Folly Mine

Past Producer in Amherst county in Virginia, United States with commodity Copper
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. 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 10079969
MRDS ID W030838
Record type Site
Current site name Folly Mine
Alternate or previous names Folley Mine, Buffalo Ridge Prospects, Piedmont Copper Mines

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.96835, 37.56145 (WGS84)
Elevation 195
Relative position 6.9 KM (4.3 MI) SOUTH OF NEW GLASGOW.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Amherst(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Buffalo Ridge(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 Amherst

Comments on the location information

  • JUST SOUTH OF U.S. HWY 60 ABOUT 1.0 KM (0.6 MI) EAST OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 600. (NOTE: LOCATION APPROXIMATE, NOT FIELD CHECKED.)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Covellite Ore
Malachite Ore
Actinolite Gangue
Chalcedony Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Olivine Gangue
Pyroxene Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Talc Gangue
Tremolite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Peridotite Altered To Soapstone

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite
    Rock unit name Metaperidotite Dike
    Rock description Metaperidotite Dike
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite
    Rock unit name Metaperidotite Dike;Lynchburg Formation
    Rock description Metaperidotite Dike;Lynchburg Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.96835, 37.56145

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, Blue Ridge Anticlinorium, Espenshade (1954) Mapped A Major Reverse Fault To The East Between Lynchburg And Candler Formations.
Type of structure Local
Structure description High Angle Faulting (?)

Ore body information

  • General form LENS/STRINGERS, IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zones, Joint System

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1775
Year of first production 1775

Mining district

District name James River-Roanoke River Manganese District/Glades Area

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Buffalo Ridge Development Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner H. E. Graves/A. W. Mosby

Comments on the production information

  • 1880 PRODUCTION PROBABLY INCLUDES ORE FROM OTHER WORKINGS ALONG GLADES ROAD.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 91M

Comments on the workings information

  • SHAFT LAST CLEARED IN 1917. IN 1948, SHAFT HAD BEEN FILLED-IN.

Comments on development

  • FIRST MINING WAS CONDUCTED BY COL. JOHN CHISWELL PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, THE ORE BEING SHIPPED TO ENGLAND. IN 1837, THE GLADES COPPER MINING CO. WAS FORMED BY C.A. GOOCH, BUT APPARENTLY NO MINING WAS ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED. IN 1848, THE AMHERST COUNTY MINING CO WAS FORMED, BUT AGAIN LITTLE, IF ANY, MINING WAS ACCOMPLISHED. COL. T. DUNLAP FORMED THE PIEDMONT COPPER MINES IN 1879 AND WORKED THE AREA UNTIL 1882. IN 1917-1918, THE BUFFALO RIDGE DEVELOPMENT CO. CLEANED OUT THE SHAFT BUT SHIPPED NO ORE. SINCE THEN, BRIEF SUMMARIES OF DEPOSITS HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY FURCRON (1935) AND ESPENSHADE (1954). ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATIONS WERE MADE AROUND 1948-1949 (VA. DIV. MIN. RES. FIELD REPORTS).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ESPENSHADE, G.H., 1954, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE JAMES RIVER-ROANOKE RIVER MANGANESE DISTRICT, VIRGINIA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1008, 155 P.

  • Deposit

    FURCRON, A.S., 1935, JAMES RIVER IRON AND MARBLE BELT, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 39, 121 P.

  • Deposit

    LUTTRELL, G.W., 1966, BASE-AND PRECIOUS-METAL AND RELATED ORE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT 7, 167 P.

  • Deposit

    THE VIRGINIAS, 1880, COPPER: V. 1, NO. 12, P. 193.

  • Deposit

    1765 DIREXPL COL. CHISWELL: MINED DEPOSITS

  • Deposit

    1875 DIREXPL THOMAS DUNLAP: MINED DEPOSITS

  • Deposit

    1925 GEOLMAP VA. GEOL. SURV: AREA MAPPED

  • Deposit

    1940 GEOLMAP G.H. ESPENSHADE: BULLETIN 1008.

  • Production

    THE VIRGINIAS (1880)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SHEAR ZONE IS ABOUT 30 M WIDE.
Deposit ALTHOUGH ORIGINALLY A SINGLE MINE, LATER WORKINGS INCLUDED ENTIRE MINERALIZED ZONE EXTENDING FROM THE FOLLEY MINE TO THE CHRISTIAN TRACT MINE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-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.