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Fain-Hitchcock Iron 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. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026126
MRDS ID K002601
Record type Site
Current site name Fain-Hitchcock Iron Mine
Related records 10127144

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -84.04324, 35.08344 (WGS84)
Relative position ON THE SOUTHEAST SLOPE OF ROCKY FENCE RIDGE AND ABOUT 0.6 MILE SOUTHWEST OF THE CENTER OF MURPHY

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

  • THE MINE EXTENDS ALMOST 1,000 FEET ALONG STRIKE TO THE SOUTHWEST.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • BAYLEY (1925) NOTED THAT ONLY THE BEST ORE WAS MINED, AND THAT THE DUMPS CONTAIN MUCH ORE THAT COULD BE RECOVERED BY EFFICIENT WASHING.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore

Alteration

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

Analytical data

Result 56.56% FE
Result 3.82% SI
Result 0.047% S
Result 0.820% P
Result (NITZE, 1893, P. 198). THE SHIPPED ORE IS REPORTED TO CONTAIN 44.75-49.50% 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 & Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar & Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Rock description Metadiorite, Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite & Amphibolite. Van Horn ( 1948 , P. 15 ) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar & Quartz Through Metamorphism
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Clayey & Sandy Residuum;Mineral Bluff Formation, Quartz-Sericite Schist Or Phyllite With Sandy Lenses & Intercalated Quartzites
    Rock description Clayey & Sandy Residuum;Mineral Bluff Formation, Quartz-Sericite Schist Or Phyllite With Sandy Lenses & Intercalated Quartzites

Nearby scientific data

(1) -84.04324, 35.08344
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, LINEAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding, Fractures, And Residuum.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE LIMONITIC MATERIAL IS DESCRIBED (BAYLEY, 1925) AS "...COARSELY BOTRYOIDAL WITH DENSE SPHERICAL MASSES MEASURING ABOUT 3 OR 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...", AS LAYERS IN A FRIABLE SANDY SCHIST, AND AS A "...MASS OF SMALL AND LARGE VEINS CUTTING IN A GENERAL PARALLEL DIRECTION THROUGH MUCH DISINTEGRATED SANDY SCHISTS BUT OFTEN CROSSING THE SCHIST LAYERS BETWEEN THEM AND UNITING INTO A FEW LARGE VEINS." THE ORE CONSISTS OF MASSES AND LAYERS OF LIMONITE IN RESIDUAL MATERIAL.

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

Comments on the production information

  • BAYLEY STATES THAT SEVERAL THOUSAND TONS OF ORE WERE SHIPPED. A PRE-WWII CONSULTANT REPORT BY LUCIEN EATON FOR THE H.A. BRASSERT & COMPANY (UNDATED) WAS THE SOURCE OF THE PRODUCTION FIGURE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 304.8M
    Overall width 45.72M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE WIDTH OF INDIVIDUAL IRON-OXIDE STRINGERS OR VEINS RANGES FROM ONE INCH TO 15 FEET. DEPTH OF THE MAIN PIT IS AS MUCH AS 60 FEET, BUT THE PIT HAS SLUMPED AT MANY PLACES.

Comments on development

  • TRENCHING, SAMPLING, AND CORE DRILLING (ONE HOLE TO 85 FEET) WAS DONE BY THE U.S. BUREAU OF MINES DURING 1944-1945. ; ECON.COM: REMAINING DEPOSIT IS TOO SMALL BY CURRENT STANDARDS TO BE CONSIDERED ECONOMIC.

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. & 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. & ECON. SUR., BULL. 31

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SMALL AMOUNTS OF MANGANESE OXIDES ARE PRESENT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-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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