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Wheatley Mine

Past Producer in Bedford county in Virginia, United States with commodities Feldspar, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium), Mica
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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. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10100236
MRDS ID W031182
Record type Site
Current site name Wheatley Mine
Alternate or previous names Moneta Mine, Big Hicks Mine, Wheatly Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.59754, 37.17507 (WGS84)
Elevation 238
Relative position 1.6 KM (1 MI) SOUTHEAST OF MONETA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Bedford(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Moneta(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Roanoke(hydrologic unit)

Roanoke(hydrologic accounting unit)

Chowan-Roanoke(hydrologic subregion)

South Atlantic-Gulf(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Bedford

Comments on the location information

  • APPROXIMATELY 1.6 KM (1 MI) NORTH ON STATE ROAD 654 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 743, TURN NORTHWEST ON DIRT ROAD FOR 0.8 KM (0.5 MI), MINE IS EAST OF ROAD. A POWER LINE IS JUST WEST OF THE MINE, ACROSS THE ROAD.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Feldspar Primary
Tantalum Critical Secondary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Secondary
Mica Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Albite Ore
Muscovite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Thulite Gangue
Zoisite Gangue

Analytical data

Result POTASH CONTENT IN FELDSPAR: 3 ANALYSES YIELDED 11.92%, 12.8%, 13.9%. ANALYSIS BY J.H. YOE OF VA. GEOL. SURVEY: 12.23% POTASH, 3.51% SODA

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Hornblendite
    Rock unit name Moneta Gneiss
    Rock description Moneta Gneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.59754, 37.17507
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults Of Small Displacement

Ore body information

  • General form LINEAR
    Strike N 60 DEG E
    Dip VERTICAL OR STEEPLY SE
    Length 195M
    Width 49M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 47M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Pegmatite Dike

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1923
Discoverer Moneta Mining And Milling Co.
Year of first production 1923

Mining district

District name Moneta Area

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Clinchfield Sand And Feldspar Corp.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Wesley Hicks

Comments on the production information

  • ORIGINAL DATA IN TONS AND POUNDS. TANTALITE-COLUMBITE ORE WAS RECOVERED DURING THE EARLY OPERATIONS. MICA WAS SOLD FROM TIME TO TIME AS A BYPRODUCT.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • MUCH FELDSPAR-BEARING PEGMATITE APPEARS TO REMAIN IN THE DEPOSIT BEYOND THE PRESENT MINE WORKINGS.

Comments on the workings information

  • A PIT 195 M (640 FT) LONG, 9 TO 38 M (30 TO 125 FT) WIDE, AND 47 M (155 FT) IN GREATEST DEPTH IS THE PRINCIPAL WORKING. FROM ITS NORTHEAST END A DRIFT 24 M (80 FT) WIDE AND 14 M (45 FT) HIGH WAS DRIVEN OVER 61 M (200 FT) EAST-NORTHEASTWARD FROM THE BOTTOM. A PROSPECT CUT EXCAVATED BY WESLEY HICKS, OF BEDFORD, LIES ABOUT 152 M (500 FT) NORTHEAST OF THE MAIN PIT. IT IS 24 M (80 FT) LONG AND ABOUT 6 M (20 FT) IN AVERAGE WIDTH. OTHER, SMALLER PITS ARE LOWER ON THE HILLSLOPE WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE MAIN PIT.

Comments on development

  • MINE WAS OPENED IN 1923 BY THE MONETA MINING AND MILLING CO. & WAS WORKED BY THE SEABOARD FELDSPAR COMPANY FROM A SHORT TIME THEREAFTER UNTIL ABOUT 1941, WHEN THE CLINCHFIELD SAND AND FELDSPAR CORP. TOOK OVER OPERATIONS AND WORKED THE MINE UNTIL 1951. FELDSPAR AND TANTALITE-COLUMBITE WERE PRODUCED. ORE WAS HAULED BY TRUCKS FROM THE MINE TO THE VIRGINIAN RAILROAD, FROM WHICH IT WAS SHIPPED TO THE GRINDING MILL AT BROOKNEAL. WESLEY HICKS APPARENTLY BOUGHT THE MINE FROM THE MONETA MINING AND MILLING CO. AND THEN LEASED IT TO THE SEABOARD FELDSPAR CO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PEGMATITE BODY HAS BEEN TRACED ALONG STRIKE FOR 192 M (630 FT), IT TAPERS IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, AND HAS SEVERAL CROSS FAULTS OFFSETTING IT. THE BODY IS IRREGULARLY ZONED. A 1 TO 1.5 M (3 TO 5 FT) QUARTZ CORE, IN PART INTERGROWN WITH AND LOCALLY INCLUDING LARGE CRYSTALS OF PERTHITE EXTENDS THROUGH THE PEGMATITE IN THE SOUTHEAST-CENTRAL PART OF THE PIT; SMALLER MASSES OF QUARTZ OCCUR IN THE SOUTHWESTERN PART OF THE PIT. AN INTERMEDIATE ZONE AS MUCH AS 6 M (20 FT) THICK, COMPOSED MAINLY OF GIANT PERTHITE CRYSTALS, SOME UP TO 4 M (14 FT) LONG, AND NUMEROUS VERY LARGE CRYSTALS OF PLAGIOCLASE, LIES ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE QUARTZ CORE; A SIMILAR ZONE FROM 6 TO 12 M (20 TO 40 FT) THICK CONTAINING LESS PERTHITE OCCURS ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE. WALL ZONES OF DEEPLY KAOLINIZED (TO DEPTHS OF 6 TO 12 M) PLAGIOCLASE WITH SOME PERTHITE, QUARTZ, AND MUSCOVITE. ATTAIN A THICKNESS OF ABOUT 10.7 M (35 FT) ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE. THE THIN BORDER ZONE IS SIMILAR IN COMPOSITION BUT FINER GRAINED AND
Deposit LOCALLY CONTAINS ABUNDANT FRACTURE-FILLING PLATES OF BIOTITE. BOOK MUSCOVITE IS VERY SCARCE, BUT SMALL MUSCOVITE IS PLENTIFUL IN THE WALL ZONE. SPESSARTITE AND THULITE OCCUR IN THE PLAGIOCLASE OF THE WALL ZONE. MOST OF THE BETTER FELDSPAR WAS TAKEN FROM THE CENTRAL PART OF THE DEPOSIT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1981 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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