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Bennett Mine

Past Producer in Pittsylvania county in Virginia, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, 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. 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 10080193
MRDS ID W031291
Record type Site
Current site name Bennett Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.47393, 36.96035 (WGS84)
Elevation 207
Relative position 1.6 MILES SSW OF PITTSVILLE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pittsylvania(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Pittsville(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Danville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Greensboro(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Roanoke(hydrologic unit)

Roanoke(hydrologic accounting unit)

Chowan-Roanoke(hydrologic subregion)

South Atlantic-Gulf(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Pittsylvania

Comments on the location information

  • 300 FEET EAST OF ROUTE 773, 0.57 MI NORTH OF INTERSECTION WITH ROUTE 799 WHICH IS ABOUT 0.5 MILE NORTH OF ROUTE 40 AT BLAIRS STORE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • WATSON (1907) SAYS PRODUCTION WAS "LARGE", TONNAGE IS UNKNOWN. MARBLE FLOAT CONTAINS DISSEMINATED GRAINS OF METALLIC SULFIDES (MOSTLY PYRITE)

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pegmatite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Marble Has Been Largely Altered To Clay.

Analytical data

Result BLACK CLAY - AL - 4.96%, FE - 32.4%, MN - 19.49%, LIME - 2.06% MG - TRACE, BA - TRACE, CU - TRACE

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Mt Athos Marble Member Of Alligator Back Formation, Lynchburg Group
    Rock description Mt Athos Marble Member Of Alligator Back Formation, Lynchburg Group
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Mica Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.47393, 36.96035
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Marr (1984) Indicates Folded, Regional Ne Trending Fault Passing Through Deposit.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faulted, Ne Trending Fault With Down Thrown Block On Nw

Ore body information

  • General form LENSE
    Strike NE
    Dip SE
    Depth to bottom 36.58M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Probably Originally Metal Rich Brine Precipitation, Remobilized And Tectonized.

Comments on the geologic information

  • FRESH CUTS FROM 1976 EXPLORATION SHOW REDDISH SAPROLITIC CLAY WITH UNDULATING SUBHORIZONTAL QUARTZ VEINS FOLLOWING SCHISTOSITY. VEINS CONTAIN SCHOLRLITE AND SMOKY QUARTZ. DRILL LOGS OF DRESSER INDUSTRIES ON 1976 EXPLORATION WERE APPARENTLY LOST. MARBLE FLOAT CONTAINS PYRITE. MARR (1984) MAPPED BENNETT MINE IN FORK MOUNTAIN FORMATION WITHOUT INDICATING WINDOW TO UNDERLYING LYNCHBURG.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1880
Year of last production 1936

Mining district

District name Campbell-Pittsylvania Counties Barite Area

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Barium Mining Corp.
  • Type Owner
    Owner J. R. Bennett; Carl Bennett, Miner Rights.

Comments on the production information

  • STATES THAT FIVE GRADES OF BARITE ORE WERE MADE AND MARKETED. PRODUCTION WAS "LARGE", NO FIGURES AVAILABLE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 213.36M
    Overall depth 36.58M

Comments on the workings information

  • LARGEST OPEN CUT IS 700 FEET LONG 200 FEET WIDE, NOW FILLED WITH WATER. SAID TO BE 160-170 FEET DEEP BUT OLD ACCOUNTS SAY DEPTH IS 75 FEET. DEEPEST SHAFT WAS 120 FEET DEEP. THERE WERE SEVERAL SHAFTS AND ADITS; WASHER PLANT WAS SHARED WITH RAMSAY MINE ADJACENT ON STRIKE TO NE.

Comments on development

  • MINE WAS IN OPERATION 1880 TO 1906. REOPENED IN 1936. IN 1976 DRESSER INDUSTRIES, TEXAS PUT SIX DRILL HOLES (FALWELL DRILLING, LYNCHBURG) AND FOUND ADDIONAL BARITE. TONNAGE AND PRODUCTION COSTS NOT DEEMED COMPETITIVE FOR USE IN DRILLING MUDS. AND SHARED WITH THE RAMSAY MINE. THE AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION IS UNKNOWN BUT WATSON (1907) REPORTS IT WAS "LARGE". THE MINE WAS CLOSED SOMETIME AFTER 1936.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    SRC.REF: WATSON AND GRASTY (1915)

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    ECONOMIC GEOLOGY FILE: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, 1974.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L., 1907, SULPHATES, IN MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA: LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA, PP. 305-327.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L., AND GRASTY, J.S., BARITE OF THE APPALACHIAN STATES, IN TRANSACTIONS: AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS, VOL. 51, 1915, PP. 514-559.

  • Deposit

    CONLEY J.F., 1985, GEOLOGY OF THE SW PIEDMONT, VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 59, 33 P.

  • Deposit

    MARR, J.D., 1984, GEOLOGIC MAP OF PITTSYLVANIA AND CHATHAM QUADRANGLES, VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION NO. 49.

  • Deposit

    1880 DIREXPL ? - DUG SHAFTS, DRIFTS, AND OPEN CUTS, MINED.

  • Deposit

    1936 DIREXPL BARIUM MINING CORP. - REOPENED MINE AND MINED

  • Deposit

    1974 RECON VA. DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES - INSPECTED SITE

  • Production

    WATSON (1907)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE IS WHITE, MASSIVE GRANULAR, AND COARSELY CRYSTALLINE. IT OCCURS IN THE BLACK CLAY RESIDUUM OR UMBER DERIVED FROM MARBLE AND MICA SCHIST. MARBLE BED (MT. ATHOS) ABOUT 40 FT THICK OCCURS IN MIDDLE OF DEPOSIT WITH BLACK CLAY ABOVE AND BELOW. CLAY IS MANGANIFEROUS AND FERRUGINOUS (FE 32.4%,MN 19.49%, WATSON AND GRASTY (1915). NW WALL ARE MICA SCHISTS WITH PEGMATITES, SE WALL CHIEFLY RED CLAY.
Deposit MARR (1984) INDICATES THE BENNETT MINE AS BEING ON STRIKE WITH FERRUGINOUS QUARTZITES OF THE FORK MOUNTAIN FORMATION OF LATE PRECAMBRIAN TO EARLY PALEOSOIC AGE AND THAT BARITE WAS GENERATED IN FAULT ZONES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV
Deposit Discovery Year: 1870'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-SEP-1987 Good, Richard S. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

External references

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