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Savage Brothers Mine

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. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026123
MRDS ID K002597
Record type Site
Current site name Savage Brothers Mine
Related records 10175753

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -84.01434, 35.10817 (WGS84)
Relative position 1.4 MILE NORTHEAST OF U.S. HIGHWAY 19-129 BRIDGE OVER THE VALLEY RIVER, AND ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE RIDGE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Cherokee(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Murphy(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)

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

  • LOCATION IS APPROXIMATE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore
Chert Gangue

Alteration

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

Analytical data

Result CARLOAD LOTS SHIPPED BY SAVAGE BROTHERS ANALYZED: 45.10-49.54% FE
Result 0.25-0.58% MN. AN EARLIER ANALYSIS QUOTED BY NITZE (1893, P. 199) GAVE: 51.94% FE
Result 0.06% S
Result AND 0.73% P. THE BEST VALUE OBTAINED BY THE U.S. BUREAU OF MINES IN 1945 WAS A 22-FOOT INTERVAL (IN A TRENCH) THAT CONTAINED 35.0% FE.

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 ) Te Rms 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 ) Te Rms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Residuum;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist
    Rock description Residuum;Andrews Formation, Thin Alternating Layers Of Marble And Biotite Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -84.01434, 35.10817
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
    Strike N 40 E
    Dip 80 S
    Width 12.19M
    Depth to bottom 21.34M
  • General form IRREGULAR
    Dip 80 S

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding, Fractures, And Residuum

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ORE CONSISTS OF "...LAYERS OR BANDS OF HYDROUS IRON OXIDES IN THE BEDDING PLANES OF THE SCHIST AND AS CEMENTED MASSES AND BOULDERS IN THE SOILS AND CLAYS...". BOTRYOIDAL AND MAMMILLARY LIMONITE IS COMMON ALONG THE SIDES OF THE DEPOSIT. MOST OF THE ORE SHIPPED DURING THE EARLY MINING WAS THE MASSIVE, BOTRYOIDAL TYPE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1917

Mining district

District name Murphy Marble Belt

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Charles W. And Will Savage

Comments on the production information

  • A.G. BETTS IS REPORTED TO HAVE SHIPPED ABOUT 1,000 TONS, AND THE SAVAGE BROTHERS 4,000 TONS.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 60,000 TONS OF RESIDUAL ORE REMAIN ABOVE A DEPTH OF 70 FEET. A LARGE AMOUNT OF ORE IS CONSIDERED AS HAVING BEEN WASTED AND REMAINS IN THE DUMPS.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 143.26M
    Overall width 22.86M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE PIT RANGES FROM 12 TO 35 FEET IN DEPTH. THE ORE IS REPORTED TO RANGE FROM 30 TO 40 FEET IN WIDTH, OF WHICH 20 FEET WAS SOLID BLACK ORE AND 10 OR 15 FEET WAS SOFT ORE.

Comments on development

  • THE PROPERTY WAS WORKED BY A.G. BETTS IN 1917 AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY OPERATED BY THE SAVAGE BROTHERS UNTIL THE FALL OF 1919. SOME ORE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN MINED PRIOR TO 1917, BUT THE TONNAGE IS NOT KNOWN. THE U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INVESTIGATED THE PROPERTY DURING 1944 AND 1945, AND DID SOME TRENCHING AND DRILLED TWO HOLES FOR A TOTAL OF 157 FEET. ; ECON.COM: GRADE OF ORE DOESN'T MEET CURRENT SPECIFICATIONS; MUCH OF THE HIGH-GRADE ORE HAS BEEN MINED OUT

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BAYLEY, W.S., 1925, DEPOSITS OF BROWN IRON ORES (BROWN HEMATITE) IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA GEOL. AND ECON. SURVEY BULL. 31, 76 P.

  • Deposit

    ROBERTSON, A.F., 1946, EXPLORATION OF THE CHEROKEE IRON DEPOSITS, CHEROKEE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES RPT. INV. R.I. 3974, 31 P.

  • Deposit

    POWER, W.R., AND FORREST, J.T., 1973, STRATIGRAPHY AND PALEOGEOGRAPHY IN THE MURPHY MARBLE BELT: AM. JOUR. SCI., V. 273, P. 698-711.

  • Deposit

    1925 COMPILE BAYLEY, N.C. GEOL. AND ECON. SUR. BULL. 31

  • Deposit

    1946 DIREXPL ROBERTSON, U.S.B.M. RPT. INV. 3974

  • Deposit

    1973 OTHER POWER AND FORREST, AM. JOUR. SCI., PAPER

  • Production

    BAYLEY, W.S., 1925, N.C. GEOL. AND ECON. SUR., BULL. 31

  • Reserve-Resource

    BAYLEY, W.S., 1925, N.C. GEOL. AND ECON. SUR. BULL. 31

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE DEPOSIT IS WITHIN THE STRIKE BELT OF THE ANDREWS FORMATION.

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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