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Vinegar Hill Mine

Past Producer in Jo Daviess county in Illinois, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Ownership information
  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 10086203
MRDS ID W800059
Record type Site
Current site name Vinegar Hill Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -90.41594, 42.49584 (WGS84)
Relative position 6 MI N OF GALENA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Jo Daviess(county)

Illinois(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Galena(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dubuque South(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Dubuque(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Apple-Plum(hydrologic unit)

Upper Mississippi-Maquoketa-Plum(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Mississippi-Maquoketa-Plum(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Mississippi(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Illinois Jo Daviess

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
29N 1E 21 NE OF SW Illinois

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE ORE IS HIGH-GRADE SPHALERITE WITH SMALL QUNATITIES OF GALENA AND A VERY LITTLE IRON SULFIDE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Leaching, Silicification, Dolomitization

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 224
USGS model code 32a
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, S.E. Missouri Pb-Zn
Mark3 model number 42

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Prosser Cherty Member;Spechts Ferry Member
    Rock description Prosser Cherty Member;Spechts Ferry Member

Nearby scientific data

(1) -90.41594, 42.49584
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Southeast Of Wisconsin Dome And On The Gentle West Limb Of Wisconsin Arch. To The South Is Illinois Basin And To The West And Southwest Is Forest City Basin. A Few Minles South O Fthe Zinc-Lead District Is Westward-Trending Savanna-Sabula Anticline. Regional Strike Is N 85 W And The Dip Is South.
Type of structure Local
Structure description On The Same Syncline That Contains The Northwestern, Vinegar Hill, South Unity, Hughlett And Gray, And North Unity Mines.

Ore body information

  • General form FOLDED

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ORE BODY HAD A TOTAL LENGTH OF 1,200 FT A WIDTH OF 150 TO 350 FT AND A THICKNESS OF AS MUCH AS 100 FT. THE PROSSER CHERTY MEMBER IS PART OF THE GALENA DOLOMITE, AND THE SPECHTS FERRY MEMBER IS PART OF THE DECORAH FM.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1905
Discoverer W.N. Smith And Mark Newman
Year of first production 1908
Year of last production 1914

Mining district

District name Upper Mississippi Valley

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Vinegar Hill Mining Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Virtue And O'Rourke

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings SHAFT
    Overall depth 60.96M
    Overall length 304.8M
    Overall width 76.2M

Comments on the workings information

  • ABOUT 600 TO 700 GALLONS PER MINUTE WAS PUMPED AND USED IN THE JIG. SOME OF THE STOPES WERE 100 FT HIGH

Comments on development

  • THE DEPOSIT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE WORKED OUT. ; ECON.COM: ORE WAS MINED FROM 1908 TO 1914 AT A LARGE PROFIT. A 100-TON JIG WAS INSTALLED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HEYL, A.V., AGNEW, A.F., LYONS, E.J., AND BEHRE, C.H., JR., 1959, THE GEOLOGY OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ZINC-LEAD DISTRICT: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 309, 310 P.

  • Deposit

    COX, G.H., 1914, LEAD AND ZINC DEPOSITS OF NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: ILLINOIS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 21, 120 P.

  • Deposit

    WILLMAN, H.B., REYNOLDS, R.R., AND HERBERT, PAUL, JR., 1946, GEOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PROSPECTING AND AREAS FOR PROSPECTING IN THE ZINC-LEAD DISTRICT OF NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS: ILLINOIS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS, NO. 116, 48 P.

  • Production

    HEYL AND OTHERS, 1959, 183.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ZINC-LEAD DISTRICT LIES WITHIN THE SO-CALLED DRIFTLESS AREA WHERE NO MANTLE OF GLACIAL DRIFT IS PRESENT TO OBSCURE THE ROCK EXPOSURES. NATURAL CAVES ARE COMMON IN THE DISTRICT.
Deposit VINEGAR HILL IS ONE OF THE OLDER, IMPORTANT, RICH ZINC MINES IN ILLINOIS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1994 Hedgman, Cheryl (Cannon, W.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAY-1996 Sutphin, David M. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 01-MAY-1997 Mason Jr., G.T. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Maps centered on this site