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Falling Cliff Mine

Past Producer in Wythe county in Virginia, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead, Silver, Iron
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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 10080250
MRDS ID W031357
Record type Site
Current site name Falling Cliff Mine
Alternate or previous names Forney's Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.81924, 36.90174 (WGS84)
Elevation 692
Relative position .5 MI EAST OF BERTHA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Wythe(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fosters Falls(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 Wythe

Comments on the location information

  • ABOUT 500 FT NW OF DIRT ROAD SHOWN ON TOPOGRAPHIC MAP, NW OF JNC WITH STATE ROAD 608, 0.2 MI NE OF JUNCTION WITH STATE ROAD 621. PITS ARE BULLDOZED AND PROPERTY IS NOW PART OF BERTHA FARMS WITH SMALL FIVE ACRE LOTS. WITH STATE ROAD 621. THIS PIT IS PROBABLY AROUND THE CENTER OF THE MINE PROPERTY.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Secondary
Silver Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hemimorphite Ore
Hydrozincite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Goethite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Sphalerite Oxidized To Hemimorphite, Minor Smithsonite, Dolomite.

Analytical data

Result LUMP ORE: 47.578% ZN, 0.198% PB (MCCREATH AND D'INVILLIERS, 1887, P. 58).

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 Dolomite, Austinville (New Jersey Zinc)-Saccharoidal Member (Usgs)
    Rock description Shady Dolomite, Austinville (New Jersey Zinc)-Saccharoidal Member (Usgs)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.81924, 36.90174
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trending Multiple, Imbricate Thrust Faults, Galena Synclinal Basin, Holston Mountain Fault
Type of structure Local
Structure description Hematite Mountain Overthrust

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR, PINNACLE DOMINATED
    Thickness 5M
    Depth to bottom 24.4M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Hot Brines, Stratabound And Following Bracturing, Brecciation And Collapse.

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

Mining district

District name Cripple Creek - New River

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Paul Holston, Bertha Farms (H And H Properties )
    Home office Pulaski, Va
  • Type Operator
    Owner New Jersey Zinc Co. (Now Gulf And Western Industries)
  • Type Operator
    Owner Forney, D. S.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 24.4M

Comments on the workings information

  • TWO OR THREE SHALLOW PITS WERE DUG AND SEVERAL SHAFTS AND TUNNELS WERE DRIVEN.

Comments on development

  • TWO OR THREE SHALLOW PITS WERE DUG AND SEVERAL SHAFTS AND TUNNELS WERE DRIVEN. LAND NOW PART OF BERTHA FARMS (WHICH IS BROKEN UP INTO PRIVATELY DEVELOPED LOTS OF 5 ACRES. THERE WERE NO BUILDINGS AT TIME OF VISIT AND NO IMPROVEMENT EXCEPT ACCESS TRACKS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

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

    DEWEY, F.P., 1882, NOTE ON THE FALLING CLIFF MINE: AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS, TRANSACTIONS, V. 10, P. 111-112.

  • Deposit

    NEUMAN, R.B., 1975, MISC. GEOL. INVEST. MAP I-709-B.

  • Deposit

    1934 GEOLMAP VA. GEOL. SURV.: ISSUED BULL. 43.

  • Deposit

    1975 OTHER R.B. NEUMAN: MISC. GEOL. INV. MAP I-709-B.

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL MINED FOR OXIDIZED ZN ORE.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PROPERTY CONSISTED OF 100 ACRES (40.5 HA) IN FEE AND 112 ACRES (45.4 HA) IN MINERAL RIGHTS. THE PROPERTY WAS PROBABLY ALSO MINED LATER FOR IRON. IN LATE 1970'S NEW JERSEY ZINC (NOW GULF AND WESTERN INDUSTRIES) DRILLED IN VICINITY OF OLD FALLING CREEK MINE TO 700 FEET DEPTH AND INTERSECTED 22 FEET OF 8% ZN, 0.8% PB AT 150-200 FEET BELOW SURFACE. AT 700 FEET 10 FEET OF 4.1%ZN, 0.2% PB IN RIBBON MEMBER OF SHADY DOLOMITE. E.L. WEINBERG, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, 1988, UNPUBLISHED DATA. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV; 5 PERS COMM
Deposit Discovery Year: 1880'S(?)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1980 Meintzer, Robert E. (Sweet, P. C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-APR-1988 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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