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Carson Kaolin and Feldspar Mines

Past Producer in Swain county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Kaolin, Feldspar
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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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10102331
MRDS ID K002491
Record type Site
Current site name Carson Kaolin and Feldspar Mines
Alternate or previous names Hill Mine
Related records 10223626

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -83.44822, 35.45816 (WGS84)
Relative position 2,900 FEET WEST OF DEEP CREEK CHURCH.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Swain(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bryson City(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fontana Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Knoxville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Tuckasegee(hydrologic unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Swain

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Kaolin Primary
Feldspar Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Feldspar Ore
Kaolinite Ore
Biotite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Thulite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Partial Alteration Of Plagioclase To Kaolinite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Granite Gneiss;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Border Gneiss, Microcline Porphyroblasts In A Medium-To Coarse-Grained Matrix Of Biotite, Quartz, & Feldspar
    Rock description Granite Gneiss;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Prec Mpal 1050-320 M.Y.;Border Gneiss, Microcline Porphyroblasts In A Medium-To Coarse-Grained Matrix Of Biotite, Quartz, & Feldspar
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -83.44822, 35.45816
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Principal Zone Of Pegmatites Trends Northeast; Most Pegmatites Strike Northeast, But A Few Strike Northwest.

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Plunge 20
    Plunge direction SW

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures, Dilation Zones (Cameron, 1951)

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE PROPERTY INCLUDES TWO PEGMATITE BODIES. THE NORTHERN PEGMATITE LIES ALONG THE CONTACT OF METASEDIMENTARY ROCKS WITH BORDER GNEISS, AND OCCUPIES A SERIES OF INTERCONNECTING FRACTURES RELATED TO A FLEXURE OF THE CONTACT. DIPS VARY BUT GENERALLY ARE STEEP. THE NORTHERN PEGMATITE HAS BEEN WORKED AT THREE PLACES AND IS BEST EXPOSED IN CUT #3 WHERE IT SHOWS DISTINCT ZONING. THE PLAGIOCLASE IS KAOLINIZED TO VARYING DEGREES IN THE THREE CUTS. THE SOUTHERN PEGMATITE APPEARS TO BE AN EXTREMELY IRREGULAR PIPE WITH OFFSHOOTS EXTENDING INTO THE BORDER GNEISS ALONG SEVERAL SETS OF INTERCONNECTING FRACTURES. IT IS WITHIN THE BORDER GNEISS. SIX ASYMMETRICALLY ZONES COMPRISE THE PEGMATITE: A BORDER ZONE OF FINE-GRAINED PLAGIOCLASE AND QUARTZ WITH SUBORDINATE PERTHITE, BIOTITE, AND MAGNETITE; A WALL ZONE OF BLOCKY PLAGIOCLASE WITH SUBORDINATE QUARTZ, PERTHITE, BIOTITE, AND MAGNETITE; A UNIT OF VERY COARSE-GRAINED MIXED PLAGIOCLASE, QUARTZ, AND PERTHITE WITH MINOR BIOTITE AND GARNET; A MIDDLE
  • INTERMEDIATE ZONE (WHICH IS A UNIQUE LITHOLOGIC TYPE ACCORDING TO CAMERON, 1951) OF TRUE GRAPHIC INTERGROWTHS OF QUARTZ WITH WHITE PLAGIOCLASE AND PINK PERTHITE WITH SPRAY-LIKE PATTERNS OF BIOTITE; AN INNER INTERMEDIATE ZONE OF VERY COARSE CRYSTALS OF MASSIVE PLAGIOCLASE AND PERTHITE WITH SUBORDINATE INTERSTITIAL QUARTZ AND SCATTERED BIOTITE, GARNET, PYRITE, AND COATINGS OF THULITE (?); A CORE OF IRREGULAR AND PERHAPS DISCONTINUOUS QUARTZ WITH SCATTERED PLAGIOCLASE CRYSTALS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1910
Production years 1910, 1941 TO 1949

Mining district

District name Bryson City Feldspar District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Whitehall Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Harris Clay Co.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION RECORDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE OR INCOMPLETE. TONNAGES GIVEN ARE POST-1944. PRODUCED KAOLINITE.

Comments on the workings information

  • THE PRINCIPAL WORKINGS ARE 4 OPEN CUTS HAVING AN AGGREGATE LENGTH OF 430 FEET. MAXIMUM DEPTH FOR THE FOUR PITS IS 75 FEET. TWO PEGMATITES ARE EXPOSED ON THE PROPERTY, AND MAY BE CONNECTED AT DEPTH. THE NORTHERN BODY IS OVAL IN PLAN, AND THE SOUTHERN ONE IS VERY IRREGULAR, WITH NUMEROUS OFF SHOOTS.

Comments on development

  • THE HARRIS CLAY COMPANY ORIGINALLY WORKED PROPERTY FOR KAOLIN ABOUT 1910. W.J. ALEXANDER AND OSCAR PITTMAN PROSPECTED AND OPERATED THE PROPERTY FOR FELDSPAR IN 1941 AND 1942. THE WHITEHALL COMPANY LEASED AND WORKED THE MINE FOR 4 MONTHS IN 1943, AND SUBLEASED THE MINE TO OSCAR PITTMAN WHO WORKED IT IN 1943 AND 1944. UNITED FELDSPAR AND MINERAL CORPORATION WORKED THE MINE IN 1944 ON PITTMAN'S SUBLEASE. IN LATE 1945 AND 1946, THE BLUE RIDGE MINING COMPANY MINED THE DEPOSIT ON SUBLEASE FROM THE WHITEHALL COMPANY, WHICH TOOK OVER THE MINE IN MID-1946 AND WORKED IT UNTIL EARLY 1949. ; ECON.COM: RESERVES OF COMMERCIAL FELDSPAR DEPEND ON THE DOWNPLUNGE EXTENT OF THE TWO PRODUCTIVE ZONES; EXPLORATORY DATA NOT AVAILABLE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CAMERON, E.N., 1951, FELDSPAR DEPOSITS OF THE BRYSON CITY DISTRICT, NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA DIV. MINERAL RESOURCES BULL. 62, 100 P

  • Deposit

    1951 OTHER CAMERON, E.N., N.C. BULL. 6

  • Production

    CAMERON, E.N., 1951, N.C. DIV. MIN. RES. BULL. 62

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COMMERCIAL FELDSPAR HAS BEEN PRODUCED FROM THE MIDDLE AND INNER INTERMEDIATE ZONES, THE FORMER YIELDING NO. 2 FELDSPAR, AND THE LATTER MIXED SODA-POTASH FELDSPAR OF NO. 1 GRADE. THE GRAPHIC GRANITE OF THE MIDDLE INTERMEDIATE ZONE IS SATISFACTORY FOR THE GLASS TRADE.

Reporter information

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

Beyond USGS

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

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