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Elizabeth Mine

Past Producer in Orange county in Vermont, United States with commodities Copper, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Nickel, Cobalt, Sulfur, Sulfuric Acid
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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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  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 10081194
MRDS ID W033070
Record type Site
Current site name Elizabeth Mine
Alternate or previous names Elizabethtown, Cleavland Mine, Foster Mine (North Pit), South Mine (South Pit)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -72.33754, 43.81941 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 10000(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Orange(county)

Vermont(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

South Strafford(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Rutland(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Glens Falls(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Ammonoosuc River-Connecticut River(hydrologic unit)

Upper Connecticut(hydrologic accounting unit)

Connecticut(hydrologic subregion)

New England(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Vermont Orange

Comments on the location information

  • Geodetic coordinates taken between North and South pits. Traveling east on 132, take right fork 0.25 miles east of South Stafford. At next fork, take left and continue on to mine.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Silver Secondary
Gold Secondary
Nickel Critical Tertiary
Cobalt Critical Tertiary
Sulfur, Sulfuric Acid Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Some pyrrhotite was shipped to Phelps-Dodge Company in New York for sulfuric acid production.
  • Calcined pyrrhotite carries 0.11% cobalt.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Garnet Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Phlogopite Gangue
Tourmaline Gangue
Tremolite Gangue
Pyrite Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) Premetamorphic Hydrothermal Alteration; Regional Metamorphism

Analytical data

Result TOTAL PRODUCTION PER TON
Result 1.8% CU
Result 0.5% ZN
Result .16 OZ AG
Result .01 OZ AU

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 91
USGS model code 24b
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits)
Mark3 model number 30

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock
    Rock unit name Gile Mountain Formation
    Rock description Gile Mountain Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock
    Rock unit name Waits River Formation
    Rock description Waits River Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Meta-Basalt
    Rock unit name Standing Pond Volcanics
    Rock description Standing Pond Volcanics
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -72.33754, 43.81941
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description North trending, north plunging Elizabeth syncline

Ore body information

  • General form BLANKET, TABULAR, PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 5 E
    Dip 60 TO 90
    Plunge 12 AVERAGE
    Plunge direction N
    Thickness 21.34M
    Length 3474.72M
    Width 182.88M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 274.32M

Comments on the ore body information

  • The Elizabeth deposit comprises a north-trending layer of zone of nearly continuous massive sulfide that extends over a total strike length of 3.4 km. The south end of the deposit was the site of the old South mine. Mining followed the northward plunging ore body underground to a depth of about 300 m. Ore occurred in a single layer or locally in two layers of differing thickness that dipped 70 degrees or more eastward. The sulfide layer reportedly thickened in four ore shoots or rolls that plunge 20 degrees N. The lowest shoot surfaced at the old South mine; the highest ore shoot surfaced at the north end of the north pit. From Slack et al. (1993).

Comments on the geologic information

  • Large ore body, plunging at a low angle, of solid pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite plus disseminations in schist and amphibolite. Ore shoots follow thrust fault trend. Massive sulfide at Elizabeth occurs exclusively in the Gile Mountain Formation, characterized by variable graphitic and quartzose granofels [metagraywacke], with lesser micaceous quartzite, calcareous pelite, hornblende schist, and amphibolite (Slack et al., 1993). Massive sulfide is stratabound and stratiform with more than 50% sulfide. Slack et al. (1993) states that the sulfide deposits of Vermont copper belt , including the Elizabeth deposit, formed on or near the seafloor coeval with local clastic sedimentation and mafic volcanism. Geochemical data supports a largely syngenetic, exhalative origin for sulfide deposition.
  • Ore Body Is Everywhere Associated With A Hornblende-Rich Rock (Annis, 1984), Noted In Earlier Publications As Amphibolite.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1793
Year of first production 1809
Year of last production 1958

Mining district

District name Orange County Copper District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Appalachian Sulphides, Ltd. ; Vermont Copper Co.
    First year 1958
  • Type Owner
    Owner Pat Mines Inc., Toronto, Ontario Canada, Gerald Harper 416 362-6683

Production statistics

  • Year 1868
    Period 1854-1868
    Material copper
    Ore mined 580mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Copper Copper 3wt-pct
  • Year 1870
    Material copper
    Ore mined 42mt
  • Year 1872
    Material copper
    Ore mined 536mt
  • Year 1876
    Material copper
    Ore mined 2680mt
  • Year 1880
    Material copper
    Ore mined 893mt
  • Year 1882
    Material copper
    Ore mined 161mt
  • Year 1892
    Period 1889-1892
    Material copper
    Ore mined 1340mt
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major copper Copper Copper 3wt-pct
  • Year 1918
    Material copper
    Ore mined 134mt
  • Year 1925
    Material ore
    Ore mined 20000mt
  • Year 1930
    Period 1929-1930
    Material copper ore
    Ore mined 60000mt
  • Year 1950
    Period 1943-1950
    Material copper concentrate
    Ore mined 26800mt
  • Year 1951
    Material copper concentrate
    Ore mined 3390mt
  • Year 1952
    Material copper concentrate
    Ore mined 3440mt

Comments on the production information

  • Production data from Howard (1969) and White and Eric (1944). Three percent copper grade an estimate.
  • First mined for iron in 1793, but production effort failed due to high sulfur content of ore. Mined for copperas in 1809 and copper in 1830.
  • Total production per ton: 1.8% Cu, 0.5% Zn, 16 oz Ag, 0.01 oz Au.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 7.228HA
    Length 3352.8M
    Overall depth 274.32M
    Overall length 3352.8M
    Overall width 22.86M

Comments on the workings information

  • The dimensions of surface and underground working are: 3.35 km in length and about 23 m in width. Total overall area of the working is: 76,645 meters. The width of the workings is an average of the open pits, which are wider than 23 meters, and the underground workings which, in general, are probably narrower than this figure.

Comments on development

  • FIRST MINED FOR IRON IN 1793 BUT PRODUCTION EFFORT FAILED DUE TO HIGH SULFUR CONTENT OF ORE. MINED FOR COPPERAS IN 1809 AND COPPER IN 1830.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Thickness of ore is highly variable. Workings are concentrated in the vicinity of folds which have thickened the ore zone. Deposit shape is tabular, pinch and swell.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1972 Coury, Anny B. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-JAN-1983 Whitlow, S. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-JUN-1982 McBean, Alan J. (Ratte, Charles A.) Vermont Agency of Environmental Conservation
Updater 01-APR-1986 McBean, A.J. (Ratte, C.A.) Vermont Agency of Environmental Conservation
Editor 14-NOV-2003 Woodruff, Laurel G. U.S. Geological Survey Work done in Filemaker

Beyond USGS

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

External references

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