Happy Creek Mines

Past Producer in Warren county in Virginia, United States with commodities Iron, Manganese
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. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080697
MRDS ID W032038
Record type Site
Current site name Happy Creek Mines

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.15443, 38.9131 (WGS84)
Elevation 220
Relative position 3.2 KM (2.0 MI) EAST OF FRONT ROYAL.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Warren(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Front Royal(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Front Royal(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charlottesville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Shenandoah(hydrologic unit)

Potomac(hydrologic accounting unit)

Potomac(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Warren

Comments on the location information

  • 0.44 KM (0.28 MI) NORTH-NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROAD 55 AND AN ACCESS ROAD TO THE U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE RESEARCH CENTER, AT THE SOUTHWEST END OF GREEN HILL. ADDITIONAL MINE IS LOCATED AT UTM COORDINATES N 4310670, E 746710, JUST SOUTH OF THE FIRST MINE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Manganese Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • HARDER (1908) DESCRIBES ORE AS MOUNTAIN BROWN ORE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Goethite Ore
Limonite Ore
Pyrolusite Ore
Chert Gangue

Analytical data

Result 49.5% FE, 0.59% P, 0.75% MN (HARDER, 1908).

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
    Rock unit name Clay Residuum Derived From The Shady Dolomite;Antietam Formation
    Rock description Clay Residuum Derived From The Shady Dolomite;Antietam Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.15443, 38.9131

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Happy Creek Fault, Front Royal Fault, Stone Bridge Anticline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Clay Residuum, Quartzite Breccia

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1907
Discoverer H.J. Seibel, Jr. (?)
Year of first production 1907

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner H. J. Seibel, Jr. - Seibel Iron Mines, Inc.

Comments on the production information

  • IN 1907 THIS MINE WAS SHIPPING ABOUT 3 CARLOADS PER DAY. AND OCCASIONALLY A FEW CARLOADS OF PYROLUSITE WERE SHIPPED.

Comments on the workings information

  • BOTH MINES CONSIST OF VERY LARGE OPEN CUTS, PROSPECT PITS AND TRENCHES, AND DUMPS. SOME IRON ORE IS PRESENT ON THE DUMPS AND THIN SEAMS OF PYROLUSITE ARE PRESENT IN THE WALLS OF THE OPEN CUTS.

Comments on development

  • THE ORE WAS WASHED IN A LOCAL WASHER AND TRANSPORTED OVER A NARROW-GAUGE RAILROAD TO HAPPY CREEK FOR SHIPMENT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    RADER, E.K., AND BIGGS, T.H., 1975, GEOLOGY OF THE FRONT ROYAL QUADRANGLE, VIRGINIA: VA. DIV. MIN. RES., REPT. OF INVESTIGATIONS 40, 91 P.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    HARDER, E.C., 1908, THE IRON ORES OF THE APPALACHIAN REGION IN VIRGINIA: USGS BULL. 380, P. 215-254.

  • Deposit

    HARDER, E.C., 1910, MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES: USGS BULL. 427, 298 P.

  • 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.

  • Production

    HOLDEN (1907).

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF ANGULAR FRAGMENTS OF IRON ORE OF VARYING SIZES INTERMIXED WITH CONSIDERABLE CLAY AND SAND. LIMONITE ALSO CEMENTS QUARTZITE BRECCIA OF THE ANTIETAM FORMATION. THE CLAY IS DERIVED FROM THE SHADY DOLOMITE. POCKETS OF SOFT, GRANULAR PYROLUSITE OCCUR LOCALLY IN THE LIMONITE DEPOSITS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-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.