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Capola Mountain Mine

Past Producer in Shenandoah county in Virginia, United States with commodities Manganese, Iron
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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. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  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 10080715
MRDS ID W032058
Record type Site
Current site name Capola Mountain Mine
Alternate or previous names Capola Mine, Cupula Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.56222, 38.97532 (WGS84)
Elevation 500
Relative position 6.4 KM (4 MI) SOUTHWEST OF ZEPP.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Shenandoah(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Woodstock(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Front Royal(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charlottesville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

North Fork Shenandoah(hydrologic unit)

Potomac(hydrologic accounting unit)

Potomac(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)

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 Shenandoah

Comments on the location information

  • ABOUT 1.4 KM (0.9 MI) WEST ON STATE ROAD 713 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 603 TO VAN BURNE FURNACE, MINE IS 0.6 KM (0.4 MI) SOUTH OF THE FURNACE AT THE CREST ON THE SOUTHWEST END OF CAPOLA MOUNTAIN.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Manganese Critical Primary
Iron Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore
Manganite Ore
Psilomelane Ore
Pyrolusite Ore
Wad Ore

Analytical data

Result ORE WHEN DRIED AVERAGED 41% MN AND 5% H2O.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Ridgeley Sandstone
    Rock description Ridgeley Sandstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.56222, 38.97532
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Mt. Pleasant Syncline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Strike N 70 DEG E
    Dip 65 DEG TO 70 DEG N
    Thickness 5.5M
    Length 244M
    Width 12M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 12M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures, Joints, And Small Faults In The Sandstone Produced By Tight Folding.

Comments on the geologic information

  • FOR GEOLOGY SEE YOUNG AND RADAR (1974).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1860
Year of first production 1860
Year of last production 1938

Mining district

District name Cedar Creek Valley Mining District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Allied Manganese Corp.
  • Type Owner
    Owner George Washington National Forest

Production statistics

  • Year 1937
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^Natural 39% Mn: Dried 41% Mn: Value $6,061
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Manganese Manganese 39wt-pct
  • Year 1938
    Period 1937-1938
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^Natural 39% Mn, Dried 41% Mn, Value $13,761
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Manganese Manganese 39wt-pct
  • Year 1938
    Material ORE MN
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^Natural 39% Mn: Dried 41% Mn: Value $7,700
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Manganese Manganese 39wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • LARGE AMOUNTS OF MANGANESE ORE WERE SHIPPED OUT BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. SEVERAL CARLOADS OF IRON ORE AND SOME MANGANESE ORE WAS SHIPPED OUT BY THE VAN BUREN FURNACE CO.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall length 278.89M
    Overall width 91.5M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF PITS, SHAFTS, TUNNELS AND AN OPEN CUT. THE OPEN CUT IS 91.5M (300 FT) LONG, FROM 3.7 TO 12 M (12 TO 40 FT) WIDE, AND FROM 6.1 TO 12 M (20 TO 40 FT) DEEP. THERE WERE AT LEAST 11 SHAFTS ON CAPOLA MOUNTAIN. TUNNELS INCLUDED DRIFTS, STOPES, AND CROSSCUTS. FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKINGS SEE MONROE (1942), PP. 136-137. ONE SHAFT IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN 20 M (67 FT) DEEP AND 3 M (10 FT) SQUARE.

Comments on development

  • LARGE AMOUNTS OF MANGANESE ORE WERE SHIPPED OUT BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. MINE WAS OPERATED ABOUT 1880 BY THE VAN BUREN FURNACE CO., WHICH IS SAID TO HAVE SHIPPED SOME MANGANESE ORE. IN 1937 M.C. SMITHSON AND ASSOCIATES, OPERATING AS SOUTHERN ORES, INC., EXCAVATED THE LARGE OPEN CUT AND TUNNELS. THE COMPANY BUILT A MILL AT THE WESTERN END OF THE CUT, WHICH OPERATED UNTIL 1938 WHEN THE MILL BURNED DOWN. 805 TONS OF ORE WAS SHIPPED IN 1937 AND 1938. THE ORE WAS HAULED BY TRUCKS TO WOODSTOCK AND SHIPPED ON THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY. IN 1940 JOHN E CULLY AND ASSOCIATES, KNOWN AS THE ALLIED MANGANESE CORPORATION, OPENED A CUT INTO AN OLD DRIFT FORMERLY REACHED ONLY BY A SHAFT. THE COMPANY HAD DONE CONSIDERABLE PROSPECTING BY THE SPRING OF 1941, BUT NO ORE HAD BEEN SHIPPED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MONROE, W.H., 1942, MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF CEDAR CREEK VALLEY, FREDERICK AND SHENANDOAH COUNTIES, VIRGINIA: USGS BULL 936-E, PP. 111-141.

  • Deposit

    YOUNG, R.S., AND RADER, E.K., 1974, GEOLOGY OF THE WOODSTOCK, WOLF GAP, CONICVILLE, AND EDINBURG QUADRANGLES, VIRGINIA : VDMR REPT. OF INVESTIGATIONS 35, 69 P.

  • Deposit

    STOSE, G.W., AND MISER, H.D., 1922, MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF WESTERN VIRGINIA: VGS BULL 23, 206 P.

  • Deposit

    POWELL, S.L., 1919, REPORT ON MANGANESE DEPOSITS IN FREDERICK AND SHENANDOAH COUNTIES: UNPUBLISHED REPORT, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY FILES, VDMR: 8 P.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE BODY OCCURS IN A BED OF PEBBLY SANDSTONE 3.7 M (12 FT) TO 7.6 M (25 FT) THICK, NEAR THE TOP OF THE RIDGELEY SANDSTONE. THE MANGANESE ORE IS IRREGULARLY DISTRIBUTED IN VEINLETS, IN FRACTURE FILLINGS AND IN IRREGULAR MASSES WHERE IT HAS REPLACED THE SANDSTONE. THE DEVELOPED AND MINED ORE BODY APPARENTLY EXTENED EASTWARD FROM THE MOUTH OF THE OPEN CUT FOR A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 244 M (800 FT) AND WAS FROM 1 TO 5.5 M (3 TO 18 FT) WIDE, BECOMING NARROWER WITH DEPTH. THE OPEN CUT WAS THE PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF ORE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1981 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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