Cornett-Hull Mines

Past Producer in Smyth county in Virginia, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, Fluorine-Fluorite, Calcium
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. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080172
MRDS ID W031265
Record type Site
Current site name Cornett-Hull Mines

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.54983, 36.81675 (WGS84)
Relative position 1.8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN MARION.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Smyth(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Marion(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wytheville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

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

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Holston(hydrologic unit)

French Broad-Holston(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Smyth

Comments on the location information

  • UTM COORDINATES AND ELEVATION LOCATE CENTER OF WORKINGS. THE WORKINGS EXTEND ALONG THE RIDGE FOR 4900 FEET, TRENDING N 65 DEG E, AND RANGE IN ELEVATION FROM 2160 TO 2450 FEET. THE CENTER OF THE WORKINGS IS 4950 FEET S 48 DEG W FROM BENCH MARK BM L 375, 4550 FEET S 86 DEG E, 3500 FEET S43W OF THE INTERSECTION OF US ROUTE 11 AND COUNTY ROAD 760, 1500 FEET SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 11.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical Tertiary
Calcium Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Calcite Ore
Fluorite Ore
Dolomite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Beekmantown Formation
    Rock description Beekmantown;Residual Clay And Soil

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.54983, 36.81675

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trending Thrust Faults
Type of structure Local
Structure description The Mine Is Located Southeast Of The Marion Dome, Approximately 1000 Feet Northwest Of The Seven Springs Thrust Fault, And 100 To 300 Feet Southeast Of An Unnamed Thrust Fault.

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR. LENSE, PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 65 DEG 3
    Dip 40-45 DEG SE
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures In The Bedrock

Comments on the geologic information

  • BEEKMANTOWN FORMATION IN THIS BELT IS HIGHLY FRACTURED DOLOMITE. REGIONAL GEOLOGY FROM C. BUTTS (1933), B. COOPER (1936) AND B. FRENCH (1967).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1875
Year of last production 1906

Mining district

District name Smyth County Barite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Cornett-Hull?
  • Type Owner
    Owner W. M. Hull, Jr, C. O. Gordon, E. H. Warren

Comments on the production information

  • AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION IS UNKNOWN.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • IT IS THOUGHT THAT CONSIDERABLE QUANTITIES OF BARITE STILL EXISTS IN THE BEDROCK, BUT THE COST OF RECOVERY IS PROBABLY PROHIBITIVE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall length 1524M
    Overall width 22.86M

Comments on the workings information

  • EDMUNDSON (1938) REPORTED THE WORKINGS CONSISTED OF OPEN CUTS, SHAFTS AND TRNECHES FOR ABOUT 1 MILE EXTENDING ALONG THE RIDGE TOP. THE LARGER OPENINGS WERE ABOUT 100 FEET LONG, 75 FEET WIDE, AND 40 FEET DEEP. NO DIMENSIONS OR DEPTH OF THE SHAFTS WERE GIVEN. THIS WAS ONE OF THE LARGER WORKINGS IN SMYTH CUNTY. FIELD EXAMINATION WAS CONDUCTED 11/21/85. WORKINGS INCLUDED LARGE PITS, TRENCHES, AND DUMPS OVER A 4900 FEET AREA TRENDING N 65 DEG E. THE WORKINGS ARE PARTIALLY FILLED AND GROWN OVER.

Comments on development

  • MINING BEGAN IN THE AREA IN 1875 AND MOST MINING WAS STOPPED BY 1885 SO THIS MINE PROBABLY WAS OPENED DURING THIS TIME. MINE EXTENDS ALONG A RIDGE FOR ABOUT ONE MILE AND WAS WORKED BY OPEN CUTS AND SHAFTS. BARITE WAS MILLED LOCALLY, EITHER IN MARION AT THE "MARION BARYTES WORKS" OR AT A SMALL MILL OPERATED BY GOODELL AND H.P. COPENHAVER. AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION IS UNKNOWN. EDMUNDSON (1938) REPORTED THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST EXTENSIVE BARITE OPERATIONS IN SMYTH COUNTY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, BARITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 53, 85 P.

  • Deposit

    BUTTS, CHARLES, 1933, GEOLOGY MAP OF THE APPALACHIAN VALLEY OF VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 42.

  • Deposit

    COOPER, B.N., 1936, STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURE OF THE MARION AREA, VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 46-L.

  • Deposit

    FRENCH, B.E., 1967, THE GEOLOGY OF THE MARION DOME, V.P.I., MASTERS THESIS (UNPUBLISHED).

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL ? - DUG PITS, TRENCHES, MINE

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit AS STATED BY EDMUNDSON (1938), THE BARITE OCCURS AS VEINS AND REPLACEMENT MASSES IN A BELT OF HIGHLY FRACTURED DOLOMITE. DEFINITE VEIN SYSTEMS WERE NOT IDENTIFIED AND THE MINERALIZAITON MOST LIKELY OCCUPIES AN IRREGULAR FRACTURE ZONE. BARITE ALSO OCCURS AS IRREGULAR FRAGMENTS IN THE OVERLYING CLAY AND SOIL.
Deposit EDMUNDSON (1938) STATED THIS WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST BARITE OPERATIONS IN SMYTH COUNTY. HE ALSO STATED CONSIDERABLE RESERVES OF BARITE REMAIN IN THE BEDROCK, BUT THE EXPENSE IN RECOVERY WOULD MAKE MINING UNPROFITABLE. THE RESIDUAL BARITE WAS LARGELEY EXHAUSTED. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-OCT-1987 Lovett, James A. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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