Turkey Knob Magnetite Prospects

Occurrence in Ashe county in North Carolina, United States with commodity Iron
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026389
MRDS ID K004799
Record type Site
Current site name Turkey Knob Magnetite Prospects
Related records 10175503

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.49676, 36.50869 (WGS84)
Relative position APPROXIMATELY 1.1 MILE SSW OF SILAS CR. CHURCH CEMETERY, ON WEST SLOPE NEAR SUMMIT OF TURKEY KNOB (NOT IDENTIFIED ON MAP)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Ashe(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Grassy Creek(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wytheville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper New(hydrologic unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic subregion)

Ohio(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Ashe

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS APPROXIMATE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Magnetite Ore
Epidote Gangue

Analytical data

Result LOWER OPENING: 59.36% FE, 15.22% SIO2, 0.015% S, 0.015% P, P:FE RATIO 0.025. UPPER OPENING: 47.14% FE, 26.56% SIO2, 0.06% S, 0.023% P, P:FE RATIO 0.048. TRACE OF TIO2 FOUND IN A THIRD ANALYSIS OF THE SAME ORE, ACCORDING TO NITZE IN BAYLEY (1923).

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Cranberry Gneiss: Augen Gneiss And Porphyritic Gneiss (Rankin, Espenshade, And Neuman, 1972)
    Rock description Cranberry Gneiss: Augen Gneiss And Porphyritic Gneiss (Rankin, Espenshade, And Neuman, 1972)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.49676, 36.50869

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast

Ore body information

  • General form LENS, PINCH AND SWELL

Comments on the geologic information

  • ORE WAS NOT SEEN IN THE TRENCHES BY BAYLEY (1923), BUT WAS ABUNDANT ON THE DUMPS. IT CONSISTS OF HORNBLENDE GNEISS WITH SCATTERED GRAINS OF MAGNETITE, AND MATERIAL CONSISTING OF PARALLEL LAYERS OF BROWN QUARTZ, HORNBLENDE SCHIST, AND A DARK SCHIST CONTAINING MAGNETITE. NITZE (1893) DESCRIBES THE ORE AS "...A HARD, COMPACT CRYSTALLINE MAGNETITE IN A 5 FOOT VEIN HAVING 'A GANGUE OF EPIDOTE, GNEISS, AND QUARTZ.'"

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No

Mining district

District name Poison Creek Belt Of Deposits

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Stewart

Comments on the workings information

  • TWO TRENCHES WERE FOUND BY BAYLEY (1923), BUT HE BELIEVES THAT THEY WERE DUG LATER THAN THE ONES REFERRED TO BY NITZE (1893). NITZE REPORTEDLY FOUND A 5 - FOOT VEIN IN TWO OPENINGS, 100 FEET APART IN ELEVATION.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: THE MAGNETITE IS EASILY SEPARATED FROM GANGUE AND IS EXCEPTIONALLY LOW IN PHOSPHOROUS, TITANIUM, AND SULFUR.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ACCORDING TO BAYLEY (1923), THE POISON BRANCH BELT IS A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF DEPOSITS, WITH EACH DEPOSIT COMPRISED OF A NUMBER OF NEARLY PARALLEL, CLOSELY SPACED VEINS. COMMERCIAL PORTIONS OF THE ORE BODIES ARE "...IN THE FORM OF VEINS OR DIKES OF RICH MAGNETITE THAT CUT MASSES OF LEANER ORE. THE LEAN ORE COMPRISES THE LENSES."

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1975 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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