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McKenna Mine

Past Producer in Buckingham county in Virginia, United States with commodities Iron, Zinc, Copper, Lead, Sulfur-Pyrite, Gold, Silver
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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. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10079436
MRDS ID W028973
Record type Site
Current site name McKenna Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.29833, 37.69588 (WGS84)
Elevation 73
Relative position ABOUT 1.0 KM (0.62 MI) S 10 DEG E OF NEW CANTON.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Buckingham(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Arvonia(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillwyn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle James-Buffalo(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Buckingham

Comments on the location information

  • ON SW SIDE OF BEAR GARDEN CREEK.

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Limonite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Silver Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Gahnite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Plagioclase Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 184
USGS model code 28a
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, kuroko
Mark3 model number 93

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Phyllite
    Rock unit name Chopawamsic Formation;Arvonia Formation;Hatcher Complex
    Rock description Chopawamsic Formation;Arvonia Formation;Hatcher Complex
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.29833, 37.69588
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

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

Ore body information

  • General form POD/LENS
    Strike N 20 DEG E
    Dip 80 DEG NW

Controls for ore emplacement

  • In Lenticular And Planar Zones And Also Disseminated In The Schist.

Comments on the geologic information

  • PYRITE IS FREQUENTLY IN CONTACT WITH MAGNETITE AND OFTEN OCCURS IN NARROW PLANES OR LENSES PARALLEL TO THE SCHISTOSITY. (TABER, 1913)

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1770
Year of first production 1906

Mining district

District name Gold-Pyrite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Virginia Copper Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Virginia Mining Corp.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Unknown
    Overall depth 16.1M

Comments on the workings information

  • 2 SHAFTS WITH 2 SHORT DRIVES WERE PROSPECTED (TABER, 1913). BOTH SHAFT OPENINGS WERE SEEN IN 1974.

Comments on development

  • THIS PROSPECT AND THE OTHER 3 NEW CANTON MINES AND PROSPECTS WERE ORIGINALLY LIMONITE GOSSAN SURFACE MINES WORKED FROM THE 1770'S TO AROUND 1840. THE MOST INTENSIVE MINING OCCURRED IN THE 1830'S, WHEN A CHARCOAL FURNACE, KNOWN AS THE BEAR GARDEN OR DEAN FURNACE, WAS BUILT. THE GOSSAN WAS SMELTED AT THIS FURNACE UNTIL IT WAS ABANDONED IN 1840. IN 1895, J.P. MCKENNA PROSPECTED FOR COPPER AND IN 1906 THE VIRGINIA COPPER CO. BEGAN TO DEVELOP THE PROPERTY. A 16 M (53 FT) SHAFT WAS SUNK AND TWO SHORT DRIFTS OPENED FROM IT, BUT THE SHAFT WAS APPARENTLY UNPRODUCTIVE AND WORK CEASED IN 1907. IN 1956, R.F. BEERS, INC., DIAMOND DRILLED THE PROPERTY UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE DEFENSE MINERALS EXPLORATION ADMINISTRATION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BARNES, R.C., 1962, A GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION OF SULFIDE DEPOSITS NEAR NEW CANTON, VIRGINIA (ABS.): VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, V. 13, NO. 4, P. 277.

  • Deposit

    TABER, S., 1913, GEOLOGY OF THE GOLD BELT IN THE JAMES RIVER BASIN, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 7, 271 P.

  • Deposit

    BROWN, W.R., 1969, GEOLOGY OF THE DILLWYN QUADRANGLE, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 10, 77 P.

  • Deposit

    BARNES, R.C., 1963, GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION OF SULFIDE DEPOSITS NEAR NEW CANTON, VIRGINIA: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA UNPUBLISHED M.S. THESIS.

  • Deposit

    POOLE, J.L., 1974, NOTES ON SOME ABANDONED COPPER, LEAD, AND ZINC MINES IN THE PIEDMONT OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES VIRGINIA MINERALS, VOL. 20 NO. 2, P. 9-14.

  • Deposit

    1895 DIREXPL J.P. MCKENNA: BEGAN EXPLORATION.

  • Deposit

    1906 DIREXPL VIRGINIA COPPER CO.: SUNK SHAFT, APPARENTLY UNPRODUCTIVE, AND WORK STOPPED IN 1907.

  • Deposit

    1956 DIREXPL R.F. BEERS, INC.: GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY AND DIAMOND DRILLING CONDUCTED.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit A BORNITE MASS WAS ENCOUNTERED 10.6 M (35 FT) FROM THE SURFACE, AND MEASURED 2.4 M WIDE BY 2 M THICK (TABER, 1913); DIP IS NEARLY VERTICAL.
Deposit THIS IS ONE OF A GROUP OF 4 MINES AND PROSPECTS WHICH ARE COLLECTIVELY CALLED THE NEW CANTON MINES; JOHNSON MINE, MARGARET PROSPECT, AND HUDGINS PROSPECT. ALL LIE ON STRIKE WITH EACH OTHER. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1979 Beaulieu, Harvey R. (Le Van, D. C.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-1987 Sweet, Palmer 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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