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Tom Wright Barite Mine

Past Producer in Pittsylvania county in Virginia, United States with commodity Barium-Barite
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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 10080199
MRDS ID W031299
Record type Site
Current site name Tom Wright Barite Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.51587, 36.96535 (WGS84)
Elevation 244
Relative position 1.33 MILE ENE (N58E) OF ROUTE 40 AT SANDY LEVEL.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pittsylvania(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Sandy Level(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

  • 0.75 MILE FROM JNC. OF R. 752 (R. 751 ON 1965 TOPOGRAPHIC MAP) WITH ROUTE 949, 94 FEET FROM SIGN: END OF STATE MAINTENANCE. WORKINGS MOSTLY TO SW OF R. 752 (TREND N35E). ONE PIT 50 FEET NORTH OF 752 IN PLOWED FIELD (MOSTLY FILLED). PITS START JUST EAST OF TELEPHONE LINE CUT.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • PRODUCTION FIGURES UNKNOWN. PROBABLY SMALLER THAN MANY NEARBY MINES.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Marble Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Quartzite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Mt. Athos Member, Alligator Back, Lynchburg Group
    Rock description Mt. Athos Member, Alligator Back, Lynchburg Group
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.51587, 36.96535
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Bowens Creek Fault
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faulting?

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES, PODS
    Strike N 35 DEG E
    Dip PROBABLY SE
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Stratabound In Rift Related Metal Rich Hydrothermal Brines; Later Tectonic Imprint And Metamorphism.

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 1897
Year of last production 1925

Mining district

District name James River-Roanoke River Manganese-Iron-Barite District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner James W. Shelton, Chatham, Virginia

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Length 60.96M
    Overall depth 6.1M

Comments on the workings information

  • APPARENTLY NO UNDERGROUND WORK WAS DONE (J. SHELTON, PERSON. COMMUN.) JUST A SERIES OF SHALLOW PITS. LINE OF PITS SW OF R. 753 (OLD 751) 200 FEET LONG, N35E TREND; ONE PIT 10 FEET DEEP, 15 FEET WIDE, MOST OF PITS ARE FILLED IN.

Comments on development

  • MINE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN OPENED IN THE LATE 1800'S. NO DESCRIPTION OF WORKINGS OR AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION IS KNOWN. SHALLOW PITS WERE WORKED OUT THEN A NEW PIT OPENED ON STRIKE. NO EVIDENCE OF LARGE OPEN CUT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL ? - MINED BARIT

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Discovery Year: LATE 1800'S?
Deposit SCARCE FLOAT OF LAMINATED SILTSTONE AND BARITE AND GRAY LAMINATED QUARTZITE WITH BEDDED BARITE WAS NOTED.
Deposit LOCATION IN LITERATURE (WATSON, 1907, P. 313) MISLEADING BECAUSE SANDY LEVEL USED TO BE ALONG NOW ABANDONED RAILROAD. SANDY LEVEL IS NOW 0.5 MILE FARTHER SOUTH ON ROUTE 40. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

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

Maps centered on this site