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Bishop Mine

Past Producer in Campbell county in Virginia, United States with commodities Manganese, Copper, Sulfur-Pyrite, Iron, 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. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080128
MRDS ID W031211
Record type Site
Current site name Bishop Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.31892, 37.15063 (WGS84)
Elevation 229
Relative position 1.6 KM (1.0 MI) WEST OF LYNCH STATION.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Campbell(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Lynch Station(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Roanoke(hydrologic unit)

Roanoke(hydrologic accounting unit)

Chowan-Roanoke(hydrologic subregion)

South Atlantic-Gulf(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Campbell

Comments on the location information

  • 0.7 KM (0.45 MI) NORTH ON STATE ROAD 627 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 43, TURN WEST ON DIRT ROAD FOR APPROXIMATELY 0.6 KM (0.4 MI), MINE WORKINGS EXTEND SOUTHWESTWARD ALONG THE RIDGE TOP AND ACROSS THE GULLY TO THE EAST. WORKINGS EXTEND SOUTHWEST ACROSS A TRIBUTARY TO BISHOP CREEK.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Manganese Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary
Iron Tertiary
Gold Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • MINE IS ALSO ONLY SOURCE IN UNITED STATES FOR CRYSTALLINE TURQUOISE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Limonite Ore
Malachite Ore
Psilomelane Ore
Pyrite Ore
Hematite Gangue
Ilmenite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Turquoise Gangue

Analytical data

Result COPPER ORE IS REPORTED TO HAVE CONTAINED 2 PERCENT COPPER.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Chopawamsic (Mount Athos Formation)
    Rock description Chopawamsic (Mount Athos Formation)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.31892, 37.15063
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, James River Synclinorium

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 1M
    Length 244M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Year of first production 1885

Mining district

District name James River - Roanoke River Manganese District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Otter River Mining Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Shaw, Earl

Comments on the production information

  • ORIGINAL DATA IN SHORT TONS. MANGANESE ORE PRODUCED IN 1885 WAS SHIPPED TO ENGLAND.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 11M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF AT LEAST 17 TRENCHES, 2 OPEN CUTS, 15 PROSPECT PITS, 1 SHAFT, AND 3 TUNNELS. THE SHAFT WAS 11 M (35 FT) DEEP AND WAS STILL OPEN IN 1981. IN 1981 THE TRENCHES VARIED IN LENGTH UP TO ABOUT 73 M (240 FT), AND WERE GENERALLY 1 M (3 FT) WIDE, AND UP TO 1 M (3 FT) DEEP. TWO OF THE TUNNEL ENTRANCES WERE CLOSED AND THE OTHER TUNNEL STILL HAD A SMALL OPENING AT THE TOP OF THE SLUMP PILE AT THE ENTRANCE TO IT. THIS LAST TUNNEL APPEARED TO STILL BE OPEN FOR AN UNKNOWN DISTANCE BACK INTO IT.

Comments on development

  • THE BISHOP MINE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST MANGANESE MINES IN THAT PARTOF THE DISTRICT. IT WAS ACTIVE DURING THE 1880'S, PRODUCING MANGANESE AND SOME COPPER. RIVERS MINING AND MANUFACTURING CORP. PROSPECTED FOR COPPER IN 1909-1910. FROM 1938-1943, MORE THAN A DOZEN TRENCHES AND AN 11M-(35 FT-) SHAFT WERE OPENED AND THE PROPERTY WAS AGAIN PROSPECTED FOR MANGANESE BY THE OTTER RIVER MINING CO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 2 MANGANIFEROUS ZONES PROSPECTED. IN THE EASTERN ZONE WAD WAS FOUND FOR A DISTANCE OF 244 M (800 FT), AND SEAMS OF SOFT MANGANESE OXIDES (0.3 TO 1 M THICK, ENCLOSED IN QUARTZITE) WERE FOUND OVER A LENGTH OF ABOUT 91.5 M (300 FT). THE WESTERN ZONE IS ON THE SAME QUARTZITE RIDGE AS THE WESTERN MAYHEW LEAD TO THE NORTH. MANGANESE OXIDES ALSO OCCUR HERE AS FRACTURE FILLINGS AND AS BRECCIA MATRIX IN QUARTZITE AND VEIN QUARTZ.
Deposit Discovery Year: MID-1880'S (?)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1981 Trimble, David C. (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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