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Ringstaff Mine

Past Producer in Tazewell county in Virginia, United States with commodity Barium-Barite
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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. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10025731
MRDS ID K001663
Record type Site
Current site name Ringstaff Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.71511, 37.08146 (WGS84)
Relative position ABOUT 0.4 KM (0.25 MI) NORTHWEST OF POUNDING MILL. THE MINE IS WITHIN 100 M OF THE UTM COORDINATES GIVEN , BASED ON THE LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Tazewell(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Pounding Mill(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Bluefield(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bluefield(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 Virginia Tazewell

Comments on the location information

  • FROM A FORD OVER CLINCH RIVER OFF OF COUNTY ROAD 637, THE MINE IS ABOUT 330 M (1082 FT) TO THE NORTHWEST. AND ABOUT 140 M (459 FT) DUE EAST OF A TRIBUTARY TO THE CLINCH RIVER.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Clay Residuum;Beekmantown Formation
    Rock description Clay Residuum;Beekmantown Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.71511, 37.08146
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Paint Lick Mountain Syncline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fracture Zone

Comments on the geologic information

  • BEDROCK STRIKES N60E DIPS 25SE. BARITE VEINS AND LENSES, WITH A MAXIMUM THICKNESS OF 2 FT, ARE ABUNDANT ALONG NORTHEAST WALL OF CUT AND APPEAR TO OCCUPY A FRACTURE ZONE. THIS ZONE IS ABOUT 10 FT WIDE WITH LOW DIP TO SOUTHEAST. EXCELLENT SPECIMENS OF LIMESTONE BRECCIA ARE COMMON THROUGHOUT OPENING.(EDMUNDSON, 1938, P.70)

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1902
Year of first production 1902
Production years 1902

Mining district

District name Russell-Tazewell Counties Barite District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the production information

  • IT IS LIKELY PRODUCTION OCCURRED EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER 1902, BUT THIS HAS NOT BEEN VERIFIED.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • IT SEEMS PROBABLE THAT THIS PROPERTY HAS A BARITE RESERVE, BUT ADDITIONAL PROSPECTING BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THE OLD OPERATIONS WILL BE NECESSARY TO ASCERTAIN HOW LARGE A RESERVE IS PRESENT.

Comments on the workings information

  • THE WORKINGS CONSIST OF TWO OPEN CUTS, THE LARGEST IS ABOUT 30.5 M (100 FT) LONG, 18.3 M (60 FT) WIDE AT THE NORTHEASTERN END, AND 6.1 M (20 FT) DEEP. THE SECOND OPEN CUT IS N30DEGE OF THE FIRST AND IS A CIRCULAR PIT ABOUT 9.1 M (30 FT) IN DIAMETER AND 6.1 M (20 FT) DEEP.

Comments on development

  • THIS WAS IN OPERATION ABOUT 1902 AND WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST PRODUCERS OF BARITE IN TAZEWELL COUNTY. NO PRODUCTION FIGURES ARE AVAILABLE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LUTTRELL, G.W., 1966, BASE-AND PRECIOUS-METAL AND RELATED ORE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIV. MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESOURCES REPT. 6, 164 P.

  • Deposit

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, BARITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 53, 85 P.

  • Deposit

    1902? DIREXPL ? - DUG OPEN CUTS, MINE

  • Production

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, VA. DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 53.

  • Reserve-Resource

    EDMUNDSON (1938)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE OCCURS AS IRREGULAR FRAGMENTS IN RESIDUAL CLAY AND DURING THE LAST STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT, AS VEINS AND LENSES, WITH A MAXIMUM THICKNESS OF 0.6 M (2 FT), IN LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE. THE BEDROCK STRIKES N60DEGE AND DIPS 25DEGSE. THE DEPOSIT OCCUPIES A FRACTURE ZONE ABOUT 3 M (10 FT) WIDE, WITH A LOW DIP TO THE SOUTHEAST AND ABUNDANT LIMESTONE BRECCIA THROUGHOUT THE OPENINGS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1973 Fagan, James M. Tennessee Valley Authority
Updater 01-OCT-1980 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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