1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Ball No. 1 Feldspar Mine

Past Producer in Swain county in North Carolina, United States with commodity Feldspar
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026061
MRDS ID K002519
Record type Site
Current site name Ball No. 1 Feldspar Mine
Related records 10176329

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.47406, 35.43343 (WGS84)
Relative position 1,850 FEET N 70 W OF WATKINS 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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Feldspar Ore
Biotite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Plagioclase Has Altered To Kaolin

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Mpal Border Gneiss, Microcline Porphyroblasts In Medium-To Coarse-Grained Matrix Of Biotite, Quartz, & Feldspar;Granite Gneiss, Fine-To Coarse-Grained, Leucocratic To Mesocratic Gneiss, Ranging From Granitic To Granodioritic;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y
    Rock description Mpal Border Gneiss, Microcline Porphyroblasts In Medium-To Coarse-Grained Matrix Of Biotite, Quartz, & Feldspar;Granite Gneiss, Fine-To Coarse-Grained, Leucocratic To Mesocratic Gneiss, Ranging From Granitic To Granodioritic;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Prec
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.47406, 35.43343
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Principal Zone Of Pegmatites Trends Northeast; Most Pegmatites Strike Northeast, But Some Strike Northwest.

Ore body information

  • Thickness 8.23M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fracture, Dilation Zone (Cameron, 1951)

Comments on the geologic information

  • A THIN BORDER ZONE OF FINE-GRAINED PLAGIOCLASE-QUARTZ-PERTHITE PEGMATITE ENCLOSES A COARSE TO VERY COARSE MIXTURE OF PLAGIOCLASE, QUARTZ, AND PERTHITE WITH ABUNDANT BIOTITE IN STRIP-SHAPED CRYSTALS AND SCATTERED BOOKS. FELDSPARS OCCUR IN GRAPHIC INTERGROWTH WITH QUARTZ.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1938
Production years 1938-1939

Mining district

District name Bryson City Feldspar District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Blue Ridge Mining Co., Mr. M.H. Cox

Comments on the workings information

  • THE NORTH CUT IS ABOUT 55 FEET LONG, 25 TO 50 FEET WIDE, AND 35 FEET MAXIMUM DEPTH. THE SOUTH CUT IS 65 FEET LONG, 10 TO 30 FEET WIDE, AND ABOUT 40 FEET MAXIMUM DEPTH. THE PEGMATITE IS A DISCORDANT BODY, CUTTING ACROSS THE TREND OF THE BELTS OF OLDER ROCKS.

Comments on development

  • THE BLUE RIDGE MINING COMPANY LEASED AND OPERATED THE PROPERTY IN 1938 AND 1939 AND MADE TWO ADJOINING OPEN CUTS. MINING HALTED BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO DISCOVER A SHOOT OF HIGH-GRADE FELDSPAR. ; ECON.COM: MUCH OF THE FELDSPAR IS HEAVILY INTERGROWN WITH QUARTZ.

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 THE WALL ROCK IN THE NORTH CUT IS BORDER GNEISS. THE EAST WALL OF THE SOUTH CUT IS GRANITIC GNEISS; THE WEST WALL IS NOT EXPOSED. WALL ROCKS AND PEGMATITES ARE IN AN ADVANCED STAGE OF WEATHERING.

Reporter information

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

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site