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Sterling Hill

Past Producer in Sussex county in New Jersey, United States with commodities Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Lead
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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. 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 10080281
MRDS ID W031395
Record type Site
Current site name Sterling Hill
Alternate or previous names Sterling Hill Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -74.59959, 41.08333 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Sussex(county)

New Jersey(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Franklin(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Middletown(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Scranton(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rondout(hydrologic unit)

Upper Hudson(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Hudson(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New Jersey Sussex

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Iron Secondary
Manganese Critical Secondary
Lead Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Grade assay (in wt. percent): Zn = 20, Fe2O4 = 15.7, Zn204 = 19.9, Mn204 = 6.6.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Franklinite Ore
Willemite Ore
Zincite Ore
Rhodonite Ore
Tephroite Ore
Schefferite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Fowlerite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Diopside Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Friedelite Gangue
Andradite Gangue
Hardystonite Gangue
Lead Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Dolomitization

Analytical data

Result GRADE ASSAY (IN WT-PCT) ZN=20, FE2O4=15.70, ZN2O4=19.90, MN2O4=6.60

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Franklin Marble Formation
    Rock description Franklin Marble Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Proterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -74.59959, 41.08333
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Ore body isoclinally folded and cut by 2 major faults; ore body dip N70E

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR: OTHER
    Dip N 70 E

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Folding; Lithology

Comments on the geologic information

  • Johnson (1990) proposes two models for the Sterling Hill protore: (1) metal deposition on the ocean floor or in shallowly-buried sediments where redox conditions were controlled by seawater (such as the modern Red Sea), or (2) post-depositional oxidation of a preexisting sulfide body. The first model is favored by Johnson (1990), however, the mineralization at Sterling Hill, just like Franklin, is unique with no comparable deposits any where else in the world. Despite more than a century of study, the genesis of the deposits remains in doubt.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes

Mining district

District name Franklin-Sterling Hill Zinc District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner The New Jersey Zinc Co. (A Div. Of Gulf And Western Inds.)

Production statistics

  • Year 1986
    Period 1875-1986
    Material zinc ore
    Ore mined 11000000mt

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SPURR, J.E., AND LEWIS, J. VOLNEY, 1925, ORE DEPOSITION AT FRANKLIN FURNACE, NEW JERSEY IN ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL PRESS, V. 119, NO. 8, P. 317-328

  • Deposit

    TARR, W.A., 1929, THE ORIGIN OF THE ZINC DEPOSITS AT FRANKLIN AND STERLING HILL, NEW JERSEY: AMER. MINERAL, V. 14, P. 207-221

  • Production

    U.S. BUREAU OF MINES--MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1965-1973--PROD: FOR STERLING HILL DEPOSIT.

  • Environment

    U.S. DEPT. OF COMMERCE, AUG. 1973, CLIMATOGRAPHY OF THE U.S. NO. 81 (NEW JERSEY)

  • Location

    U.S. Geological Survey, 1972, CATALOG OF INFORMATION ON WATER DATA

  • Deposit

    BROWN, J.S., ORE DEPOSITS OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES, IN RIDGE, J.D., ED., ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES 1933-1967 (GRATON-SALES VOLUME) V. 1: AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, P. 1-19.

  • Geology

    JOHNSON, C. A., 1990, PETROLOGIC AND STABLE ISOTOPE STUDIES OF THE METAMORPHOSED ZINE-IRON MANGANESE DEPOSIT AT STERLING HILL, NEW JERSEY: PH.D. DISSERTATION, YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CT, 108 PP.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Average dimension of mineralization (in meters): length 914, width 533, thickness 3, depth 381.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1981 Sutphin, David M. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 13-NOV-2003 Woodruff, Laurel G. U.S. Geological Survey Work done in Filemaker

Beyond USGS

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

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