Shelton Barite Mine

Past Producer in McMinn county in Tennessee, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, Lead, Zinc
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. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10025857
MRDS ID K001822
Record type Site
Current site name Shelton Barite Mine
Related records 10300447

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -84.79882, 35.32928 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.5 MILE SW OF BRADFORD SPRING

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

McMinn(county)

Tennessee(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Charleston(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Cleveland(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chattanooga(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)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Tennessee McMinn

Comments on the location information

  • THE LEAD-ZINC MINE SHOWN ON TVA FILE MAPS, 400 FEET TO THE SOUTHWEST, MAY BE PART OF THE SHELTON MINE COMPLEX.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Chert Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Kingsport Formation, Dolomite & Limestone;Mascot Dolomite, Dolomite & Limestone;Clay Residuum
    Rock description Kingsport Formation, Dolomite & Limestone;Mascot Dolomite, Dolomite & Limestone;Clay Residuum

Nearby scientific data

(1) -84.79882, 35.32928

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Strike Belts

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding And Breccia Zones In Bedrock; Clay Residuum For Minable Deposits

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Discovery year 1840
Discoverer Colonel R.C. Morris
Production years 1800'S

Mining district

District name Sweetwater Barite District-Western Belt

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Gilman Paint And Varnish Co.
    Home office Chattanooga, Tn.

Comments on the production information

  • GORDON STATES THAT CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE IN BARITE MINING BY 1874, WHEN 1,040,177 POUNDS OF BARITE ORE WAS SHIPPED BY RAIL.

Comments on development

  • BARITE REPORTEDLY (KILLEBREW & SAFFORD, 1874) DISCOVERED BY COL. MORRIS WHILE PROSPECTING FOR LEAD IN MCMINN COUNTY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    GORDON, C.H., 1918, BARITE DEPOSITS OF THE SWEETWATER DISTRICT, EAST TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE, V. 8, NO. 1, P. 48-82

  • Deposit

    LAURENCE, R.A., 1939, ORIGIN OF THE SWEETWATER, TENN. BARITE DEPOSITS: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 34, NO. 2, P. 190-200.

  • Deposit

    LAURENCE, R.A., 1960, GEOLOGIC PROBLEMS IN THE SWEETWATER BARITE DISTRICT, TENNESSEE: AM. JOUR. SCI., V. 258-A (BRADLEY VOLUME), P. 170-179.

  • Deposit

    MAHER, S.W., 1970, BARITE RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE: TENN. DIVISION OF GEOLOGY, REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS NO. 28, 40 P.

  • Deposit

    1874 OTHER KILLEBREW & SAFFORD, RESOUR. OF TENN.

  • Deposit

    PENHALLEGON, W.J., 1938, BARITE IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY REGION: TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY GEOLOGIC BULL. NO. 9, 47 P.

  • Deposit

    1918 OTHER GORDON, C.H., TENN. GEOL. SURV., REPORT

  • Deposit

    1939 OTHER LAURENCE, R.A., ECON. GEOL., REPORT

  • Deposit

    1960 OTHER LAURENCE, R.A., AM. JOUR. SCI., REPORT

  • Deposit

    1970 COMPILE MAHER, S.W., TENN. DIV. GEOL., REPORT

  • Production

    KILLEBREW & SAFFORD IN GORDON, C.H., 1918, P. 71.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ECONOMICALLY MINABLE BARITE DEPOSITS OCCUR IN THE CLAY RESIDUUM OVERLYING THE KNOX GROUP. MINERALIZED BRECCIATED ZONES IN THE UNDERLYING BEDROCK HAVE NOT BEEN MINED FOR BARITE BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT GRADE OF MATERIAL. COL. MORRIS REPORTEDLY (KILLEBREW & SAFFORD, 1874) PENETRATED A BED OF BARITE FOR A DISTANCE OF 20 FEET, THE BED SAID TO HAVE BEEN "RICH AND HEAVY". ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1974 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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