Gap Creek Mine

Past Producer in Ashe county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Copper, Gold, Silver
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  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 10088540
MRDS ID K003525
Record type Site
Current site name Gap Creek Mine
Alternate or previous names Copper Knob Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.49538, 36.27703 (WGS84)
Relative position BELOW THE HIGHWAY, 0.75 MILE SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST OF HEWED LOG GAP, AND 0.5 MILE NORTHEAST OF JUNCTION OF IDLEWILD ROAD WITH US 221.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Ashe(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Glendale Springs(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Boone(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 North Carolina Ashe

Comments on the location information

  • THE ADIT TRENDS SOUTHEAST, AND ITS ENTRANCE IS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE IDLEWILD ROAD; ADIT TRENDS UNDER THE ROAD.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Silver Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Gold Ore
Limonite Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore

Analytical data

Result NITZE AND HANNA (1896) GIVE THE FOLLOWING: GOLD, PER TON $8.62 TO $77.51
Result SILVER, PER TON $2.26 TO $45.68
Result COPPER RANGED FROM 23.83% TO 37.44%.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Amphibolite
    Rock unit name Amphibolite, Garnet Amphibolite, And Hornblende Gneiss Interlayered With Biotite-Muscovite Gneiss And Mica Schist. Associated Lithologies Include More-Widespread Finely Laminated Gneiss Composed Of Fine-Grained, Quartzo-Feldspathic Layers A Few Millimeters Thick, Separated By Thin Micaceous Partings
    Rock description Amphibolite, Garnet Amphibolite, And Hornblende Gneiss Interlayered With Biotite-Muscovite Gneiss And Mica Schist. Associated Lithologies Include More-Widespread Finely Laminated Gneiss Composed Of Fine-Grained, Quartzo-Feldspathic Layers A Few Millimete

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.49538, 36.27703

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Country Rock Trends Northeastward

Ore body information

  • General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 35 W
    Dip 45 N
    Thickness 0.91M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zone Or Fissure

Comments on the geologic information

  • SULFIDES OCCUPIED THE CENTRAL PART OF THE QUARTZ VEIN, ACCORDING TO NITZE AND HANNA (1896). THE SULFIDE ZONE REPORTEDLY RANGED FROM 4 TO 6 INCHES IN THICKNESS. PYRITE IS PRESENT ONLY IN TRACE AMOUNTS. WEATHERED PARTS OF THE VEIN WERE CHARACTERIZED BY AN ABUNDANCE OF LIMONITE, WHICH WAS "...EXTRAORDINARILY RICH IN GOLD." SOME OF THE VEIN QUARTZ CONTAINS ABUNDANT MALACHITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discoverer Copper Knob Mining Company
Year of first production 1857
Year of last production 1912
Production years 1880-1885; 1912

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Chauncey And James P. Moore
  • Type Owner
    Owner Virgil Moretz, Lessor; Chauncey And James P. Moore

Comments on the production information

  • ONE CARLOAD OF ORE WAS REPORTEDLY SHIPPED BY THE MONATION MINING COMPANY AROUND 1915.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 45.72M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE VEIN REPORTEDLY IS AS MUCH AS 3 FT THICK, BUT WITH A TENDENCY TOWARD PINCHING OUT. THE COUNTRY ROCK HAS A STRIKE OF N 60 E AND A DIP OF 40 S. TWO OTHER VEINS OCCUR ON THE PROPERTY, BUT NEITHER HAS BEEN WORKED. THE SHAFT IS AT LEAST 150 FT DEEP. ONE OF THE DRIFTS INTERSECTED THE SHAFT AT THE 50-FOOT LEVEL. THE OTHER DRIFT IS BETWEEN 200 AND 300 FT LONG AND INTERSECTED THE SHAFT AT THE 100-FOOT LEVEL.

Comments on development

  • FIRST OPENED AS A GOLD MINE IN 1856. THE MINE WAS FIRST WORKED FOR COPPER ABOUT 1885 BY THE COPPER KNOB MINING COMPANY, WITH THE ORE BEING HAULED TO MARION, VIRGINIA. ABOUT 1912, A MR. AMES OF SALISBURG, N.C. PUT IN TWO DRIFTS. A FEW YEARS LATER, THE MONATION MINING COMPANY OF NEW YORK APPARENTLY HAD CONTROL OF THE MINE. THE STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT HAS CRUSHED SOME OF THE ROCK FOR ROAD METAL. AFTER WW II, THE LAND WAS OWNED BY VIRGIL MORETZ.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    NITZE, H.B.C., AND HANNA, G.B., 1896, GOLD DEPOSITS OF NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 3, P. 180-181.

  • Deposit

    TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, (N.D.), GAP CREEK OR COPPER KNOB MINE REPORT: KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, MINERAL RESOURCES SECTION, GEOLOGIC BRANCH.

  • Deposit

    1896 COMPILE NITZE, H.B.C., AND HANNA, G.B., P. 180-181

  • Production

    OPEN-FILE REPORT, MINERAL RESOURCES SECTION, GEOLOGIC BRANCH, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, KNOXVILLE.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit RANKIN, ESPENSHADE, AND NEUMAN (1972) CONSIDER THE LOCAL FORMATIONS AS PRECAMBRIAN AND (OR) CAMBRIAN IN AGE, AND YOUNGER THAN THE ASHE FORMATION (OF PRECAMBRIAN AGE). THE HOST ROCK IS EQUIVALENT TO PARTS OF THE ROAN AND CAROLINA GNEISSES OF KEITH (1903).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1975 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1992 Klein, T.L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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