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Mooneyham Barite Mine

Past Producer in Cocke county in Tennessee, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, 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. 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. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10025886
MRDS ID K001860
Record type Site
Current site name Mooneyham Barite Mine
Alternate or previous names Monohan Barite Mine
Related records 10129602

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -82.98654, 35.9287 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.0 MILE NE OF BEECH GAP

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Cocke(county)

Tennessee(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Paint Rock(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Asheville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper French Broad(hydrologic unit)

French Broad-Holston(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Cherokee 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 Tennessee Cocke

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Limonite Ore
Ankerite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Cochran Dolomite, Chilhowee Group, Conglomerate & Quartzite
    Rock description Cochran Dolomite, Chilhowee Group, Conglomerate & Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -82.98654, 35.9287
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Bedding Strikes To The Northwest And Is Cut Off East Of The Workings By The Buffalo Rock Thrust Fault.

Ore body information

  • General form PINCH AND SWELL

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding Place Fault, Shear Zone (Ferguson & Jewell, 1951)

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE BARITE IS GLASSY, COARSELY CRYSTALLINE, AND VERY PURE. THE DEPOSIT IS REFERRED TO AS THE MOCCASIN GAP TYPE. DUMP MATERIAL SHOWS BARITE REPLACING QUARTZITE. VEIN MATERIAL CONSISTS OF SANDY CLAY, CLAY, AND HORSES OF ARKOSIC PYRITIC QUARTZITE CONTAINING INCLUSIONS OF LIMONITE AND PODS AND VEINLETS OF BARITE. VEIN MATTER IS LOCALLY REPLACED AND CEMENTED WITH SUPERGENE LIMONITE. UPSLOPE FROM A TUNNEL IS A TRENCH THAT EXPOSES A 3-FOOT THICK LEDGE OR "BACKBONE" OF WEATHERED QUARTZITE CEMENTED WITH QUARTZ, LIMONITE, AND SHOWING VEINING BY COARSELY CRYSTALLINE BARITE. AGE OF MINERALIZATION: LATE - OR POST - PALEOZOIC

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Discovery year 1895
Year of first production 1895
Production years 1890'S, 1903, 1914

Mining district

District name Del Rio Barite District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Henry Moore
    First year 1916
  • Type Owner
    Owner Frank Huff

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION RECORDS NOT AVAILABLE, BUT SEVERAL THOUSAND TONS OF BARITE WERE PROBABLY PRODUCED.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • MUCH HIGH-GRADE BARITE IS THOUGHT TO REMAIN AT THE PROPERTY AND ON THE NORTHWEST TOWARD MOCCASIN GAP. THE OLD WORKINGS WERE SHALLOW AND HAPHAZARDLY LOCATED.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall length 762M
    Overall width 182.88M

Comments on the workings information

  • MOST OF THE PITS ARE NEARLY FILLED AND UNDERGROUND WORKINGS CAVED, SO THAT LITTLE BEDROCK IS EXPOSED; NATURE OF VEIN MATERIAL IS EVIDENCED ON THE DUMPS.

Comments on development

  • MINE IS ONE OF OLDEST IN REGION, HAVING FIRST BEEN WORKED DURING THE 1890'S. IT WAS WORKED BY HIAWASSEE MINING COMPANY OF KNOXVILLE ABOUT 1900. J.T. WILLIAMS OPERATED THE MINE SOON AFTERWARD. IN 1914, C.A. WELLER WORKED THE MINE, AND IN 1916, HENRY MOORE DID SOME DEVELOPMENT WORK WHICH WAS STOPPED WHEN A MAN WAS KILLED. MINE HAS BEEN IDLE SINCE. ; ECON.COM: WASH WATER IS LIMITED; BARITE IS GLASS GRADE; VEIN MATERIAL BELOW ZONE OF WEATHERING IS PROBABLY UNECONOMIC.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    FERGUSON, H.W., AND JEWELL, W.B., 1951, GEOLOGY AND BARITE DEPOSITS OF THE DEL RIO DISTRICT, COCKE COUNTY, TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 57, 235 P.

  • Deposit

    MAHER, S.W., 1970, BARITE RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE: TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY, REPT. INV. 28, 40 P.

  • Deposit

    1951 COMPILE FERGUSON & JEWELL, TENN. DIV. GEOL. BULL.

  • Deposit

    1970 COMPILE MAHER, S.W., TENN. DIV. GEOL., RPT. INV.

  • Production

    FERGUSON AND JEWELL, 1951, TENNESSEE DIV. GEOL. BULL. 57

  • Reserve-Resource

    FERGUSON AND JEWELL, 1951, TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 57

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE UNDERLIES THE MOCCASIN GAP MEMBER OF THE UNICOI FORMATION (FERGUSON & JEWELL, 1951) OR COCHRAN CONGLOMERATE (TVA FILES). UNWEATHERED BEDROCK IS PYRITIC, AND LOCALLY ANKERITIC. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Deposit Discovery Year: 1890'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-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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