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Deep Creek No. 1 Kaolin and Feldspar Mine

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026048
MRDS ID K002505
Record type Site
Current site name Deep Creek No. 1 Kaolin and Feldspar Mine
Related records 10151812

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.45545, 35.45343 (WGS84)
Relative position 3,200 FEET WEST OF RANDALL CEMETERY

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Swain(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bryson City(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Tuckasegee(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Swain

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Feldspar Primary
Kaolin Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Feldspar Ore
Kaolin Ore
Allanite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Tourmaline Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Plagioclase Altered To Kaolin Through Weathering

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Granite Gneiss;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Border Gneiss; Mid-Paleozoic; Microcline Porphyroblasts In A Medium-To Coarse-Grained Matrix Of Biotite, Quartz, And Feldspar
    Rock description Granite Gneiss;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Border Gneiss; Mid-Paleozoic; Microcline Porphyroblasts In A Medium-To Coarse-Grained Matrix Of Biotite, Quartz, And Feldspar
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Ocoee Series, Mica Schist & Feldspathic Quartzite
    Rock description Ocoee Series, Mica Schist & Feldspathic Quartzite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.45545, 35.45343
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Principal Zone Of Pegmatites Trends Northeastward; Most Pegmatites Strike Northeastward, But A Few Strike Northwest

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR LENS
    Strike N 17 E
    Dip W
    Length 149.35M
    Width 64.01M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures, Dilation Zones (Cameron, 1951)

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE PEGMATITE TRENDS ACROSS THE BELT OF INTERLAYERED BORDER GNEISS, GRANITE GNEISS, ASSOCIATED SCHISTS, AND METASEDIMENTARY ROCKS, THE LATTER LOCALLY FORMING THE HANGING WALL ON THE NORTHWEST END OF THE MINED AREA. PEGMATITE AND WALL ROCK CONTACTS ARE SHARP, WITH EVIDENCE OF REACTION LACKING OR INCONSPICUOUS. SIX ZONES COMPRISE THE PEGMATITE. THE OUTERMOST IS FINE-GRAINED PLAGIOCLASE-QUARTZ-PERTHITE PEGMATITE WITH BIOTITE AND MAGNETITE AND TRACE GARNET. THE WALL ZONE IS SIMILAR IN COMPOSITION BUT THICKER (1.5 TO 7 FEET) AND MEDIUM- TO COARSE-GRAINED. THE OUTER INTERMEDIATE ZONE IS SIMILAR TO THE WALL ZONE BUT HAS A HIGHER PERTHITE CONTENT AND IS COARSE- TO VERY COARSE-GRAINED, AND RANGES FROM 1 TO 60 FEET THICK. A PERTHITE-QUARTZ MIDDLE INTERMEDIATE ZONE CONSISTS OF 1- TO 21-FOOT PERTHITE CRYSTALS WITH INTERSTITIAL QUARTZ AND BIOTITE, MUSCOVITE, AND PYRITE. NEXT, A QUARTZ-PERTHITE INNER INTERMEDIATE ZONE CONSISTS OF UP TO 5 BY 8 FOOT PERTHITE CRYSTALS SCATTERED THROUGH MASSIVE GRAY TO
  • MILKY QUARTZ, WITH BIOTITE, TOURMALINE, AND ALLANITE. THE CORE CONSISTS OF COARSE, MASSIVE, GRAY TO MILKY QUARTZ. THE PERTHITE-QUARTZ ZONE AND TO A LESSER EXTENT, THE INNER PART OF THE OUTER INTERMEDIATE ZONE, WERE OF CHIEF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE AT THE MINE. THE PERTHITE-QUARTZ ZONE WHICH WAS SO PRODUCTIVE FORMED A HOOK-SHAPED BODY THAT WAS THICKEST ALONG THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF THE CORE AND ENCLOSING QUARTZ-PERTHITE ZONE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1925
Year of first production 1925
Production years 1937, 1940-1949

Mining district

District name Bryson City Feldspar District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Interstate Feldspar Corp.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Harris Clay Co. And Charles Thomas

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 60.96M
    Overall length 152.4M
    Overall width 38.1M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE NORTH WORKING IS ABOUT 100 FEET NORTHEAST OF THE MAIN PIT, WHICH IN TURN INCLUDES THE MIDDLE, MAIN, AND SOUTH WORKINGS. UNDERGROUND WORKINGS INCLUDE A 365-FOOT LONG STOPE AND ASSOCIATED TUNNELS AND ADITS. THE DEEP CREEK NO. 1 PEGMATITE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE DISTRICT.

Comments on development

  • MINE WAS ORIGINALLY OPENED FOR KAOLIN IN EARLY 1900'S. IT WAS REOPENED IN 1935 BY THE BROOKS BROTHERS WHO MINED FELDSPAR, AND CLOSED IN 1937. W.J. ALEXANDER LEASED THE PROPERTY IN 1939 FROM HARRIS CLAY COMPANY AND CHARLES THOMAS, AND IN 1940 THE FELDSPAR SHOOT WAS DISCOVERED THAT LED TO THE BULK OF FELDSPAR PRODUCTION IN THE DISTRICT. DURING LATE-1940, ALEXANDER LEASED THE MINE TO THE WHITEHALL COMPANY OF NEW YORK CITY. THE INTERSTATE FELDSPAR CORPORATION RECOVERED GLASS GRADE FELDSPAR FROM THE DUMP DURING 1946-1947. ; ECON.COM: IF GEOLOGIC INTERPRETATIONS ARE CORRECT (CAMERON, 1951), A CONSIDERABLE TONNAGE OF HIGH-GRADE FELDSPAR REMAINS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CAMERON, E.N., 1951, FELDSPAR DEPOSITS OF THE BRYSON CITY DISTRICT, NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA DIV. MINERAL RESOURCES BULL. 62, 100 P

  • Deposit

    1951 OTHER CAMERON, E.N., N.C. BULL. 6

  • Production

    CAMERON, E.N., 1951, N.C. DIV. MIN. RES. BULL. 62

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MINING WAS RESTRICTED AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE TO THE PERTHITE-QUARTZ ZONE. THE UPPER PART OF THE PEGMATITE IS DEEPLY WEATHERED AND FURNISHED MOST OF THE KAOLIN.
Deposit Discovery Year: EARLY 1900'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-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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