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Heaton and Russell Mine

Past Producer in Cherokee county in North Carolina, United States with commodity 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. Alteration
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10102346
MRDS ID K002595
Record type Site
Current site name Heaton and Russell Mine
Related records 10272898

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.95434, 35.15511 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.5 MILE NORTH-NORTHEAST OF MOUTH OF POLE BRIDGE BRANCH

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Cherokee(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Marble(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Hiwassee(hydrologic unit)

Middle Tennessee-Hiwassee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Middle Tennessee-Hiwassee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Nantahala National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Croatan National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

National Forests in North Carolina(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Cherokee

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore
Chert Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Weathering Of Iron-Bearing Minerals To Form Limonite

Analytical data

Result TESTS BY U.S. BUREAU OF MINES (ROBERTSON, 1946) GAVE THE FOLLOWING RESULTS: HEAVY-MEDIA CONCENTRATES 48.2% FE
Result TABLE CONCENTRATES 48.1% FE
Result HEAVY-MEDIA TAILS 39.1% FE
Result TABLE TAILS 28.1% FE
Result LOG-WASHER TAILS 17.2% FE
Result AND COMPOSITE 35.2% FE. WEIGHT PERCENTS OF THE FOREGOING FRACTIONS ARE, RESPECTIVELY: 29.1%, 2.6%, 27.3%, 19.9%, 21.1%, AND 100%.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Rock description Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Residuum;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist;Murphy Marble, White To Bluish-Gray Or-Black, Medium-To Coarse-Grained Marble
    Rock description Residuum;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist;Murphy Marble, White To Bluish-Gray Or-Black, Medium-To Coarse-Grained Marble

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.95434, 35.15511
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Strike Belts Define A Major Syncline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR, PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike NE
    Dip 45-50 S

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding, Fractures, And Residuum

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ORE CONSISTS OF LIMONITE WITH SUBORDINATE OTHER HYDROUS IRON OXIDES, CHERT, AND SAND. IT OCCURS AS "IRREGULAR BANDS IN THE BEDDING PLANES OF SCHIST" (ROBERTSON, 1946), AS IRREGULAR MASSES IN THE SCHIST, AND AS BOULDERS AND PEBBLES IN THE RESIDUUM. BAYLEY (1925) OBSERVED THAT A CONTINUOUS TRENCH SOUTHWEST OF THE MAIN PIT HAD EXPOSED THREE SETS OF VEINS, RANGING FROM 2.5 TO 5 FEET IN THICKNESS AND CONTAINING SANDY PARTINGS A FEW INCHES THICK. THE VEINS ARE SEPARATED BY 10 TO 15 FEET OF SCHIST, WHICH IN TURN CONTAINS MANY SMALL VEINS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Production years CHIEFLY 1917-1921

Mining district

District name Murphy Marble Belt

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Percy Ferrebee
    Home office Andrews, N.C.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION RECORDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 487.68M
    Overall width 60.96M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE LARGEST PIT IS APPROXIMATELY 400 FEET LONG, 100 FEET WIDE, AND RANGES FROM 25 TO 60 FEET DEEP.

Comments on development

  • THE PROPERTY WAS OWNED BY A MR. KILPATRICK WHO MINED ORE PRIOR TO 1917. LATER IN THAT YEAR, HEATON AND RUSSELL OF ANDREWS TOOK OVER THE PROPERTY, AND LATER PERCY FERREBEE TOOK AN INTEREST IN THE MINE. NO MINING HAS BEEN DONE SINCE 1921. TEST PITS, TRENCHES, SAMPLING, AND THREE DIAMOND-DRILL HOLES TOTALING 253 FEET COMPRISED EXPLORATION DONE BY THE U.S. BUREAU OF MINES DURING 1944-1945 (ROBERTSON, 1946).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BAYLEY, W.S., 1925, DEPOSITS OF BROWN IRON ORES (BROWN HEMATITE) IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA GEOL. AND ECON. SURVEY BULL. 31, 76 P.

  • Deposit

    ROBERTSON, A.F., 1946, EXPLORATION OF THE CHEROKEE IRON DEPOSITS, CHEROKEE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES RPT. INV. R.I. 3974, 31 P.

  • Deposit

    POWER, W.R., AND FORREST, J.T., 1973, STRATIGRAPHY AND PALEOGEOGRAPHY IN THE MURPHY MARBLE BELT: AM. JOUR. SCI., V. 273, P. 698-711.

  • Deposit

    1925 COMPILE BAYLEY, N.C. GEOL. AND ECON. SUR. BULL. 31

  • Deposit

    1946 DIREXPL ROBERTSON, U.S.B.M. RPT. INV. 3974

  • Deposit

    1973 OTHER POWER AND FORREST, AM. JOUR. SCI., PAPER

  • Production

    BAYLEY, W.S., 1925, N.C. GEOL. AND ECON. SUR., BULL. 31

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ROBERTSON (1946) STATES THAT THE ORE WAS FORMED THROUGH PRECIPITATION OF LIMONITE FROM IRON-BEARING SOLUTIONS ALONG FRACTURES IN THE SCHIST AND BY REPLACEMENT OF CALCAREOUS ZONES IN THE SCHIST. IRON-BEARING EXPOSURES OCCUR NEAR THE BASE OF THE ANDREWS FORMATION AND ABOVE THE CONTACT WITH THE MURPHY MARBLE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1974 Hale, Robin 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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