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Delton Zinc and Iron Mines

Past Producer in Pulaski county in Virginia, United States with commodities Zinc, Iron, Lead
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080211
MRDS ID W031314
Record type Site
Current site name Delton Zinc and Iron Mines
Alternate or previous names Clark's Bank Mines, Arbuckle Mine.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.74341, 36.95063 (WGS84)
Elevation 628
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position 0.85 MI NW OF ALLISONIA, 0.15 MILE WEST OF ROUTE 663., Acc Midway Between Two Adjacent Large Pits.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pulaski(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hiwassee(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Galax(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

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

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper New(hydrologic unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kanawha(hydrologic subregion)

Ohio(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Pulaski

Comments on the location information

  • REACHED BE FARM TRACK IN MEADOW WEST FROM ROUTE 653 FOR 0.3 MILE TRACK ENDS, PITS ARE 0.1 MI FARTHER IN WOODS. FARM TRACK IS ABOUT 0.5 MILES SOUTH OF JUNCTION WITH R. 609 ON 653 AND LEADS SW FROM FARM GATE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Iron Primary
Lead Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • 8000 TONS OF ZINC ORE 1902-1903 40 % ZN 0.5% PB 5% FE PRODUCTION OF FE UNKNOWN. PRODUCTION IN 1940'S UNKNOWN. DEPOSIT WORKED FOR OXIDIZED ORES; FRESH ROCK SHOWED LITTLE SULFIDE MATERIAL.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Hemimorphite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Goethite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation Of Most Of Pb And Zn Sulfides

Analytical data

Result FE 52.5%
Result 40% ZN, 0.5% PB, 5% FE (1902-1903)
Result IN 1898 3.12 TONS OF ROCK YIELD 1 TON CONCENTRATE, ASSAYED AT 48% ZN, 16% PB. 10 TONS OF ROCK YIELD 2.45 TONS CONCENTRATE, ASSAYED AT 40.52% ZN, 16.05 PB, 2.75% FE, 20.54 S, 1.8 OZ. AG PER TON.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 228
USGS model code 32b
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, Appalachian Zn
Mark3 model number 42

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Shady Formation;Rome Formation (Nearby Dominant Formation)
    Rock description Shady Formation;Rome Formation (Nearby Dominant Formation)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.74341, 36.95063
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, Hiwassee (Laswell) Fault, Powhatan Thrust
Type of structure Local
Structure description Part Of Nnw Trending Delton Tranverse Fault

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Strike N 85 DEG W, N 30 DEG. W
    Dip 32 DEG NE, 50 DEG. NE
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures And Brecciation, Meteoric Water Circulation; Originally Metal-Rich Brines.

Comments on the geologic information

  • DOLOMITE IS DARK GRAY, VERY FINE GRAINED, GENERALLY EVEN BEDDED, HAS BLOCKY WEATHERING AND IS HIGHLY FRACTURED IN PLACES. OTHER ZONES ARE 2-3 FEET THICK WITH VUGS OF OXIDIZED ORE. BROWN STALACTITIC VUGGY, PISOLITIC HEMIMORPHITE WITH GOETHITE AND BARITE COLLECTED FROM VEINS IN UMBER DURING 1987 VISIT.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Year of first production 1885
Year of last production 1945

Mining district

District name Austinville Lead Zinc Iron District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner C. H. Smith, Jr. And M. R. Bruin

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 182.88M
    Overall depth 30.48M
    Overall length 182.88M
    Overall width 91.44M

Comments on the workings information

  • TWO LARGE PITS 80-100 FT DEEP, SHAFTS AND DRIFTS WERE RUN FROM THE SIDES AND BOTTOMS OF THE PITS. PITS ARE NOW FILLED WITH MATURE TREES (PINE, TULIP). THERE IS NO WATER IN PITS EXCEPT DURING HEAVY RAINS.

Comments on development

  • MINE OPERTATED FRO IRON PRIOR TO 1887; BERTHA MINERAL CO. MINED FOR ZINC 1902-1903; MINE OPERATED DURING 1940'S, PRODUCTION THEN WAS SMALL, NOT KNOW. SEPARATION AND CONCENTRATION DONE AT DELTON (NO LONGER SHOWN ON TOPOGRAPHIC MAP) AND SMELTING WAS DONE AT PULASKI. ; ECON.COM: SEPARATING AND CONCENTRATING MILL LOCATED AT DELTON SMELTING WAS ACCOMPLISHED AT PULASKI.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CURRIER, L.W., 1935, ZINC AND LEAD REGION OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 43, 122 P.

  • Deposit

    LUTTRELL, G.W., 1966, BASE- AND PRECIOUS-METAL AND RELATED ORE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT 7, 167 P.

  • Deposit

    MCCREATH, A.S., AND D'INVILLIERS, E.V., 1887, THE NEW RIVER - CRIPPLE CREEK MINERAL REGION OF VIRGINIA: HARRISBURG, PA., HARRISBURG PUBLISHING CO., 171 P.

  • Deposit

    WATSON, T.L., 1907, MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA: LYNCHBURG, VA., J.P. BELL, 618 P.

  • Deposit

    MCDOWELL, R.C., 1968, STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY OF THE MACKS MOUNTAIN AREA, VIRGINIA: P.H.D. DISSERTATION, VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 144 P.

  • Deposit

    1902 DIREXPL BERTHA MINERAL CO.: OPERATED FOR ZINC.

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL MINE OPERATED FOR IRON PRIOR TO 1887.

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL OPERATED IN 1940'S.

  • Production

    WATSON (1907, P. 449, 531)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Discovery Year: 1880'S (?)
Deposit LITHOLOGY IS THAT OF SHADY FORMATION BUT AREA WAS MAPPED AS ROME FORMATION BY MCDOWELL (1968). MAY BE WINDOW IN VERY THIN LOW ANGLE ALLOCHONOUS SHEET. WOULD APPEAR TO BE COEVAL WITH STRATABOUND AUSTINVILLE ZINC LEAD DEPOSITS. DISSEMINATED PYRRITE WAS SOURCE OF "UMBER" ORIGINALLY WORKED FOR IRON. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV
Deposit ONLY CLAY ZONE WAS MINED FOR IRON AND OXIDIZED ZONE MINED FOR ZINC. STRIKES AND DIPS ARE FOR BEDS EAST AND WEST, RESPECTIVELY, OF LOCAL FAULT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-80 Meintzer, Robert E. (Sweet, P. C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-OCT-87 Good, Richard S. 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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