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Katahdin Iron Works

Past Producer in Piscataquis county in Maine, United States with commodities Iron, Sulfur-Pyrite, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt
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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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10067848
MRDS ID W000718
Record type Site
Current site name Katahdin Iron Works

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -69.19117, 45.43996 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Knox(county)

Maine(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Silver Lake(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dover-Foxcroft(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Millinocket(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

St. George-Sheepscot(hydrologic unit)

Maine Coastal(hydrologic accounting unit)

Maine Coastal(hydrologic subregion)

New England(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Maine Piscataquis

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS FOR APPROX. CENTER OF OREBODY, NE TOE OF ORE MTN, S OF POND ROAD, IN NW QUADRANT OF SEBEC 15' QUAD. LOCATION IS 9.15 MI N45W OF THE ROUNDHOUSE AT BROWNVILL JCT; APPROX. 0.75 MI WSW OF SILVER LAKE OUTLET. ACCURATE TO 100 m.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Primary
Nickel Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Cobalt Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • From 1843 to 1890 iron was mined from the gossan capping a massive pyrrhotite deposit at the Katahdin Iron Works. In 1927, the General Chemical Company leased Katahdin Iron Works land as a reserve source of sulphur contained in underlying pyrrhotite.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrrhotite Ore
Limonite Ore
Melanterite Gangue
Olivine Gangue
Pyroxene Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Weathering

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro > Norite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian

Nearby scientific data

(2) -69.19117, 45.43996
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Norite

Comments on the geologic information

  • The source of the iron ore that was mined in the 19th century is the gossan that developed from weathering of a massive pyrrhotite body that is completely enclosed by a norite stock intruding into Silurian and Devonian slates and quartzites. The medium-grained, dark gray norite is composed primarily of labradorite, bronzite, augite, and minor olivine. The norite stock occupies the nose of an east-plunging anticline (Houston, 1956).
  • Pyrrhotite Depth Undetermined, But Evidently Substantial. Pyrrhotite Is Wholly Enclosed In Gabbro Mass of Moderate Size, Intrusive Into Surround Paleozoic Slates.
  • Magmatic Massive, Magmatic Disseminated

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes

Comments on the production information

  • Iron was mined and processed on site starting in 1846. Peak iron production was in the 1880's, with 18-20 tons of pig iron produced daily. The remote location and poor quality of the iron at Katahdin made the operation a marginal producer; operations shut down completely in 1890 when Lake Superior iron was developed.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • The surface dimensions of the pyrrhotite body are approximately 100 m by 500 m, but the depth remains uncertain. The deposit is estimated to contain 6.5 million tons of 44% Fe and 27% S per 30 m vertical extent. If the depth equals the surface length (500 m), and the ore grade persists, the total mass of sulfides would exceed 200 million tons. This enormous potential would make Katahdin Iron Works deposit one of the largest massive sulfide deposits in the world.

Comments on development

  • After acquiring the property in 1952, Allied Chemical retained the deposit as a potential sulfur reserve. Superior Mining Company conducted a diamond drilling operation in the 1970's for metal exploration. Recent drilling was in 1989-1990, but no exploration or development has followed.

Reference information

Comments on the other database information

  • Updater F. Beck checked location, commodity codes, references and geologic comments.

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Houston, R.S., 1956, Genetic study of some pyrrhotite deposits of Maine and New Brunswick: Maine Geological Survey Bulletin 7, 117 p.

  • Geology

    Young, R.W., 1968, Mineral exploration and development in Maine: in Ridge, J.D. (ed), Ore deposits of the United States, 1933-1967 (Graton-Sales Volume): American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, v. 1, p. 125-139.

  • Deposit

    Miller, R.L., 1945, Geology of the Katahdin pyrrhotite deposit and vicinity, Piscataquis County, Maine: Geological Survey of Maine Bulletin 2, 21 p.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Pyrrhotite occurs primarily as interstitial masses between silicate minerals. The ore body is structureless with about 75% sulfides in the interior grading outward into the surrounding norite which contains about 5% sulfide. A lack of pervasive replacement textures argues against an hydrothermal origin. The deposit is considered to be a magmatic segregation in which immissible sulfide separated from fractionating mafic magma (Houston, 1956).
Deposit Enormous Pyrrhotite Deposit At Katahdin Is Estimated To Contain 6.5 Million Tons of 44% Iron and 27% Sulphur Per 100 Ft. Vertically.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1972 Coury, Anny B. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1998 Beck, F.M. Maine Geological Survey
Editor 07-JAN-2004 Woodruff, Laurel G. U.S. Geological Survey Work done in Filemaker

Beyond USGS

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

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