Berry Mine

Past Producer in Amelia county in Virginia, United States with commodities Mica, Feldspar, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)
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. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080101
MRDS ID W031175
Record type Site
Current site name Berry Mine
Alternate or previous names Includes Berry No. 1 Mine, Berry No. 2 Mine, Berry No. 3 Prospect

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -77.97027, 37.35506 (WGS84)
Elevation 95
Relative position EXACT LOCATION OF TWO DEPOSITS UNCERTAIN, BUT THEY ARE WITHIN 100 M OF THEIR RESPECTIVE UTM COORDINATES

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Amelia(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Amelia Court House(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Petersburg(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Richmond(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Appomattox(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Amelia

Comments on the location information

  • BERRY NO. 1 MINE WITH THE ABOVE UTM COORDINATES IS ABOUT 1.6 KM (1 MI) NORTHEAST OF AMELIA COURT HOUSE, ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE SOUTHERN RAILROAD, BETWEEN THE RAILROAD AND U.S. HIGHWAY 360 BUSINESS. BERRY NO. 2 MINE IS LOCATED NEAR N 4137900 E 237800 ZONE +18 AND IS ABOUT 2 KM (1.3 MI) NORTHEAST OF AMELIA COURT HOUSE AND 0.8 KM (0.5 MI) SOUTHEAST OF U.S. HIGHWAY 360. BERRY NO. 3 PROSPECT IS LOCATED AT N 4138645 E 237610 ZONE +18 AND ABOUT 2.4 KM (1.5 MI) NORTHEAST OF AMELIA COURT HOUSE AND 32 M (105 FT) SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 360 BUSINESS.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mica Primary
Feldspar Secondary
Tantalum Critical Secondary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Muscovite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Biotite Gneiss-Chopawamsic Formation
    Rock description Biotite Gneiss-Chopawamsic Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -77.97027, 37.35506

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults

Ore body information

  • General form LENS

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Pegmatite Dike

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1873
Year of first production 1873

Mining district

District name Amelia District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner John A. Doelle
  • Type Owner
    Owner R. P. Penn

Comments on the workings information

  • IN 1912 MINE NO. 1 CONSISTED OF A PIT 11 M (35 FT) ACROSS AND 4.6 M (15 FT) DEEP TO WATER, WITH A CRIBBED SHAFT 3.7 M (12 FT) SQUARE IN THE BOTTOM. THE MINE HAS LONG SINCE BEEN FILLED AND THE SURFACE GRADED FOR FARMING. THE BERRY NO. 2 MINE CONSISTS OF A PIT 14 M (45 FT) LONG AND 8 M (25 FT) WIDE, WITH TWO CRIBBED SHAFTS IN THE BOTTOM, THE WESTERN SHAFT IS ABOUT 9 M (30 FT) DEEP. THE NO. 3 PROSPECT IS A PARTIALLY FILLED PIT 7 M (23 FT) LONG, 3.6 M (12 FT) WIDE, AND 1.5 M (5 FT) DEEP.

Comments on development

  • BERRY NO. 1 MINE WAS OPENED SHORTLY AFTER THE JEFFERSON MINE WAS OPENED IN 1873. IT HAD LONG BEEN CLOSED DOWN WHEN WATSON (1907) VISITED THE SITE IN 1906, PROBABLY SHUT DOWN DURING THE 1880'S. BERRY NO. 2 MINE WAS OPENED IN 1910 BY RICHARDSON. IT WAS WORKED AGAIN IN 1923. THE OPENINGS INCLUDED A PIT WITH TWO SHAFTS SUNK IN THE BOTTOM, BUT ALL WERE FILLED AND THE PROPERTY LEVELED FOR FARM LAND. IN 1944, JOHN A. DOELLE CLEANED OUT AND DEEPENED THE WESTERN SHAFT. HOWEVER, HE WAS FORCED TO ABANDON THE OPERATION IN JANUARY 1945 BECAUSE OF INABILITY TO CONTROL WET FILL WHICH FLOWED THROUGH THE CRIBBING. THE BERRY NO. 3 PROSPECT IS AN OLD PIT WORKED AT AN UNKNOWN TIME. D.B. STERRETT TRENCHED THE SIDES OF THE PIT. MINE NO. 1 IS NO LONGER VISIBLE, ONLY A FEW FRAGMENTS OF QUARTZ, FELDSPAR, AND MICA WERE SEEN.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit LITTLE IS KNOWN OF THE CHARACTER OF THE PEGMATITE. BOTH THE COUNTRY ROCK AND PEGMATITE ARE WEATHERED TO A DEPTH OF AT LEAST 12 M (40 FT). AT THE BERRY NO. 2 MINE. IN NO. 3 PROSPECT A 1 FT WIDE QUARTZ VEIN WAS EXPOSED, WITH SHEETS OF MICA OBSERVED ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS VEIN. IN NO. 2 MINE SOFT MICA-BEARING PEGMATITE FORMED THE FLOOR OF THE SHAFT AND MASSIVE QUARTZ BORDERED THE NORTH WALL. FROM THE LITERATURE IT IS UNCLEAR FROM WHICH DEPOSIT THE TANTALITE-COLUMBITE WAS FOUND, BUT IT APPEARS TO BE NO. 1 OR NO. 2 MINE.
Deposit THIS MINE WAS REPORTED BY WATSON (1907) TO BE ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL MICA PRODUCERS OF THE EARLY DAYS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1981 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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