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Little Wythe Mine

Past Producer in Wythe county in Virginia, United States with commodities Iron, Zinc, Sulfur-Pyrite
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080257
MRDS ID W031365
Record type Site
Current site name Little Wythe Mine
Alternate or previous names Yellow Ore Bank

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.09564, 36.79869 (WGS84)
Elevation 744
Relative position 1.7 MILES SSE OF THE TOWN OF CRIPPLE CREEK FROM CRIPPLE CREEK RIVER BANK.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Wythe(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Cripple Creek(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wytheville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper New(hydrologic unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic subregion)

Ohio(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

George Washington National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Jefferson National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

George Washington and Jefferson 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 Wythe

Comments on the location information

  • 1.0 MILE SOUTH ALONG ROUTE 740 FROM JUCNTION WITH ROUTE 602, 0.49 MILE SOUTH OF NATIONAL FOREST SIGN ON R. 740 AT WEST END OF FRY HILL, TO LEFT IN WOODS 500 FEET EAST OF R. 740.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hemimorphite Ore
Limonite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Gypsum Gangue
Pyrite Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation Of Primary Sulphides Pyrite To Fe Oxides, Sphalerite.

Analytical data

Result (1) FOR IRON ORE: AT LITTLE WYTHE MINE: FE-42.75%, MN-0.32%, SIO2-13.77%, P-0.25%. (2) IRON ORE - FE-55.4%, P-0.127, SIO2-7.96%

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 228
USGS model code 32b
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, Appalachian Zn
Mark3 model number 42

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Shady Dolomite;Erwin Quartzite
    Rock description Shady Dolomite;Erwin Quartzite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.09564, 36.79869
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Stacked Allocthons In Imbricate And Duplex Systems.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Brush Creek Overthrust, Fry Hill Anticline, Poplar Camp Overthrust

Ore body information

  • General form BLANKET TO IRREGULAR
    Strike N 10 DEG E
    Dip 15 DEG NE

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Warm Metal Rich Brines, Temperature Controlled, Remobilizaiton Controlled By Later Fracturing And Residual Weathering Last Process.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ERWIN QUARTZITE HAS BEEN OVERTHRUSTED UPON THE SHADY DOLOMITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Discoverer Crockett, Oglesby, & Company.
Year of first production 1885

Mining district

District name Cripple Creek - New River

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Virginia Iron, Coal, And Coke Co.

Comments on the production information

  • 2 CARLOADS OF ZINC ORE WAS PRODUCED. ALSO UNDETERMINED AMOUNT OF IRON ORE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall depth 6.1M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS ARE SURFACE PITS. THERE ARE EXTENSIVE CUTS 10-15 FEET DEEP IN LARGELY CONIFER WOODS WITHIN NATIONAL FOREST. DRILLING BY NEW JERSEY ZINC IN 1960'S (?) INDICATED ONLY IRON AND MANGANESE MINERALIZATION.

Comments on development

  • THE NORMA IRON COMPANY SOLD LAND TO THE CROCKETT, OGLESBY, & CO. BEFORE 1885 AND CROCKETT, OGLESBY, & CO. DEVELOPED THE LITTLE WYTHE MINE, STARTING BEFORE 1885. IRON ORE WAS PRODUCED FOR THE WYTHE FURNACE BUT DISCONTINUED BY 1885. THE VIRGINIA IRON, COAL, AND COKE, CO. THEN PURCHASED THE PROPERTY. IRON ORE AGAIN WAS MINED ON A SMALL SCALE AS WELL AS TWO CARLOADS OF ZINC ORE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    SRC.REF: (1) HOLDEN, R.J., (1907). P. 458; (2) MCCREATH AND D'INVILLIER (1887). P. 118

  • Deposit

    CURRIER, L.W., 1935, ZINC AND LEAD REGION OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 43, 122 P.

  • Deposit

    HOLDEN, R.J., 1907, IRON, IN WATSON, T.L., MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA: LYNCHBURG, VA., J.P. BELL CO., P. 402-491.

  • Deposit

    MCCREATH, A.S., AND D'INVILLIER, E.V., 1887, THE NEW RIVER-CRIPPLE CREEK MINERAL REGION OF VIRGINIA: HARRISBURG, 171 P.

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL CROCKETT, OGLESBY, & COMPANY-MINED IRON ORE

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL VIRGINIA IRON, COAL, AND COKE CO.-MINED

  • Production

    CURRIER (1935).

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE DEPOSIT IS VERY CLOSE TO AN OVERTHRUST. IRON ORE WAS MINED ALMOST AT THE FAULT CONTACT. THE PYRITE AND OXIDIZED ZINC MINERALS OCCUR IN DOLOMITE OF THE PATTERSON LIMESTONE (RIBBON) MEMBER OF THE SHADY DOLOMITE
Deposit THERE ARE NUMEROUS IRON PITS IN IMMEDIATE VICINITY AS WELL AS TWO OTHER MINES, THE NORMA ("OUTBURST OPENINGS"), 0.25 MILE SSE AND BEVERLY 0.25 MILE NNE (MCCREATH AND D'INVILLIER, 1887, MAP). ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-APR-1988 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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