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Fontana Mine

Past Producer in Swain county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Copper, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Gold
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10102275
MRDS ID K001693
Record type Site
Current site name Fontana Mine
Related records 10127103

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.7699, 35.47816 (WGS84)
Elevation 561
Relative position 2.8 MILES NE OF FONTANA DAM

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Swain(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fontana Dam(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Little Tennessee(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Great Smoky Mountains National Park(National Park)

National Park NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Swain

Comments on the location information

  • MINE IS ON FIRST NORTHERN TRIBUTARY OF ECOAH BRANCH, 0.2 MI. FROM EAGLE CREEK.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Tertiary
Silver Tertiary
Gold Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Magnetite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Barite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Plagioclase Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Talc Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Limonite After Iron Sulfides; Supergene Copper Minerals.

Analytical data

Result AVERAGE GRADE ORE SHIPPED: 7.37% CU, 2.11% ZN, 0.0072 OZ/TON AU, AND 0.385 OZ/TON AG.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 91
USGS model code 24b
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)
Mark3 model number 30

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Anakeesta Formation , Chlorite-Mica Schist And Phyllite;Thunderhead Sandstone-Feldspathic Sst, Quartzite
    Rock description Anakeesta Formation , Chlorite-Mica Schist And Phyllite;Thunderhead Sandstone-Feldspathic Sst, Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) Amphibolite
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Strike Belts; Deposit Is Within A Northeast-Trending Sheared Zone Within The Phyllite.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Plunge Of Ore Body Is Essentially Parallel To Plunge Of Tiny Foliation Crinkles Of The Sheared Phyllite Host Rock.

Ore body information

  • General form LENTICULAR, POD-LIKE
    Plunge 45 DEG
    Plunge direction S 15 DEG E
    Thickness 6.1M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Espenshade (1963) Theorizes That Deposit Is In A Pipelike Zone Of Deformation Formed By Structures Cutting Across The Foliation.

Comments on the geologic information

  • ESPENSHADE STATES THAT THE CHLORITE-MICA SCHIST AND PHYLLITE RESEMBLE THE ANAKEESTA FM., THE FELDSPATHIC SANDSTONE RESEMBLES THE THUNDERHEAD SANDSTONE. MASSIVE, UNSHEARED DIORITE OCCURS NORTHEAST OF THE DEPOSIT, NEAR THE NORTHWEST EDGE OF THE SHEARED ZONE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1913
Discoverer Montvale Lumber Company
Year of first production 1926
Production years 1926-1944

Mining district

District name Swain County Copper District (Fontana District)

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner North Carolina Exploration Co. (Subsidiary Of The Tennessee Corp..)
  • Type Owner
    Owner Cities Service Co.
    Home office Copperhill, Tn 37317

Production statistics

  • Year 1944
    Period 1926-1944
    Material CU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^Ave Over Mine Life: Cu 7.37%, Zn 2.11%, Au 0.0072 Oz/T, Ag 0.385
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Gold Gold 0g/mt
    Zinc Zinc 2wt-pct
    Copper Copper 7wt-pct
    Silver Silver 11g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • 583,505 TONS OF ORE AVERAGING BETTER THAN 7% COPPER WERE MINED. MORE THAN HALF WAS PRODUCED DURING THE FIRST SIX YEARS OF OPERATION.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 762M
    Overall depth 518.16M

Comments on the workings information

  • DEPOSIT IS DESCRIBED AS A SINGLE ELONGATED LENS WHICH PINCHES AND SWELLS, RANGING IN THICKNESS FROM A FEW FEET TO ABOUT 20 FEET. LENS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR ABOUT 450 FEET ALONG STRIKE ON SEVERAL LEVELS. TOTAL OF 20 LEVELS.

Comments on development

  • DEPOSIT DISCOVERED AND PROSPECTED BY MONTVALE LUMBER COMPANY; FONTANA MINING CORPORATION ACQUIRED PROPERTY IN MAY, 1926. OWNERSHIP PASSED TO NORTH CAROLINA EXPLORATION COMPANY IN FEBRUARY, 1931, WHICH OPERATED MINE UNTIL FEBRUARY, 1944 WHEN MINING CEASED AND ALL EQUIPMENT WAS REMOVED. AT THAT TIME, ACCESS WAS REMOVED WITH THE FILLING OF FONTANA RESERVOIR. PROPERTY IS STILL OWNED BY CITIES SERVICE CORPORATION AS AN INHOLDING AT THE EDGE OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK. ; ECON.COM: LACK OF RAIL OR ROAD ACCESS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit M.N. SHORT (IN ROSS, 1935) NOTES THAT PYRRHOTITE IS THE PREDOMINANT SULFIDE, WITH SUBORDINATE CHALCOPYRITE, SPHALERITE, GALENA, MAGNETITE, AND POSSIBLY PYRITE. IN ADDITION TO THE OCCURRENCE OF NATIVE COPPER AND CUPRITE REPORTED BY ESPENSHADE (1963), SHORT NOTED THE PRESENCE OF AURICHALCITE AND CHRYSOCOLLA AMONG THE SUPERGENE MINERALS. "SOOTY" CHALCOCITE IS THE PRINCIPAL MINERAL IN THE SUPERGENE ENRICHMENT ZONE. THE PRIMARY ORE IS MASSIVE, BUT INCLUDES MINUTE PARTICLES TO BLOCKS A FOOT OR MORE OF ROCK FRAGMENTS, CHIEFLY PHYLLITE. THESE IMPART THE APPEARANCE OF BRECCIA TO THE ORE. ESPENSHADE (1963) THEORIZES THAT "THE FACT THAT THE ORE MINERALS ARE MASSIVE AND LITTLE FRACTURED MAY INDICATE THAT THE BRECCIATION OF THE COUNTRY ROCK TOOK PLACE BEFORE MINERALIZATION OCCURRED OR THAT THE ORE MINERALS MAY BE DUE TO RECRYSTALLIZATION OF SULFIDES AFTER BRECCIATION OF THE ORE OCCURRED." REPLACEMENT FEATURES ARE COMMON TO MANY OF THE INCLUSIONS OF HOST ROCK. ESPENSHADE ALSO STATES THAT "THE ORE
Deposit DEPOSITS (INCLUDES HAZEL CREEK) WERE PROBABLY FORMED.....BY REPLACEMENT OF THE COUNTRY ROCK AND PERHAPS TO A MINOR EXTENT BY THE FILLING OF OPENINGS." THE DEPOSIT WAS OVERLAIN BY A ZONE OF GOSSAN, BUT THIS WAS NOT AS PROMINENT AS THAT AT HAZEL CREEK, BECAUSE OF ITS LOCATION ALONG THE BOTTOM OF A RAVINE.
Deposit Discovery Year: BETWEEN 1900 AND 1926

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1973 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1991 Klein, T.L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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