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Mease Barite Mine

Past Producer in Pittsylvania county in Virginia, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, Manganese
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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. 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. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080196
MRDS ID W031295
Record type Site
Current site name Mease Barite Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.55754, 37.93811 (WGS84)
Elevation 253
Relative position 1.75 MILES SW OF SANDY LEVEL ON ROUTE 40

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Rockbridge(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Millboro(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Buena Vista(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Maury(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

George Washington National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Pittsylvania

Comments on the location information

  • OLD LOCATION (WATSON 1907) MISLEADING BECAUSE SANDY LEVEL USED TO BE 0.5 MILE FARTHER NORTH ON NOW ABANDONED RAILROAD. WORKINGS ARE 135 FEET SOUTH OF ROUTE 775, 450 FEET WEST OF JUNCTION WITH ROUTE 751 (ROUTE 949 ON 1965 TOPOGRAPHIC MAP). WORKINGS SOUTH OF R. 775 HIDDEN BY NEWLY PLANTED PINE TREES. OPEN CUT ALSO OCCURS NORTH OF R 775 BUT IS FILLED IN AND IS ONLY SLIGHT DEPRESSION.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Manganese Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • NO PRODUCTION FIGURES AVAILABLE

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Psilomelane Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Marble Altered To Clay

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Mica Schist
    Rock unit name Mt Athos Member, Alligator Back Formation, Lynchburg Group
    Rock description Mt Athos Member, Alligator Back Formation, Lynchburg Group

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.55754, 37.93811
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Bowens Creek Fault
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faulting?

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES, BEDDED
    Strike NE
    Dip SE
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Strataboundum

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1875
Year of last production 1931

Mining district

District name James River Roanoke River Manganese Iron Barite District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Mease
  • Type Owner
    Owner Cecil Gibson; Pete Foster, Rocky Mount (Surface Rights).

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 0M

Comments on the workings information

  • TWO PITS 15 FEET ACROSS AND 5 TO 8 FEET DEEP (SHAFTS OF 1930-1931?) ARE STILL VISIBLE BUT OVERGROWN WITH SUMAC AND HONEYSUCKLE.

Comments on development

  • MINE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN OPENED IN THE LATE 1800'S OR EARLY 1900'S. A FEW SHAFTS WERE DUG AND WORKED ON A SMALL SCALE IN THE WINTER OF 1930-1931. NO PRODUCTION FIGURES WERE GIVEN IN LITERATURE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, BARITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 53, 85 P.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L., 1907, SULPHATES, IN MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA: LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA, PP. 305-327.

  • Deposit

    1930 DIREXPL ? - WORKED SHAFTS, MINED

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL ? - DUG SHAFTS, MINED

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE OCCURS IN RESIDUAL CLAY, DERIVED FROM MARBLE OF THE MOUNT ATHOS FORMATION.
Deposit Discovery Year: LATE 1800'S?

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-OCT-1987 Good, Richard S. 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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