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Henderlite Mine

Past Producer in Smyth county in Virginia, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, Copper, Fluorine-Fluorite, Calcium, 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. 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 10080175
MRDS ID W031269
Record type Site
Current site name Henderlite Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.4601, 36.85507 (WGS84)
Elevation 716
Relative position 3.35 MILES NORTHEAST 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

Atkins(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

  • .65 MILES EAST OF MT. CARMEL CURCH, 2100 FEET S 73 DEG E FROM BENCH MARK G 375 AT THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 689 AND US HIGHWAY 11, 1200 FEET EAST OF HUTTON BRANCH. WORKINGS EXTEND OVER A LARGE (1500' STRIKE LENGTH) AREA. UTM COORDINATES AND ELEVATION FROM CENTRAL POINT OF WORKINGS. FIELD EXAMINATION CONDUCTED 5/14/86. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1986)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical Secondary
Calcium Secondary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE PROPERTY WAS APPARENTLY WORKED FOR BOTH BARITE AND COPPER.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Calcite Unknown
Fluorite Unknown

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Clay Residuum;Beekmantown Formation
    Rock description Clay Residuum;Beekmantown Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.4601, 36.85507
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, Walker Mountain Thrust Block. Ne-Sw Trending Thrust Fault System
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults, Mcmullen Syncline, Seven Springs Fault, Marion Dome. Mine Lies Approximately 1400 Feet North Of The Seven Springs Thrust Fault.

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Length 457.2M
    Width 60.96M
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Veins, Residual Clay

Comments on the geologic information

  • EVIDENCE OF FAULTING IN THE WORKINGS IS LACKING, BUT THE FRACTURES ARE PROBABLY GENETICALLY RELATED WITH THE THRUST FAULT SOUTH OF THE DEPOSIT. FLUORITE COMPRISES UP TO 20% OF THE VEINS. REGIONAL GEOLOGY FROM BUTTS (1933). SUGARY DOLOMITE JUST SOUTH OF THE WORKINGS STRIKE N 70 DEG E AND DIP 20 DEG S.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1880
Discoverer G.G. Goodell?
Year of first production 1880
Year of last production 1906

Mining district

District name Smyth County Barite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Mc Neil, O.

Comments on the production information

  • BARITE PRODUCTION UNKNOWN. ONE CAR OF COPPER ORE WAS MINED FROM A SHAFT.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ALL COMMERCIAL OCCURRENCES OF BARITE ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED BY THE EXTENSIVE MINING.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 4.047HA
    Overall depth 0M
    Overall length 457.2M
    Overall width 60.96M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF OPEN CUTS, RANGING FROM A FEW FEET TO 100 FT (30.5M) IN LENGTH AND AVERAGING ABOUT 20 FT (6.1 M) IN DEPTH, AND AT LEAST ONE SHAFT, DIMENSIONS UNKNOWN. THEY ARE CLOSELY SPACED OVER AN AREA OF ABOUT 10 ACRES, EXTENDING S 70 DEG W FOR 1500 FT (457 M). FIELD EXAMINATION CONDUCTED 5/14/86. THE WORKINGS ARE PARTIALLY FILLED WITH ROCK DEBRIS AND GROWN OVER. EXCELLENT SAMPLES OF BARITE CLUSTERS, WITH FLOURITE, CALCITE AND MINOR SULFIDES WERE FOUND ON THE SMALL DUMPS ALONG THE EDGE OF THE OPEN CUTS.

Comments on development

  • MINING STARTED MOST PROBABLY SOMETIME BETWEEN 1875 AND 1885. WORKINGS CONSISTED OF OPEN CUTS AND AT LEAST ONE SHAFT. BARITE WAS FIRST MINERAL MINED, COPPER ORE WAS A SIDE PRODUCT. BARITE WAS PRIMARILY MINED FROM THE RESIDUAL CLAY. COPPER ORE IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN RECOVERED FROM A SHAFT NEAR THE NORTHEASTERN END OF THE HENDERLITE ESTATE. MCNEIL (PERSONAL COMMUNICATION) STATED THAT AN EXPLORATION COMPANY FROM NORTH CAROLINA (COULD NOT REMEMBER THE COMPANY'S NAME) DRILLED 5 CORE HOLES IN 1979 OR 1980. THE LOCATION OF THE CORE AND RESULTS OF THE DRILLING WAS NOT KNOWN.

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 IN VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA GEOLOGIC SURVEY BULLETIN 42.

  • Deposit

    MCNEIL, O., PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, 1986.

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL ? - DUG OPEN CUTS, MINE

  • Production

    EDMUNDSON (1938)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS PROPERTY WAS THE MOST EXTENSIVELY WORKED OF THE BARITE DEPOSITS NORTHEAST OF MORTON, AND ONE OF THE BEST FOR COLLECTING BARITE WITH FLUORITE AND CALCITE IN THE SMYTH COUNTY BARITE BELT. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV; 5 PERS COMM
Deposit BARITE OCCURS AS IRREGULAR FRAGMENTS IN RESIDUAL CLAY AND AS VEINS AND REPLACEMENT MASSES IN BEDROCK. THE BEDROCK CONSISTS OF WELL FRACTURED DOLOMITE, THE FRACTURES ARE FILLED WITH BARITE AND ASSOCIATED MINERALS. THE DOLOMITE OCCURS AS PINNACLES IN MOST OF THE WORKINGS. THE DOLOMITE STRIKES N 80 DEG E AND DIPS 30 DEG SE.
Deposit Discovery Year: 1875 TO 1885

Reporter information

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

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