Straight Creek Mine

Past Producer in Claiborne county in Tennessee, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead, Iron
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. Ownership information
  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 10102269
MRDS ID K001629
Record type Site
Current site name Straight Creek Mine
Related records 10154376

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.64295, 36.38898 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.6 MI. SW OF PHELPS CEMETERY

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Claiborne(county)

Tennessee(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Clouds(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Morristown(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Johnson City(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Clinch, Tennessee, Virginia(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Tennessee Claiborne

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Secondary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Limonite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Maynardville Limestone & Copper Ridge Dolomite
    Rock description Maynardville Limestone & Copper Ridge Dolomite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.64295, 36.38898

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Powell River Anticline On The Northwest.

Ore body information

  • Strike N 60 DEG E
    Dip 70 DEG S

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Wallen Valley Fault (Maher); Breccia Zone

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1880
Year of first production 1880
Production years 1880-1908

Mining district

District name Straight Creek District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner N. J. Zinc Co.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION INCLUDES GALENA, PYRITE, AND OXIDE ORES.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 396.24M
    Overall depth 51.82M

Comments on development

  • MINE OPERATED BY SEVERAL COMPANIES, INCLUDING A MR. RICHBURG AND THE EADES, MIXTER, & HEALD ZINC COMPANY PRIOR TO 1906. THE TENN. ZINC CO. OF CINCINNATI OPERATED THE MINE FROM 1906-1908. UNIVERSAL EXPLORATION COMPANY FINANCED ADDITIONAL DRILLING DURING 1933. PROPERTY SUBSEQUENTLY ACQUIRED BY NEW JERSEY ZINC CO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SECRIST, M.H., 1924, ZINC DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE: TENN. DIV. GEOL., BULL. 31, 165 P.

  • Deposit

    MAHER, S.W., 1958, THE ZINC INDUSTRY OF TENNESSEE: TENN. DIV. GEOL., INF. CIR. NO. 6, 28 P.

  • Deposit

    TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, 1933, STRAIGHT CREEK MINE REPORT: TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1933.

  • Deposit

    1924 GEOLMAP SECRIST, M.H., TENN. DIV. GEOL., REPORT

  • Deposit

    1958 COMPILE MAHER, S.W., TENN. DIV. GEOL., REPORT

  • Production

    BARKSDALE, 1933, TVA INTERNAL REPORT

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SECRIST NOTES THAT THE ROCK IS "CONSIDERABLY CRUSHED AND BROKEN AND IT IS IN THIS ZONE, AVERAGING ABOUT 40 FEET IN WIDTH, THAT THE ORE IS FOUND." THE ORE CONSISTS OF SPHALERITE WITH MINOR GALENA AND PYRITE. THE SPHALERITE "OCCURS IN ALL GRADATIONS FROM SMALL VEINLETS FILLING FRACTURES UP TO LARGE MASSES ALMOST ENTIRELY REPLACING THE COUNTRY ROCK." PRODUCTION OF OXIDE ORES WAS FROM OPEN PITS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1973 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references