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Champion Mine

Past Producer in Amelia county in Virginia, United States with commodities Mica, Beryllium, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium), Arsenic, Lead, Sulfur-Pyrite, Copper
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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. 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. Production statistics
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080102
MRDS ID W031176
Record type Site
Current site name Champion Mine
Alternate or previous names Jefferson No. 4 Mine, Bland Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -77.96554, 37.382 (WGS84)
Elevation 101
Relative position ABOUT 4.8 KM (3 MI) NORTH-NORTHEAST OF AMELIA COURT HOUSE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Amelia(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Chula(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

  • ABOUT 1.6 KM (1 MI) NORTH ON STATE ROAD 630 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 661, ABOUT 12 M (39 FT) WEST OF ROAD.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mica Primary
Beryllium Critical Secondary
Tantalum Critical Secondary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Secondary
Arsenic Critical Secondary
Lead Secondary
Sulfur-Pyrite Secondary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Beryl Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Marcasite Ore
Microlite Ore
Muscovite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrochlore Ore
Albite Gangue
Allanite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Kaolin Gangue
Monazite Gangue
Oligoclase Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Tourmaline Gangue
Zircon Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Gneiss Chopawamsic Formation
    Rock description Gneiss Chopawamsic Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -77.96554, 37.382
ListMap

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 IRREGULAR LENS
    Strike N 80 DEG E
    Dip 60 DEG N TO VERTICAL
    Length 37M
    Width 6M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 34M

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 1866
Discoverer Mr. Skelton?
Year of first production 1866

Mining district

District name Amelia District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Champion Mining Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Mr. W. Ritter Presently Owns The Property (Aug /Judge Garland Jefferson
    Last year 1983

Production statistics

  • Year 1914
    Period 1913-1914
    Material MIC1
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^Excellent
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    WO3 Tungsten Tungsten 70wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • ORIGINAL DATA IN POUNDS.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • MUCH OF DEPOSIT MINED OUT. SOME MICA-BEARING ROCK REMAINS IN DEEPER PARTS OF THE DEPOSIT EAST OF THE SKELTON SHAFT AND SOME PEGMATITE WITH MODERATE QUANTITIES OF MICA REMAINS IN THE DRIFT AT THE 24 M (80 FT) LEVEL OF THE STERRETT SHAFT; ITS EASTWARD EXTENT IS UNKNOWN.

Comments on the workings information

  • THE SKELTON SHAFT WAS SUNK TO A DEPTH OF AT LEAST 27 M (90 FT) AND STOPING WAS DONE FROM THE SHAFT. THE GRINDSTAFF SHAFT WAS SUNK 24 M (80 FT) VERTICALLY AND CONTINUED WITH A WESTERN SLOPE OF ABOUT 50 DEG FOR A DISTANCE OF 15 M (50 FT). TUNNELS AND IRREGULAR STOPES WERE DUG DURING MINING. BLAND EXTENDED THE STOPES DURING HIS OPERATIONS. STERRETT IN THE SPRING 1943 DUG SEVERAL TRENCHES AND TWO EXPLORATORY SHAFTS ABOUT 8 M (25 FT) DEEP AND 3 M (10 FT) APART WERE SUNK 12M (40 FT) NORTHWEST OF THE GRINDSTAFF SHAFT. BOTH SHAFTS WERE ABANDONED DUE TO SLUMPAGE TOWARD OLD WORKINGS. IN JULY 1943 A NEW SHAFT WAS BEGUN 18 M (60 FT) WEST-NORTHWEST OF THE GRINDSTAFF SHAFT AND EVENTUALLY REACHED A DEPTH OF 31 M (100 FT). A DRIFT WAS DRIVEN 8 M (25 FT) SOUTHWARD AT THE 13 M (43 FT) LEVEL, STRIKING A PEGMATITE BODY 2 M (6 FT) FROM THE SHAFT THAT WAS 3 M (10 FT) THICK. ANOTHER DRIFT WAS EXTENDED SOUTHEASTWARD AT THE 24 M (80 FT) LEVEL. AT THE 31 M (100 FT) LEVEL A DRIFT WAS DRIVEN 3 M (9 FT)
  • SOUTHEASTWARD WHERE IT BROKE INTO AN OLD STOPE. THIS STOPE, ABOUT 20 M (65 FT) LONG, 12 M (40 FT) OR MORE HIGH, AND 5 M (15 FT) WIDE, WAS ELONGATED E-W ALONG STRIKE WITH THE PEGMATITE AND CONNECTED NEAR THE EASTERN END WITH THE GRINDSTAFF AND SKELTON SHAFTS. SKIDPOLES EXTENDED FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE GRINDSTAFF SHAFT TO A SUMP 6 M (20 FT) TO THE NW. THIS SUMP, AT A DEPTH OF 34 M (110 FT), REPRESENTED THE DEEPEST WORK IN THE MINE. A SUBSIDIARY STOPE ABOUT 3 M (10 FT) HIGH IN THE CEILING OF THE BIG STOPE AND A DRIFT OF UNKNOWN LENGTH EXTENDED E FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SKELTON SHAFT REPRESENT ADDITIONAL WORK. IN AUG 1983, THE SHAFT HAD BEEN FILLED IN, BUT THE DUMP REMAINS.

