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Eagle Mine

Past Producer in Stafford county in Virginia, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Zinc, Lead, Sulfur-Pyrite
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  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. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10067633
MRDS ID W000429
Record type Site
Current site name Eagle Mine
Alternate or previous names Rappahannock, Smith, Morgan and Rappahannock

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -77.5872, 38.35837 (WGS84)
Elevation 72
Relative position ABOUT 7.32 KM (4.55 MI) W OF BEREA, VA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Stafford(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Salem Church(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fredericksburg(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Washington(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Rappahannock(hydrologic unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Stafford

Comments on the location information

  • ABOUT 1.0 KM (0.6 MI) S FROM THE END OF STATE ROAD 651

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • HOST ROCK ALSO CONTAINS MICROSCOPIC TOURMALINE CRYSTALS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Tourmaline Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Fredericksburg Complex
    Rock description Fredericksburg Complex
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -77.5872, 38.35837
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Columbia Syncline , Ne-Sw Trend

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR, PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 45 DEG E
    Dip 85 DEG E
    Width 2M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Within Quartz Veins Which Intrude Schist

Comments on the geologic information

  • SCHIST IS DARK GRAY AND BORDERS WITH THE QUANTICO SLATE NEAR THIS AREA, THOUGH THE CONTACT OF THESE ROCK BODIES HAS NOT BEEN MAPPED IN THIS AREA. THE SCHIST CONTAINS MICROSCOPIC TOURMALINE CRYSTALS AND IS FINELY FOLIATED. ; GEOL.DESC: THE SCHIST IS DARK GRAY AND FINELY FOLIATED. ITS STRIKE IS N 45 DEG. E. AND DIPS 85 DEG. E.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1834
Year of first production 1834
Year of last production 1894
Production years 1834-1894

Mining district

District name Gold-Pyrite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Rappahannock Gold Mining Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1885
    Material ORE AU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^$10./Ton, 50% Of The Au Was Free
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 50wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • CREDNER (1868) REPORTED THAT SHORTLY BEFORE THE MINE CLOSED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR THE MINE YIELDED FOR EVERY TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS OF WAGES THIRTY OUNCES OF GOLD: BUT AT OTHER TIMES THE AVERAGE YIELD HAS BEEN SIXTEEN OUNCES OF GOLD FOR EVERY TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS OF WAGES. LONSDALE (1927) STATES THAT IN 1886 ELEVEN NUGGETS WEIGHING FROM 1 TO 18 DWT. WERE FOUND.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 183M
    Overall depth 76.2M

Comments on the workings information

  • A 9 M-DIAMETER AREA FLOODED BY RUST-WATER, WHICH WAS PROBABLY THE MAIN SHAFT OPENING, A STONE WALL, SEVERAL SCATTERED DUMPS ALONG A CREEK AND SCATTERED BRICKS AND SEVERAL HILLSIDE CUTS WERE REPORTED BY P. C. SWEET IN 1974. CREDNER REPORTED A SHAFT 49 M (160 FT) DEEP HAD BEEN SUNS ON THE VEIN, THE CHIEF WORKINGS CONSIST OF GALLERIES DRIVEN FROM THIS SHAFT TO THE SOUTHWEST. WATSON REPORTED WORKINGS REACHED A DEPTH OF 76 M (250 FT) AND A LENGTH OF 183 M (600 FT).

Comments on development

  • THE MINE WAS PROBABLY FIRST WORKED ABOUT 1834. CREDNER REPORTED THE MINE HAD BEEN OPERATED FOR 20 YEARS, BUT IT WAS CLOSED DOWN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR. FROM 1879 TO 1886 MINING MAGAZINES INDICATED CONSIDERABLE ACTIVITY TOOK PLACE. IN 1879 IT WAS NOTED IN ONE ARTICLE THAT WORKINGS WERE 26 M (85 FT) DEEP, THE VEIN WAS 1 M (3.5 FT) WIDE, AND 30 MEN WERE EMPLOYED. IN 1885, 10,000 TONS OF ORE WAS REPORTED BLOCKED OUT ON 3 LEVELS. THE ORE CARRIED $10 PER TON AND 50 PER CENT OF THE GOLD WAS FREE. THE MINE WAS OPERATED IN 1894 BY THE RAPPAHANNOCK GOLD MINING CO. WHEN IT WAS CLOSED, REPORTEDLY DUE TO FLOODING. A MILL CONSISTING OF A 60 HORSEPOWER ENGINE, 2 BOILERS, 10 STAMPS, 2 SHAKING TABLES, AND 2 CHILEAN MILLS, WAS ERECTED DURING THE EARLY OPERATIONS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SWEET, P.C., 1980, GOLD IN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, PUBLICATION 19, 77 P.

  • Deposit

    LONSDALE, J. T., 1927, GEOLOGY OF THE GOLD-PYRITE BELT OF THE NORTHEASTERN PIEDMONT, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 30, 110 P.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T. L., 1907, MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA: J. P. BELL CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA.

  • Deposit

    CREDNER, H., 1868, REPORT OF EXPLORATIONS ON THE GOLD FIELDS OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA: AMER. JOUR. MNG., VOL. VI, P. 393.

  • Deposit

    MORRILL, P., 1972, VIRGINIA MINES AND MINERALS: ROCKS AND MINERALS, VOL. 47, NO. 7-8, P. 442.

  • Deposit

    1894 DIREXPL THE RAPPAHANNOCK GOLD MINING CO. FINISHED ITS EXTENSIVE WORKINGS OF THE MINE.

  • Deposit

    1974 RECON VA. DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES: SITE INSPECTED

  • Production

    LONSDALE(1927).

  • Reserve-Resource

    LUTTRELL REFERENCE.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE VEIN VARIES IN THICKNESS FROM 36 CM (14 IN) TO 2 M (6.5 FT) AND CONSISTS OF WHITE, COMPACT QUARTZ, WITH PYRITE, ARGENTIFEROUS GALENA, AND FREE GOLD IN FINE PARTICLES AND IN MOSS-LIKE CONCRETIONS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1972 Wright, Nancy A. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUL-1979 Beaulieu, Harvey R. (Le Van, D. 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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