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Riverville Cliff Iron Mine

Past Producer in Amherst county in Virginia, United States with commodity 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. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Land status
  13. Ownership information
  14. Workings at the site
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10082511
MRDS ID W055352
Record type Site
Current site name Riverville Cliff Iron Mine
Alternate or previous names Dover Riverville, Cliff Iron Mine, Adams Scott Iron Mine, Mundy

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.89474, 37.53756 (WGS84)
Elevation 189
Relative position 0.85 MI N OF RIVERVILLE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Amherst(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Buffalo Ridge(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillwyn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle James-Buffalo(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Amherst

Comments on the location information

  • JUST SW OF WORLEY'S JUNKYARD IN WOODS, 30-50 FT SE OF RT 622; FROM JUNCTION OF 622 AND 600 AT ST. JAMES CHURCH MINES ARE 1 MI NE OF JUNCTION ALONG RT 622 AND TO RIGHT (SE) OF ROAD. MINE LOCATED IN WOODS.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • MAX FE 67.8%, LOWEST 52.3% FE; AV. PHOSPORUS WAS 0.03% P BAO WAS 1.1 TO 2.1% (SEE FURCRON, 1935, P.94 FOR ANALYSIS).

Analytical data

Result AV. OF 18 SAMPLES FROM RIVERVILLE MINES (KIMBALL, 1881) WAS 61.9% FE AND 0.09

Host and associated rocks

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

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Smith River Allocthon

Ore body information

  • General form LENSOID, BANDED CONFORMABLY
    Strike N 30 E
    Dip 75 NW TO 80 SE; MOST NEAR VERT.
    Thickness 0.61M
    Length 297.18M
  • General form LENSOID, BANDED CONFORMABLY
    Strike N 30 E
    Dip 75 NW TO 80 SE; MOST NEAR VERT.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE MT. ATHOS QUARTZITE APPEARS TO BE TIGHTLY AND COMPLETELY FOLDED.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1880
Year of first production 1880
Year of last production 1881

Mining district

District name James River Roanoke River Mn, Iron And Ba District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Mineral Rights Said To Belong To The Mundy Estate.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 47.85M
    Overall length 297.18M

Comments on the workings information

  • THERE ARE AT LEAST 5 PITS IN A TREND LINE N 30 E. THE FIRST JUST SW (100 FT) OF JUNKYARD. ONE PIT (15-20 FT) CONTAINS A 5 FT ADIT-TREND N 30 E TO A DEPTH OF 50 FT AND IS TIMBERED AND ACCESSIBLE, INCLINATION NEAR VERTICAL.

Comments on development

  • ADAMS SCOTT AND COMPANY AND DOVER MINING COMPANY COMBINED ORE FROM THIS AND 3 OTHER MINES AND SHIPPED BETWEEN 50-75 TONS OF ORE PER DAY TO A FURNACE IN LYNCHBURG (FURCRON, 1935); CENTRAL VIRGINIA IRON COMPANY WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN MINING. IN 1880 (FURCRON, P.83) COMBINED OUTPUT FROM RIVERVILLE AND NEARBY STAPLETON AND GREENWALD MINES WAS ABOUT 150 TONS DAILY OF HIGH GRADE ORE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR BESSAMER STEEL.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ESPENSHADE, G.H., 1954, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE JAMES RIVER - ROANOKE RIVER MANGANESE DISTRICT, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 1008, 155P. (P.140-141, PL.2)

  • Deposit

    FURCRON, A.S., 1935, JAMES RIVER IRON AND MARBLE BELT, VIRGINIA. VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 39, 124P. (P.90-91).

  • Deposit

    KIMBALL, J.P., 1881, THE GREENWAY IRON ORE BELT OF THE JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA: THE VIRGINIA'S VOL. 2, NO. 1, P.2-5, JANUARY.

  • Deposit

    CONLEY, J.F., 1985, GEOLOGY OF THE SW PIEDMONT, VIRGINIA DIV. OF MINERAL RESOURCES PUBLICATION 59, 33P. (GENERAL GEOLOGY).

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SPECULAR HEMATITE IN QUARTZITE ORE ZONE 2 FT SOME ORE IN 1-5 CM FE RICH LAYERS WITH MICACEOUS CLAY AND LEACHED CALCAREOUS QUARTZITE LAYERS HANGING WALL CONGLOMERATIC QUARTZITE WITH BLUE QUARTZ CLASTS, FOOTWALL MICA SCHIST.
Deposit A STANDARD GAUGE RAILROAD WAS BUILT FROM THE CANAL WHARF AT RIVERVILLE AND SERVED THIS MINE AND 3 OTHERS TO THE W OF THE JAMES RIVER; ESPENSHADE (1954) NOTED MORE THAN 50 MINE WORKINGS IN 1.5 MILE VICINITY OF RIVERVILLE. IN JUNE 1880 150 MEN WERE WORKING IN THE 4 MINES IN THE AREA INCLUDING THIS ONE. THEY WERE KNOWN AS "RIVERVILLE MINES." ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-87 AS 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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