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Cooper and Hanks Mines

Past Producer in Cherokee county in North Carolina, United States with commodity 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. 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. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026118
MRDS ID K002589
Record type Site
Current site name Cooper and Hanks Mines
Related records 10272378

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.90907, 35.18039 (WGS84)
Relative position BAYLEY'S MAP (1925) SHOWS APPROXIMATE MINE LOCALITIES WHICH, ON THE MARBLE QUADRANGLE, ARE 0.2 MILE SOUTHEAST (COOPER) AND 0.1 MILE WEST-SOUTHWEST (HANKS) OF MOSS CEMETERY.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Cherokee(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Marble(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(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)

Federal lands

Nantahala National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Croatan National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

National Forests in North Carolina(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Cherokee

Comments on the location information

  • THE HANKS MINE IS LOCATED AT STATE COORDINATES 557,100N 532,200E. COORDINATES FOR THE COOPER MINE MARK THE APPROXIMATE MID POINT BETWEEN TWO NEARLY EAST-WEST TRENDING RIDGES WHICH ARE THE NORTH AND SOUTH BELTS REFERRED TO BY BAYLEY (1925).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Weathering Of Iron-Bearing Minerals To Form Limonite

Analytical data

Result SHAFT ON NORTHERN BELT: 3.32% SIO2, 58.52% FE, 0.026% S, AND 0.520% P. SHAFT ON SOUTHERN BELT: 10.70% SIO2, 54,88% FE, 0.072% S, AND 0.273% P.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Rock description Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Clayey And Sandy Residuum;Mineral Bluff Formation, Quartz-Sericite Schist Or Phyllite With Sandy Lenses And Intercalated Quartzites;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist
    Rock description Clayey And Sandy Residuum;Mineral Bluff Formation, Quartz-Sericite Schist Or Phyllite With Sandy Lenses And Intercalated Quartzites;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.90907, 35.18039
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Strike Belts Define A Major Syncline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR AND BLANKET
    Dip 30 NE
    Thickness 11.58M
    Width 18.29M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding, Fractures, Residuum, And Alluvium.

Comments on the geologic information

  • BAYLEY (1925) DESCRIBES THE LIMONITE OCCURRING AS A ZONE OF VEINS IN SCHIST. THE VEINS RANGE IN THICKNESS FROM A FRACTION OF AN INCH TO TEN FEET, WITH MOST AVERAGING 6 OR 7 INCHES. MINERALIZED ZONES ARE AS MUCH AS 175 FEET IN WIDTH. THE MINERALIZED ZONES VARY IN THICKNESS ALONG STRIKE. IRREGULAR AND GLOBULAR MASSES OF LIMONITE ALSO OCCUR IN THE RESIDUUM AND ALLUVIUM. IN THE LATTER INSTANCE, THE LIMONITE OCCURS AS SAND- TO BOULDER-SIZED FRAGMENTS THAT SHOW ROUNDING AND ARE INTERMIXED WITH ALLUVIAL MATERIAL OF THE SAME SIZE RANGE, THE WHOLE SHOWING A "...RUDE BEDDING." EXPOSURES IN ONE OF THE PITS SHOWS LIMONITE-BEARING ALLUVIUM TRUNCATING SCHIST WHICH CONTAINS NUMEROUS SMALL LIMONITE VEINS. OTHER DEPOSITS ON THE PROPERTY ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BASAL ZONES OF ALLUVIAL GRAVELS, WITH THE LIMONITE OCCURRING AS A CEMENTING AGENT AS WELL AS DISCRETE LAYERS ROUGHLY PARALLEL TO BEDDING OF THE ALLUVIUM.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1875
Production years LATE 1800'S; WWI

Mining district

District name Murphy Marble Belt

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Betts, A. G.

Comments on the production information

  • 19TH CENTURY PRODUCTION NOT KNOWN; APPROXIMATELY 200 CARLOADS OF LIMONITE AVERAGING 48 TO 49 PERCENT IRON WERE SHIPPED DURING WORLD WAR I.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 18.29M
    Overall depth 16.76M

Comments on the workings information

  • BAYLEY'S DESCRIPTIONS OF THE GEOLOGY AND MINE WORKINGS ARE POORLY IDENTIFIED WITH RESPECT TO THE MINE NAMES. THE INFERENCE IS THAT THE HANKS WORKINGS ARE AS MUCH AS 1,500 FEET ALONG STRIKE, WITH ISOLATED PITS AWAY FROM THE MAIN TREND. THE COOPER WORKINGS ON THE SOUTH RIDGE INCLUDE A 55-FOOT SHAFT WITH APPENDED DRIFTS. THE TWO NEARLY PARALLEL RIDGES ARE ABOUT 600 FEET APART; THE NORTH RIDGE INCLUDES WORKINGS WHICH EXPOSE THE ORE OUTCROP FOR A WIDTH OF 175 FEET, AND A 38-FEET SHAFT WHICH WAS STILL IN ORE WHEN DIGGING WAS TERMINATED.

Comments on development

  • THE PROPERTY WAS WORKED EXTENSIVELY IN THE LATE 1800'S AND WAS REOPENED IN 1917 AND WORKED INTERMITTENTLY BY A.G. BETTS DURING WWI. ; ECON.COM: PHOSPHOROUS CONTENT OF ORE FROM COOPER PROPERTY IS RELATIVELY HIGH (0.273 TO 0.520 PERCENT)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-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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