Snead Mine

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10079843
MRDS ID W030586
Record type Site
Current site name Snead Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.25666, 37.78005 (WGS84)
Elevation 96
Relative position 1.25 MI (2.01 KM) NNE OF FORK UNION.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fluvanna(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Palmyra(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillwyn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rivanna(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Fluvanna

Comments on the location information

  • 0.5 MI (0.8 KM) OFF NW SIDE OF U.S. HWY 15 ABOUT 0.85 MI (1.37 KM) BY ROAD WSW OF JUNCTION WITH VA. HWY 6 AT DIXIE.

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Hemimorphite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyromorphite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Oligoclase Gangue
Orthoclase Gangue
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 Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Ellisville Granodiorite
    Rock description Ellisville Granodiorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Arvonia Formation
    Rock description Arvonia Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.25666, 37.78005

Economic information

Geologic structures

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

Ore body information

  • General form LINEAR
    Strike NE-SW
    Dip 65 DEG E
    Width 1.8M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zones

Comments on the geologic information

  • MINE SITUATED ON CONTACT OF ARVONIA AND ELLISVILLE. QUARTZITE BED INFERRED THRU AREA.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1937
Year of first production 1838

Mining district

District name Gold-Pyrite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner E. P. Alexander

Comments on the production information

  • WORKED FOR 9 MOS. IN 1838 YIELDING $6,000.

Comments on the workings information

  • IN 1974, TWO WATER-FILLED AND FIVE CAVED SHAFTS, ABOUT TWENTY CAVED PITS AND CUTS, REMAINS OF STONE WALLS OF PLANT, AND DUMPS EVIDENT. REPORTEDLY, EARLY WORKINGS CONSISTED OF A SHAFT 7.6 M (25 FT) DEEP, SEVERAL OPEN CUTS ALONG THE OUTCROP, AND A TUNNEL.

Comments on development

  • MINE OPERATED 1837-1850, THEN AFTER CIVIL WAR SEVERAL ATEMPTS WERE MADE TO RE-OPEN. THE ORE WAS TREATED IN A PRIMITIVE STAMP MILL OPERATED BY WATER-POWER, AND MUCH OF THE GOLD IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE TAILINGS. IN 1881 THE CHLORINATION PROCESS OF EXTRACTION WAS TRIED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    HARPER'S MAGAZINE, 1865, THE NATURAL WEALTH OF VIRGINIA: NEW YORK, V. 32, NO. 187, P. 32-42.

  • Deposit

    SMITH, J. W., MILICI, R. C., AND GREENBERG, S. S., 1964: GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF FLUVANNA COUNTY VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, BULLETIN 79, 62 P.

  • Deposit

    CREDNER, H., 1869, REPORT OF EXPLORATIONS ON THE GOLD FIELDS OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA: AMER. JOUR. MNG., VOL. VII, P. 58.

  • Deposit

    1837 DIREXPL GEORGE FISHER, JR. AND CO., EXTRACTED GOLD ORE}1881 DIREXPL ATTEMPT ED TO REACTIVATE, SUCCESS MINIMAL}1974 RECON VA. DIV. MIN. RES, LOCATED MIN

  • Production

    TABER (1913)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE VEIN CONSISTS OF WHITE HARD QUARTZ, CONTAINING PYRITE, CHALCOPYRITE, GALENA, AND SPHALERITE, AS WELL AS IRON OXIDE, PYROMORPHITE, MALACHITE AND FREE GOLD.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1979 Meintzer (D. C. Levan), Robert E. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-OCT-1981 Trimble, David, C. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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