Unnamed Talc Prospect

Occurrence in Swain county in North Carolina, United States with commodity Talc-Soapstone
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. Mining district
  14. Ownership information
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10091883
MRDS ID K002642
Record type Site
Current site name Unnamed Talc Prospect
Related records 10199727

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.65795, 35.30094 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.3 MILE SOUTHWEST OF MOUTH OF MUDCAT BRANCH

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Swain(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hewitt(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Little Tennessee(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Nantahala National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Croatan National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

National Forests in North Carolina(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Swain

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Talc-Soapstone Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Talc Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Metadiorite; Precambrian; Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn (1948, P. 15) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphism
    Rock description Metadiorite; Precambrian; Dark-Green, Locally Porphyritic, Pyroxenite And Amphibolite. Van Horn (1948, P. 15) Terms These Rocks Metadiorite Because He Considers Them To Be Metamorphosed Diorites That Have Lost Their Feldspar And Quartz Through Metamorphi
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.65795, 35.30094

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northeast-Trending Strike Belts Defining A Major Syncline

Ore body information

  • General form LENS

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fracture Zones; Bedding

Comments on the geologic information

  • CORE DRILLING REVEALED A NORMAL SEQUENCE OF BLUE, GRAY, MOTTLED, WHITE, MIXED, AND SLATY MARBLE. ONLY A FEW ODD FRAGMENTS OF TALC WERE RECOVERED. THE CHIEF VARIATION FROM THE NORMAL MARBLE ZONATION WAS WIDELY DISTRIBUTED CHLORITE AND PINK MARBLE BANDS. IT IS REPORTED (ACCORDING TO VAN HORN, 1948) THAT SEVERAL POCKETS OF TALC WERE ENCOUNTERED IN THE ADIT, AND THAT TALC WAS OBSERVED ON THE OLD DUMPS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1945
Discoverer Nantahala Talc And Limestone Company

Mining district

District name Murphy Marble Belt

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Nantahala Talc And Limestone Co.

Comments on the workings information

  • SIX HOLES WERE DRILLED IN THE MURPHY MARBLE FORMATION, BUT CORE RECOVERY WAS POOR AND DID NOT PROVIDE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE LOCAL GEOLOGY. A 70-FOOT ADIT GOES INTO THE HILL ABOUT 100 FEET UPSLOPE FROM THE DRILL HOLES.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: DRILL HOLE DATA SUGGESTS THAT TALC DEPOSITS ARE UNECONOMIC.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE WHITE, FINE-GRAINED, DOLOMITIC MARBLE ZONE WHICH LOCALLY CONTAINS TALC DEPOSITS IS AT THE APPROXIMATE STRATIGRAPHIC CENTER OF THE FORMATION (VAN HORN, 1948).
Deposit Discovery Year: 1940'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1974 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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