1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

White Peak No. 1 Mine

Past Producer in Powhatan county in Virginia, United States with commodities Mica, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080108
MRDS ID W031185
Record type Site
Current site name White Peak No. 1 Mine
Alternate or previous names Purcell Mines, Miller Mines

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -77.78999, 37.5445 (WGS84)
Elevation 114
Relative position MINE IS 2.3 MILES NORTHEAST OF FLAT ROCK.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Powhatan(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fine Creek Mills(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Richmond(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Richmond(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 Powhatan

Comments on the location information

  • APPROXIMATELY 200 M (656 FT) EAST ON STATE ROAD 716 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 613, MINE IS A SHORT DISTANCE NORTH OF 716. IT IS LOCATED BETWEEN WHITE PEAK NO. 4 AND NO. 3 PROSPECTS.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mica Primary
Tantalum Critical Secondary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • AN UNIDENTIFIED METAMICT URANIUM-NIOBIUM MINERAL IS ALSO PRESENT, OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH TANTALITE-COLUMBITE. IT MAY BE SAMARSKITE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Muscovite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Plagioclase Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Chopawamsic Formation
    Rock description Chopawamsic Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -77.78999, 37.5445
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults

Ore body information

  • General form LENS
    Strike N 85 DEG E
    Dip NEARLY VERTICAL
    Plunge direction WESTWARD
    Length 69M
    Width 11M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 14M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Pegmatite Dike

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE COUNTRY ROCK IS A MUCH-WEATHERED AND POORLY EXPOSED MICA SCHIST AND BIOTITE GNEISS, IN WHICH THE FOLIATION TRENDS NORTHEAST AND DIPS GENTLY NORTHWEST. THE STRIKE OF THE COUNTRY ROCK VARIES FROM NE TO NW, AND THE DIP, WHICH IS GENERALLY TO THE SOUTH, VARIES FROM ABOUT 12 TO 45 DEGREES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1895
Discoverer Mr. Wells And Mr. Miller
Year of first production 1895

Mining district

District name Powhatan Area

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Jacob Van Doren
  • Type Owner
    Owner James M. Purcell

Comments on the production information

  • NO PRODUCTION FIGURES AVAILABLE, BUT MORE THAN 25 TONS OF MINE-RUN MICA WAS OBTAINED DURING THE SPRING OF 1944, OF WHICH 2 TO 3 PERCENT WAS TRIMMED PUNCH AND SHEET MATERIAL.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SOME MICA STILL IS PRESENT.

Comments on the workings information

  • THE EARLIEST WORKINGS CONSISTED OF A SMALL PIT ABOUT 2.4 M (8 FT) DEEP AND A SHAFT 5.5 M (18 FT) OR MORE IN DEPTH. IN 1944, THE VA. MANGANESE CORP. DEEPENED THE PIT TO 5.2 M (17 FT) AND LENGTHENED IT TO 7.6 M (25 FT) TO INCLUDE THE OLD SHAFT. THEY THEN EXCAVATED WESTWARD BY TUNNEL AND OPEN CUT FOR A DISTANCE OF 29 M (95 FT) ALONG THE SOUTH WALL OF THE DIKE AND DROVE TWO TUNNELS TO THE NORTH WALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE INITIAL PIT. THEY ALSO DUG 3 CROSSCUTS ACROSS THE DIKE. THE DEEPEST WORK WAS 15 M (50 FT) WEST OF THE INITIAL PIT IN AN OPENCUT 11 M (36 FT) DEEP. THIS SECOND PIT WAS 18 M (60 FT) LONG AND 3 M (10 FT) WIDE WHEN THE VIRGINIA MANGANESE CORP. CLOSED OPERATIONS. VAN DOREN ENLARGED THE CUT ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE DIKE AND OPENED A NEW CUT ALONG THE NORTH SIDE. HE THEN DUG A TUNNEL ALONG THE NORTH WALL OF THE DIKE AT THE 4.6 M (15 FT) LEVEL NORTHWEST OF THE INITIAL PIT; A 6 M (20 FT) SHAFT (EXTENDING 16 M (53 FT) BELOW GROUND LEVEL) FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SOUTH CUT
  • AT A PLACE ABOUT 21 M (70 FT) WEST OF THIS PIT; AND TWO DRIFTS, ONE EXTENDING 14 M (45 FT) WESTWARD AT THE 13 M (42 FT) LEVEL AND THE OTHER 3.7 M (12 FT) EASTWARD FROM THE BOTTOM OF THIS SHAFT.