Comments on development

  • THIS MINE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN OPERATED BY A MR. SKELTON SHORTLY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, AT FIRST BY OPEN CUT METHODS AND LATER BY STOPING ALONG THE NORTH WALL OF THE DEPOSIT FROM A VERTICAL SHAFT. CHAMPION REOPENED THE MINE IN 1873. MINING OPERATIONS BETWEEN 1873 AND 1895 ARE UNKNOWN, BUT MINING IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN CARRIED ON FROM TIME TO TIME BY SHIELDS AND PROBABLY OTHERS. ABOUT 1895 BENZ GRINDSTAFF WORKED THE MINE FOR DR. SKELTON; AND LATER, ABOUT 1904, WORKED IT FOR HIMSELF. A SECOND SHAFT WAS SUNK BY GRINDSTAFF AT THIS TIME. IN 1913, BROOK SEWELL REOPENED THE MINE, BUT SHORTLY THEREAFTER J. BOYD BLAND OF RICHMOND, TOOK OVER ITS OPERATION. BLAND WORKED THE MINE FOR 18 MONTHS, DEEPENING THE GRINDSTAFF SHAFT AND DRIVING STOPES AND DRIFTS OFF THE SHAFT. HE PRODUCED 200,000 POUNDS (91 MET TONS) OF MICA, OF WHICH 15,000 POUNDS (6.8 MET TONS) WAS SOLD AS SHEET MICA. D.B. STERRETT LEASED THE MINE FROM JUDGE GARLAND JEFFERSON IN THE SPRING OF 1943 AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER SUBLEASED IT TO
  • THE CHAMPION MINING CO. AND BECAME SUPERINTENDENT IN CHARGE OF OPERATIONS. THREE SHAFTS AND SEVERAL TRENCHES WERE DUG. THE MINE WAS ABANDONED ON DECEMBER 15, 1944 AND ON THE FOLLOWING NEW YEAR'S EVE THE WORKINGS CAVED IN, LEAVING A HOLE AT THE SURFACE 27 M (90 FT) LONG, 14 M (45 FT) WIDE, AND 8 M (25 FT) DEEP.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PEGMATITE BODY IS DISCORDANT, SHAPED LIKE A LIMA BEAN AND VERY IRREGULAR IN DETAIL. IT IS WELL ZONED; THE WALLZONE AND CORE ARE PREDOMINATE. A BORDER ZONE UP TO 5 IN. WIDE IS COMPOSED OF PLAGIOCLASE (AB85) AND ABUNDANT SCRAP MUSCOVITE. THE PERTHITE RICH INTERMEDIATE-ZONE IS QUITE SPARSE OR ABSENT. THE WALL ZONE, WHICH COMPRISES MOST OF THE PEGMATITE AND FROM WHICH ALL THE SHEET MICA HAS BEEN PRODUCED, CONSISTS OF MOSTLY ALBITE, BOOK MUSCOVITE, AND VARIABLE QUARTZ. THE CORE ZONE IS DOMINANTLY QUARTZ. THE BOOK MUSCOVITE IS MOST ABUNDANT IN THE INNER 2 FT (0.6 M) OF THE WALL ZONE, AND MANY ARE IN CONTACT WITH THE QUARTZ CORE. MICROLITE CRYSTALS ARE FOUND EMBEDDED IN ALBITE. PYROCHLORE, MONAZITE, ZIRCON, AND TANTALITE-COLUMBITE ALSO OCCUR IN THE WALL ZONE, CHIEFLY ALONG OR NEAR CONTACTS BETWEEN QUARTZ AND FELDSPAR CRYSTALS.
Deposit THIS MINE WAS APPARENTLY THE FIRST MINE IN THE AMELIA DISTRICT. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-JUL-1987 Sweet, Palmer 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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