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Bertha and Edith Mine

Past Producer in Goochland county in Virginia, United States with commodities Gold, 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. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  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 10079848
MRDS ID W030592
Record type Site
Current site name Bertha and Edith Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.12472, 37.78561 (WGS84)
Elevation 98
Relative position 1.65 MI (2.66 KM) SW OF CALEDONIA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Goochland(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Caledonia(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillwyn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle James-Willis(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Goochland

Comments on the location information

  • ALONG BOTH SIDES OF FOREST ROAD 2957 ABOUT 1.1 MI (1.8 KM) BY ROAD SOUTH OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 605. ADDITIONAL SITE AT UTM N 4187300., E 753640. (+17).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Feldspar Gangue
Kaolinite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Kaolinization Of Feldspar

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 Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Hornblendite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Phyllite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Arvonia Formation;Alluvium
    Rock description Arvonia Formation;Alluvium

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.12472, 37.78561
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

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

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR, LINEAR
    Width 1.8M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE VEINS ARE LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 0.8 KM (0.5 MI) NORTHWEST OF THE CONTACT OF THE SCHISTS AND GNEISS WITH THE HORNBLENDIC BORDER FACIES OF THE COLUMBIA GRANITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1861
Year of first production 1861

Mining district

District name Gold-Pyrite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner H. H. Walton, Pendleton, Va
  • Type Owner
    Owner General Commonwealth Co., E. T. Walton

Comments on the production information

  • NO PRODUCTION FIGURES FOR 19TH CENTURY WORKINGS. SMALL AMOUNTS OF GOLD PRODUCED IN 1937-1939.

Comments on the workings information

  • THE OAK HILL VEIN WAS EXPLORED BY AN ADIT 122 M (400 FT) LONG, WHICH DRAINED THE HILL 23 M (75 FT) BELOW THE SUMMIT AND WAS CONNECTED BY A RAISE WITH AN UPPER LEVEL ON WHICH THERE WERE 91 M (300 FT) OF DRIVES AND CROSS-CUTS. THE MAPLE BRANCH VEIN WAS EXPLORED BY A TUNNEL OF UNKNOWN LENGTH, BUT WORK HAD TO BE STOPPED ON ACCOUNT OF "BAD GROUND." IN 1974, NUMEROUS WATER-FILLED AND CAVED SHAFTS AND PITS, ROCK FOUNDATIONS OF OLD PLANT SITE, AN OLD WASHER AND POWER SHOVEL, AND DUMPS WERE EVIDENT.

Comments on development

  • PLACER GRAVELS WERE FIRST WORKED BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. IN 1877, THE BERTHA AND EDITH GOLD MINING CO. BEGAN DEVELOPMENT WORK ON THE QUARTZ VEINS. A LITTTE LATER A FRASER AND CHALMERS 20-STAMP MILL WAS ERECTED TO CRUSH THE ORE. IN 1882, THE TAGUS MINING AND MILLING COMPANY BEGAN WORK. SOME HYDRAULIC MINING WAS CARRIED ON AND SEVERAL VEINS WERE PROSPECTED BY SURFACE OPENINGS, BUT MOST OF THE UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT WAS LIMITED TO THE "OAK HILL" AND "MAPLE BRANCH" VEINS. IN 1897, THE RIVANNA GOLD MINING CO. REOPENED THE "OAK HILL" VEIN AND BUILT A CYANIDE PLANT TO TREAT THE TAILINGS FROM THE STAMP MILL. MILLING HAD SCARCELY BEGUN BEFORE THE WHOLE PLANT WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1898. THE COMPANY ALSO PROSPECTED THE PLACER GRAVELS IN THE FLAT NEAR THE MOUTH OF CAMP BRANCH, THE METHOD BEING TO FIRST REMOVE THE OVERBURDEN WITH SCRAPERS AND THEN WASH THE GRAVEL IN ROCKERS, BUT THIS WAS DISCONTINUED WHEN THE MILL BURNED. PLACERS WERE WORKED AGAIN FROM 1937 TO 1939 BY H.H WALTON.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    BROWN, C.B., 1937, OUTLINE OF THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF GOOCHLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 48, 68 P.

  • Deposit

    SWEET, P.C., 1971, GOLD MINES AND PROSPECTS IN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA MINERALS, V. 17, P. 25-33.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    HAMMETT, A.B.J., 1966, THE HISTORY OF GOLD: KERRVILLE, TEXAS, BRASWELL PRINTING CO., 107 P.

  • Deposit

    1877 DIREXPL BERTHA AND EDITH GOLD MINING CO, PRODUCED ORE

  • Deposit

    1937 DIREXPL H.H. WALTON, WORKED PLACER DEPOSIT

  • Deposit

    1974 RECON VA. DIV. MIN. RES: LOCATED MINE

  • Production

    BUREAU OF MINES, MINERAL YEARBOOK 1938-1940.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THREE VEINS: OAK HILL, MAPLE BRANCH, AND HOUSE. WIDTH ABOVE IS FOR OAK HILL VEIN. OAK HILL VEIN SAID TO HAVE AVERAGED $5/TON. THE MAPLE BRANCH VEIN HAS A NE-SW STRIKE AND IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN MUCH NARROWER BUT RICHER IN GOLD THAN THE OAK HILL VEIN.
Deposit Discovery Year: PRE-CIVIL WAR

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1979 Meintzer (D.C. Levan), Robert E U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1981 Trimble, David, 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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