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Betty Baker Mine

Past Producer in Carroll county in Virginia, United States with commodities Copper, Iron, Pig Iron, Sulfur-Pyrite, Iron, Mineral Pigments, Zinc, Lead
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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. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10079974
MRDS ID W030845
Record type Site
Current site name Betty Baker Mine
Alternate or previous names Bettie Baker Mine, Paint Bank Mine, Carter Mine.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.72424, 36.84535 (WGS84)
Elevation 777
Relative position 3.0 KM (1.9 MI) WNW OF LIBERTY HILL.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Carroll(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hillsville(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Galax(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper New(hydrologic unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic subregion)

Ohio(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Carroll

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION AND ELEVATION GIVEN ARE FOR THE OPEN PIT AT THE NE END OF THE WORKINGS. PIT IS APPROXIMATELY 1500 FT WEST OF ROUTE 752 ALONG POWER LINE. (POWER LINE CROSSES ROUTE 752 500 FT SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF ROUTES 752 AND 829). WORKINGS EXTEND 5000 FT FROM THE PIT IN A S 50 W DIRECTION, 600 FT NE OF THE PIT IN A BROAD ZONE. LOCATION FIELD CHECKED NOVEMBER, 1986 AND APRIL, 1987.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Iron, Pig Iron Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Primary
Iron Secondary
Mineral Pigments Secondary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Lead Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • PYRITE OCCURS AS PORPHYROBLASTS IN PYRRHOTITE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Covellite Ore
Cubanite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Galena Ore
Goethite Ore
Hematite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Actinolite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Graphite Gangue
Ilmenite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Rutile Gangue
Tremolite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) (Almandine)-Low Grade Regional Metamorphism (415-455 Deg. C, 5-5.5 Kb) Has Partially Converted Originally Pyritic Mass To Predominantly Pyrrhotite During Acadian (?) Orogeny.

Analytical data

Result AVG. FROM DRILL SAMPLES: 35.7% FE, 22.2% S, 0.59% CU, 0.56% ZN, 0.38% PB (VIRGINIA IRON, COAL & COKE CO. SAMPLES)

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 91
USGS model code 24b
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)
Mark3 model number 30

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Lynchburg Group, Ashe Formation
    Rock description Lynchburg Group, Ashe Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Arkose

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.72424, 36.84535
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Blue Ridge Anticlinorium, Fries Thrust, Gossan Lead Thrust, Main Sulfide Zone Strikes N 45 E And Dips 30-60 Se.Ips 30-60 Se., Fries Overthrust.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Cross Fault With 10 M Offset At Ne End.

Ore body information

  • General form POD/LENS
    Strike N. 45 DEG. E.
    Dip 47 DEG. SE
    Length 7500M
    Width 15M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 333M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Lenticular Troughs

Comments on the geologic information

  • STATEN (1976) AS CITED IN HENRY AND OTHERS (1979) NOTED CHLORITE SCHIST OFTEN FORMS AN ENVELOPE 0-1 M THICKNESS AROUND THE SULFIDE ZONES AND IS INTERLEAVED WITH QUARTZ-MUSCOVITE SCHIST. THIS IS ONLY MINE IN DISTRICT WHERE PYRITE IS MORE THAN A RARE CONSTITUENT OF THE ORE, AT THE BETTY BAKER MINE, PYRITE CONSTITUTES AS MUCH AS 25% OF THE ORE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1854
Discoverer Meigs County, Tenn., And Virginia Mining Co. (?)
Year of first production 1854

Mining district

District name Betty Baker Segment/Gossan Lead District/Southern Section - Blue Ridge Province.

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Virginia Iron, Coal And Coke Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Texas Gulf (Forest Products Division)

Production statistics

  • Year 1859
    Period 1854-1859
    Material CU
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^16% Cu
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Copper Copper 16wt-pct

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ORE: ZN, PB, CU, PYR1

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 83M
    Overall depth 25.5M

Comments on the workings information

  • DRIFTS WERE DUG AT THE 40 FT AND 80 FT LEVELS. KLINE AND BALLARD (1949) REPORT EXTENSIVE SURFACE WORKINGS FOR 5600 FT ALONG THE STRIKE OF THE ORE BODY. IN NOVEMBER, 1986, THE SURFACE WORKINGS CONSISTED OF A SERIES OF TRENCHES EXTENDING ROUGHLY 5000 FT TO THE SW FROM AN OPEN PIT. THIS PIT WAS APPARENTLY EXCAVATED IN THE MID 70'S FOR SOME PROSPECTING WORK--EXCELLENT EXPOSURES OF FOOTWALL ROCKS AND SOME ORE ZONE MATERIAL. NE OF THE PIT IS A BROAD ZONE OF SURFACE WORKINGS, INCLUDING PORTALS, SHAFTS, TRENCHES AND SPOIL PILES.

