTH OF AT LEAST 17.4 M (53 FT) AND 4 PROSPECT PITS, EACH 6 TO 8 M (20 TO 26 FT) DEEP, WERE DUG.

Comments on development

  • THIS MINE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST GOLD MINES TO BE WORKED IN VIRGINIA, THE PLACERS WERE BEING WASHED AS EARLY AS 1829 BY THE FISHERS. IN WORKING UP BUSBY BRANCH, THE BUSBY VEIN WAS DISCOVERED, AND THEN A SMALL WOODEN STAMP MILL RUN BY HORSE-POWER WAS PUT UP BY THE FISHERS AND D.W.K. BOWLES. BY 1836 THE RICHMOND MINING COMPANY HAD TAKEN OVER OPERATIONS AND A SHAFT HAD BEEN SUNK TO A DEPTH OF 17.4 M (57 FT), WITH THE EXPECTATION OF STRIKING THE VEIN AT 21 M (70 FT). THE VEIN HAD FIRST BEEN PROVED BY 4 PROSPECTING PITS 6 TO 8 M (20 TO 26 FT) IN DEPTH. BY 1865 THE MINE WAS IN RUINS AND NO FURTHER ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO REOPEN IT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SWEET, P.C., 1980, GOLD IN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, PUBLICATION 19, 77 P.

  • Deposit

    BROWN, C.B., 1937, OUTLINE OF THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF GOOCHLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BULLETIN 48, 68 P.

  • Deposit

    TABER, S., 1913, GEOLOGY OF THE GOLD BELT IN THE JAMES RIVER BASIN, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BULLETIN 7, 271 P.

  • Deposit

    CREDNER, H., REPORT OF EXPLORATIONS ON THE GOLD FIELDS OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MINING, 1869, VOL. 7, P. 27

  • Deposit

    HAMMETT, A.B.J., 1966, THE HISTORY OF GOLD, KERRVILLE, TEXAS, BRASWELL PRINTING CO., 107 P.

  • Deposit

    1836 DIREXPL OPERATED BY RICHMOND MINING CO

  • Deposit

    183? DIREXPL FISHERS AND D.W.K BOWLES, ERECTED MILL

  • Deposit

    1974 RECON LOCATED SITE

  • Production

    SILLIMAN (1837) AS REF. IN TABER (1913) , CREDNER (1869)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit TWO VEINS, MOSS AND BUSBY, ON LINE WITH TELLURIUM SYSTEM. THE BUSBY VEIN WAS 305 TO 762 MM (12 TO 30 IN) WIDE. THE VEIN CONSISTS OF WHITE, COARSELY GRANULAR TO SACCHAROIDAL QUARTZ, APPARENTLY FREE OF ALL ORE MINERALS AND IMPURITIES EXCEPT GOLD.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1979 Meintzer (D.C. Levan), Robert E. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1981 Trimble, David, C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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