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Little Friar Mountain Mine

Past Producer in Amherst county in Virginia, United States with commodities REE, Feldspar, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)
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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. 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 10080104
MRDS ID W031180
Record type Site
Current site name Little Friar Mountain Mine
Alternate or previous names Massie Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.09975, 37.76673 (WGS84)
Relative position EXACT LOCATION UNKNOWN. DESCRIPTIONS VARY BETWEEN REFERENCES. MINE IS WITHIN A MINUTE OF LONGITUDE-LATITUDE GIVEN.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Amherst(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Massies Mill(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Buena Vista(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle James-Buffalo(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(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 Amherst

Comments on the location information

  • APPARENTLY ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF LITTLE FRIAR MOUNTAIN. IT HAS ALSO BEEN DESCRIBED AS BEING ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF FRIAR MOUNTAIN, BUT THIS IS BELIEVED TO BE WRONG.

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • MALLET (1877) DESCRIBED NEW MINERAL HE CALLED SIPYLITE FROM THIS MINE; IT HAS SINCE BEEN FOUND TO BE FERGUSONITE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Allanite Ore
Fergusonite Ore
Microcline Ore
Apatite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Hypersthene Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Zircon Gangue

Analytical data

Result 1) ALLANITE ANALYSIS: FEO + FE2O3-17.24%, AL2O3-12.44%, CERIUM METALS-6.5%, YTTRIUM METALS - 6.42%, SIO2-40%
Result 2) FERGUSONITE ("SIPYLITE") ANALYSIS: NB2O5-48.66%, ZRO2-2.09%, ER2O3-Y2O3-27.94%, CE2O3-1.37%, LA2O3-3.92%, DY2O3-4.06%, VO-3.47%.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Pedlar Formation (Va. Blue Ridge Complex)
    Rock description Pedlar Formation (Va. Blue Ridge Complex)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.09975, 37.76673
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, Blue Ridge Anticlinorium
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults

Ore body information

  • General form LINEAR
    Strike N 55 DEG W
    Dip NEARLY VERTICAL
    Length 46M
    Width 6M
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Pegmatite Dike

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1900
Year of first production 1900

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner John Campbell

Comments on the production information

  • MR. CAMPBELL REPORTED THAT IN 1925 HE SHIPPED 700 POUNDS OF ALLANITE FOR SPECIMENS. HE HAS ALSO SOLD 350 POUNDS FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • THE DEPOSIT DOES NOT SEEM TO BE EXHAUSTED.

Comments on the workings information

  • NO DESCRIPTION OF WORKINGS WAS GIVEN, PROBABLY ONLY SURFACE WORKINGS THOUGH.

Comments on development

  • MINE WAS BEING WORKED IN THE LATE 1800'S AND AGAIN IN 1925 BY JOHN CAMPBELL.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    SRC.REF: 1) PEGAU (1932); 2) MALLET (1877)

  • Deposit

    PEGAU, A.A., 1932, PEGMATITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 33, 123 P.

  • Deposit

    MALLET, J.W., ON SIPYLITE, A NEW NIOBATE FROM AMHERST COUNTY, VIRGINIA: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 3D SERIES, VOL. 14, P. 397, 1877.

  • Deposit

    MITCHELL, R.S., 1966, VIRGINIA METAMICT MINERALS: ALLANITE; SOUTHEASTERN GEOLOGY, VOL. 7, NO. 4, PP. 183-195.

  • Deposit

    SCHRADER, STONE, AND SANFORD, 1917, USEFUL MINERALS OF THE UNITED STATES: US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 624, 412 P.

  • Deposit

    1925? DIREXPL JOHN CAMPBELL-MINED ALLANITE

  • Deposit

    MITCHELL, R.S., 1966, VIRGINIA METAMICT MINERALS: X-RAY STUDY OF FERGUSONITE, SOUTHEASTERN GEOLOGY, VOL. 8, NO. 3, PP. 145-153. WATSON AND TABER, 1913, GEOLOGY OF THE TITANIUM AND APATITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 3-A, 308 P.

  • Production

    PEGAU (1932)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COUNTRY ROCK IS HYPERSTHENE GRANODIORITE THAT AROUND THE DIKE IS STRONGLY IMPREGNATED WITH PEGMATITIC MATERIAL, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN CONTACT. THE PEGMATITE DIKE IS DIVIDED INTO THREE BANDS. QUARTZ AND SOME FELDSPAR COMPOSE THE NORTHEASTERN BAND, ALLANITE, FERGUSONITE, MAGNETITE, AND A YELLOW-BROWN EARTHY MATERIAL MAKE UP THE CENTRAL BAND, AND THE SOUTHWESTERN BAND CONSISTS OF FELDSPAR (MICROCLINE WHEN UNALTERED) AND SOME QUARTZ. THE QUARTZ BAND IS 0.6M (2 FT) WIDE, THE ALLANITE BAND VARIES IN WIDTH FROM 0.6 TO 1.8 M (2 TO 6 FT), AND THE FELDSPATHIC BAND IS 3 M (10 FT) WIDE. ALLANITE OCCURS ALSO IN THE FELDSPATHIC BAND AND, TO A SMALL EXTENT, IN THE WALL ROCK. THE YELLOW-BROWN MATERIAL OF THE CENTRAL BAND IS AT LEAST IN PART SECONDARY ALLANITE.

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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