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Smith Bank Mine

Past Producer in Page county in Virginia, United States with commodities Iron, Kaolin, 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. 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. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080682
MRDS ID W032020
Record type Site
Current site name Smith Bank Mine
Alternate or previous names Chalk Mine, Forrers Bank

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.57001, 38.49643 (WGS84)
Elevation 439
Relative position 4 KM (2.5 MI) EAST-NORTHEAST OF SHENANDOAH.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Page(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Elkton East(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Charlottesville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charlottesville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Shenandoah(hydrologic unit)

Potomac(hydrologic accounting unit)

Potomac(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Page

Comments on the location information

  • ON THE WEST FOOT OF SMITH MOUNTAIN AT THE HEAD OF A DRAINAGE INTO FULTZ RUN, ABOUT 0.64 KM (0.4 MI) BY A DIRT ROAD EAST-NORTHEAST FROM STATE ROAD 608, 1.3 KM (0.8 MI) BY ROAD FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 603.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Kaolin Primary
Manganese Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore
Psilomelane Ore
Chert Gangue

Analytical data

Result 3 SAMPLES: 55.81 % FE, 7.67 % SI02, 0.75 % AL: 52.19 % FE, 5.8 % SI02, 4.5 % AL: 49.9 % FE, 14.67 % SI02, 0.101 % P.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Shady Dolomite;Clay Residuum Derived From Weathering Of The Shady Dolomite
    Rock description Shady Dolomite;Clay Residuum Derived From Weathering Of The Shady Dolomite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.57001, 38.49643
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Clay Residuum

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1840
Year of first production 1840
Year of last production 1940

Mining district

District name Elkton Area

Land status

Ownership category Private

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 0.809HA

Comments on the workings information

  • MAIN WORKING IS A VERY LARGE OPENCUT, AT LEAST TWO ACRES IN EXTENT AND ABOUT 30.5 M (100 FT) DEEP AT ITS MAXIMUM DEPTH, TRENDING NORTH-SOUTH. TWO OR THREE SMALLER OPENCUTS ARE CLOSER TO THE QUARTZITE CONTACT JUST TO THE EAST. NEAR THE HEAD OF THE MAIN CUT WERE SOME UNDERGROUND WORKINGS NOW CAVED. SEVERAL OLD PITS AND SHAFTS ARE NEARER THE DIVIDE TO THE SOUTH PUT DOWN FOR PROSPECTING PURPOSES.

Comments on development

  • MINE FIRST OPENED AS EARLY AS 1840 AND WORKED INTERMITTENTLY FOR IRON AS PART OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE SHENANDOAH IRON WORKS, AT LEAST UNTIL 1890. AFTER 1882, THE WAS CONNECTED BY RAILROAD WITH THE IRON WORKS IN SHENANDOAH. BETWEEN 1930 AND 1940, THE MINE WAS WORKED FOR WHITE, KAOLINITIC CLAY. PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE IS UNKNOWN, BUT IS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN A LARGE PRODUCER IN THE AREA. ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF CLAY WAS PRODUCED BEFORE OPERATIONS CEASED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    KING, P.B., 1950, GEOLOGY OF THE ELKTON AREA, VIRGINIA: USGS PROF. PAPER 230, 82 P.

  • Deposit

    KING, P.B., 1943, MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF THE ELKTON AREA, VIRGINIA: USGS BULL. 940-B, P. 15-55.

  • Deposit

    STOSE, G.W., MISER, H.D., KATZ, F.J., AND HEWETT, D.F., 1919, MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF THE WEST FOOT OF THE BLUE RIDGE, VIRGINIA: VA. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 17, 166 P.

  • Deposit

    ALLEN, R.M., JR., 1967, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF PAGE COUNTY: VA. DIV. MIN. RES. BULL. 81, 78 P.

  • Deposit

    MCCREATH, A.S., 1884, THE MINERAL WEALTH OF VIRGINIA, TRIBUTARY TO THE LINES OF THE NORFOLK & WESTERN AND SHENANDOAH VALLEY RAILROAD COMPANIES: HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, 157 P.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSIT LIES IN RESIDUUM OVERLYING THE LOWER BEDS OF THE SHADY DOLOMITE. THE RESIDUUM IS OVERLAIN BY OLDER GRAVELS AND THE ANTIETAM FORMATION IS EXPOSED JUST TO THE EAST OF THE WORKINGS. THE MAIN OPENCUT EXPOSES BROWN AND PINK CLAY, WITH SEAMS OF WHITE, SANDY OR SILTY CLAY, AND WHITE, KAOLINITIC CLAY. THESE DIP ABOUT 30 DEG NW. THE CLAY CONTAINS FRAGMENTS OF GRAY, DULL-LUSTERED CHERT AND IRREGULAR MASSES OF LIMONITE. A SMALL AMOUNT OF MANGANESE OXIDES WAS FOUND NEAR THE HEAD OF THE CUT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1982 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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