Comments on development

  • MINE WAS OPENED IN 1895 BY WELLS AND MILLER, OF RICHMOND, AND WERE WORKED IN 1905 BY A MR. STRATER. A LITTLE EXPLORATION WAS DONE IN 1942 BY W.W. HOWE, AND DURING THE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER OF 1944 THE MINE WAS OPERATED BY THE VIRGINIA MANGANESE CORP., OF RICHMOND. JACOB VAN DOREN TOOK OVER OPERATIONS FROM JULY TO DECEMBER 1944. PRODUCTION OF SHEET AND PUNCH MICA DURING THE PERIOD MARCH-DECEMBER 1944 WAS VERY LARGE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BROWN, W.R., 1962, MICA AND FELDSPAR DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT 3, 195 P.

  • Deposit

    GRIFFITTS, JAHNS, AND LEMKE, 1953, MICA DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN PIEDMONT, PART 4, OUTLYING DEPOSITS IN VIRGINIA, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROF. PAPER 248-C, PP. 171-202.

  • Deposit

    DIETRICH, R.V., 1970, MINERALS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, RESEARCH DIVISION BULLETIN 47, WILLIAMS PRINTING CO., RICHMOND, VA., 325 P.

  • Deposit

    MITCHELL, R.S., 1965, VIRGINIA METAMICT MINERALS: COMMENTS ON A URANIUM-NIOBIUM OXIDE FROM POWHATAN COUNTY, SOUTHEASTERN GEOLOGY, VOL. 6, NO. 2, PP. 79-85.

  • Deposit

    1895 DIREXPL WELLS AND MILLER-OPENED MINE

  • Deposit

    1905 DIREXPL MR. STRATER-OPERATED MINE

  • Deposit

    1942 DIREXPL W.W. HOWE-EXPLORATION OF SITE

  • Deposit

    1944 DIREXPL JACOB VAN DOREN-CONTINUED EXPANSION, MINED

  • Deposit

    1944 DIREXPL VIRGINIA MANGANESE CORP. - EXPANDED WORKINGS, MINED

  • Production

    BROWN (1962)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE MAIN BODY OF THE PEGMATITE IS DISCORDANT TO THE FOLIATION OF THE COUNTRY ROCK, ALTHOUGH NUMEROUS STRINGERS AND OFFSHOOTS PENETRATE ALONG THE FOLIA. THE PEGMATITE HAS A QUARTZ CORE UP TO 3.7 M (12 FT) THICK, THAT EXTENDS THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH OF THE DIKE. SOME PERTHITE AND BIOTITE OCCUR WITHIN THE QUARTZ. THE CORE IS SURROUNDED BY A WALL-ZONE AGGREGATE OF KAOLINIZED PLAGIOCLASE, INTERSTITIAL QUARTZ, AND LARGE MICA BOOKS. THE PLAGIOCLASE COARSENS INWARD FROM THE WALLS AND BECOMES VERY COARSE GRAINED ALONG THE CORE. SOME FRIABLE PERTHITE OCCURS WITHIN THE WALL ZONE. THE THIN BORDER ZONE CONSISTS OF FINE-GRAINED PLAGIOCLASE AND QUARTZ. MICA HAS BEEN RECOVERED CHIEFLY FROM THE OUTER PART OF THE WALL ZONES.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1981 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-DEC-1987 Sweet, Palmer C. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site