Montpelier Mine

Past Producer in Hanover county in Virginia, United States with commodities Feldspar, Titanium, Metal, Mineral Pigments, Zirconium, Kaolin
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. Land status
  13. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10068333
MRDS ID W001336
Record type Site
Current site name Montpelier Mine
Alternate or previous names Bowe Farm Prospect

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -77.71164, 37.77172 (WGS84)
Elevation 69
Relative position 6.1 KM (3.8 MI) SSW OF MONTPELIER

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hanover(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Montpelier(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Richmond(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Richmond(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Pamunkey(hydrologic unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Hanover

Comments on the location information

  • MINE OPERATIONS LOCATED ON NORTH SIDE OF COMPANY ROAD, 0.8 KM (0.5 MI) BY ROAD WEST OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 677 IN GOULDIN, 1.6 KM (1.0 MI) SE OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 610.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Feldspar Primary
Titanium, Metal Critical Secondary
Mineral Pigments Secondary
Zirconium Critical Tertiary
Kaolin Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ONLY APLITE WAS MARKETED IN 1979, HOWEVER OTHER COMMODITIES STOCKPILED. CLAY PRODUCED FROM MILLING PROCESS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Albite Ore
Illite Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Kaolinite Ore
Microcline Ore
Rutile Ore
Zircon Ore
Biotite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Early Ti Ore Derived From Saprolite.

Analytical data

Result FOR CLAY: GOOD COLOR
Result SHOULD FIRE TO "MW" FACE-BRICK SPECIFICATION AT ABOUT 2050 DEG. F (1120 DEG. C). SEE SAMPLE R-2858 (JOHNSON & TYRRELL, 1967). IRON CONTENT OF "APLITE" LESS THAN 0.1% (FEITLER, 1967). 2.5% HEAVY MINERALS, SPLIT 50-50 RUTILE & ILMENITE
Result RUTILE: 94% TIO2, ILMENITE: 52-53% TIO2 (ENG. MNG. JOUR., 1958).

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite
    Rock unit name Pegmatite
    Rock description Pegmatite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite
    Rock unit name Pegmatite;State Farm Gneiss
    Rock description Pegmatite;State Farm Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -77.71164, 37.77172

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, Dome

Comments on the geologic information

  • GNEISS IS CONSIDERED TO BE A PARAGNEISS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1910
Discoverer August Meyer (?)
Year of first production 1957

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner The Feldspar Corp.
  • Type Owner
    Owner The Feldspar Corp. Of Pacific Tin Consolidated Corp.

Comments on the production information

  • HEAVY MINERALS AND ZIRCON STOCKPILED. CLAY PRODUCED FROM MILLING PROCESS.

Comments on development

  • BOWE FARM DEPOSIT INITIALLY PROSPECTED IN 1910 BY AUGUST MEYER, WHO DUG SEVERAL PITS; NONE EXCEEDING 6 M IN DEPTH. IN 1957, METAL & THERMIT CORP. BEGAN MINING OF RUTILE AND ILMENITE AND IN 1960, ALSO BEGAN PRODUCTION OF APLITE. IN 1962, COMPANY WAS ACQUIRED BY AMERICAN CAN CO., BECOMING KNOWN AS METAL & THERMIT CHEMICALS, INC. AND SUBSEQUENTLY AS M & T CHEMICALS, INC. MARKETING OF TITANIUM WAS DISCONTINUED IN 1968. THE FELDSPAR CORP. ACQUIRED THE OPERATION IN 1969. ; MILL.CAP: 6500 ; ECON.YEAR: 1975

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    SRC.REF: JOHNSON, S.S., & TYRRELL, M.E., 1967, ANALYSES OF CLAY AND RELATED MATERIALS - EASTERN COUNTIES: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESOURCES REP. 8, P. 78

  • Deposit

    ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, 1958, VIRGINIA HEAVY MINERALS PLANT OPENS: V. 159, NO. 1, P. 94-95.

  • Deposit

    FEITLER, S.A., 1967, FELDSPAR RESOURCES AND MARKETING IN EASTERN UNITED STATES: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 8310, 41 P.

  • Deposit

    VIRGINIA MINERALS, 1958, NEW TITANIUM PLANT: V.4, NO.1, P. 1-7.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L. AND TABER, S., 1913, GEOLOGY OF THE TITANIUM AND APATITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 3-A, 130 P.

  • Deposit

    1910 DIREXPL A. MEYER: CONDUCTED PROSPECTING.

  • Deposit

    1910 RECON F.L. HESS: DESCRIBED DEPOSITS.

  • Deposit

    1957 DIREXPL METAL & THERMIT CORP.: OPENED SURFACE MINE FOR RUTILE & ILMENITE.

  • Deposit

    1960 DIREXPL METAL & THERMIT CORP.: BEGAN APLITE PRODUCTION.

  • Production

    ENG. & MNG. JOUR. (1958)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSIT NO. IS FOR USBM. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1973 Force, Eric R. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1979 Meintzer, Robert E. (Le Van, D.C.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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