Comments on development

  • MINE OPENED IN 1854 BY MEIGS COUNTY, TENNESSEE, AND VIRGINIA MINING CO. WHO MINED SUPERGENE COPPER BELOW GOSSAN. THE MINE WAS CLOSED DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND NOT REOPENED UNTIL SOMETIME AFTER 1880. PRIOR TO ITS CLOSING IN 1900, THE MINE WAS OPERATED BY A CAPT. MCKEE WHO SHIPPED ORE TO THE SOUTHERN CHEMICAL CO. AT WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. FOR ACID MAKING PURPOSES. IN 1905, VIRGINIA IRON, COAL AND COKE CO. DEVELOPED MINE BY MEANS OF A SHAFT AND DRIFTS AT TWO LEVELS. IN 1928, 24 HOLES TOTALING 2808 M WERE DRILLED BY VIRGINIA IRON, COAL AND COKE CO. IN 1947, THE U.S. BUREAU OF MINES DRILLED SEVEN CORE HOLES TOTALING 1163 M.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HENRY, D.K., CRAIG, J.R., AND GILBERT, M.C., 1979, ORE MINERALOGY OF THE GREAT GOSSAN LEAD, VIRGINIA: ECON. GEOL. V. 74, NO. 3, P. 645-656.

  • Deposit

    KLINE, M.H., AND BALLARD, T.J., 1949, INVESTIGATION OF THE GREAT GOSSAN LEAD, CARROLL COUNTY, VIRGINIA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES REPT. INV. 4532, 39 P.

  • Deposit

    POOLE, J.L., 1973, IRON SULFIDE MINES IN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA MINERALS, V. 19, NO. 3, P. 29-33

  • Deposit

    STOSE, A.J. AND STOSE, G.W., 1957, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE GOSSAN LEAD DISTRICT AND ADJACENT AREAS IN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, BULL. 72, 233 P.

  • Deposit

    CONLEY, JAMES F., 1985, GEOLOGY OF THE SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA PIEDMONT: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 59, 33P.

  • Deposit

    WRIGHT, R.J., AND RAMAN, N.D., 1948, THE GOSSAN LEAD, CARROLL COUNTY, VIRGINIA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT, 19 P.

  • Deposit

    1854 DIREXPL MEIGS COUNTY, TENN., & VA. MINING CO.: MINED SUPERGENE COPPER.

  • Deposit

    1911 RECON W.H. WEED: BULL 455.

  • Deposit

    1928 DIREXPL VA. IRON, COAL & COKE CO.: CONDUCTED EXPLORATORY DRILLING.

  • Deposit

    1935 RECON C.S. ROSS: PROF. PAPER 179.

  • Deposit

    1947 DIREXPL U.S. BUREAU OF MINES: CONDUCTED EXPLORATORY DRILLING

  • Deposit

    1948 RECON R.J. WRIGHT & N.D. RAMAN: OPEN-FILE REPORT.

  • Production

    HENRY AND OTHERS (1979), POOLE (1973)

  • Reserve-Resource

    CORRIVEAU, M.P., 1956, MINERAL DRESSING STUDIES ON THE GREAT GOSSAN LEAD ORE FORM CARROLL COUNTY, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA POLYTECH. INST. BULL; ENG. EXPT. STA. SER. NO. 113, 79 P.; GAIR, J.E. AND SLACK, J.F., 1978, STRATABOUND MASSIVE SULFIDE DEPOSITS OF THE U.S. APPALACHIANS IN REVIEW OF STRATABOUND APPALACHIAN-CALEDONIAN SULFIDE DEPOSITS: IRELAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (IN PRESS)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit AT NE END, DIP FLATTENS AND STRIKE SWINGS TO THE EAST. KLINE AND BALLARD (1949) SAY MINERALIZATION IS CONTINUOUS FOR 9600 FT TO THE SW FROM THE NE END. THIS MINERALIZED ZONE HAS BEEN MINED ALL ALONG ITS LENGTH (BETTY BAKER, GALUP, ANN ELIZA AND ANNA MARY MINES).
Deposit THE OPEN PIT IS THE MOST ACCESSIBLE PART OF THE BETTY BAKER WORKINGS AND HAS THE BEST EXPOSURES. PORTAL LOCATIONS (IN UTM): 4077560N, 524570E, 4077630N, 524640E, 4077530N, 524670E. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1987 Meintzer, Robert E. (Le Van, D.C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-APR-1987 Myers, Lesley L. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

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