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Phifer Mine

Past Producer in Union county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Gold, Lead, Zinc, Copper
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  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 10102383
MRDS ID K005250
Record type Site
Current site name Phifer Mine
Alternate or previous names Phifer Or Price Gold Mine
Related records 10199882

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.69424, 35.04233 (WGS84)
Relative position APPROXIMATELY 3 MI. SOUTH OF INDIAN TRAIL AND 9 MI. NORTHWEST OF MONROE.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Union(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Matthews(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Charlotte(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charlotte(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Catawba(hydrologic unit)

Santee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Edisto-Santee(hydrologic subregion)

South Atlantic-Gulf(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Union

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION APPROXIMATE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Copper Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • COARSE NATIVE GOLD OF LOW QUALITY IN QUARTZ VEINLETS AND VEINS FROM 0.3M TO 2M THICK IN BEDDED ARGILLITE SHEARED TO SERICITE PHYLLITE NEAR THE VEINS; SOME SILICIFIED PHYLLITE NEAR VEINS; WORKINGS IN MINE AREA CONSIST OF SHALLOW SHAFTS AS MUCH AS 34M DEEP, AND TRENCHES, ALONG RIDGE CREST FOR 134M; REGIONAL FOLIATION STRIKE IS N 20 TO 45 DEGREES E AND DIP IS NEARLY VERTICAL; GOLD OCCURS IN NARROW PARALLEL SEAMS LESS THAN 5 CM IN THICKNESS WITH LIMONITE AND WAD ABOVE THE WATER TABLE, FRESH SULFIDES BELOW; WATER TABLE IN AREA USUALLY 13M TO 17M BELOW SURFACE; COUNTRY ROCK VERY PYRIFEROUS, AS MUCH AS ONE OR TWO PERCENT, AND CONTAIN GALENA; DIABASE DIKES NOTICED IN MINE WORKINGS; MINE IN GOLD-BEARING ZONE OF DISCONTINUOUS SHEARS 5 KM LONG AND 0.8 KM WIDE, TRNEDING NORTHEAST, THAT WAS MINED IN MANY PLACES TO SHALLOW DEPTH FOR RICH NATIVE GOLD POCKETS; LEWIS GOLD MINE ADJOINS PHIFER GOLD MINE TO NORTH, AND ORE HILL GOLD MINE NEARLY ADJOINS PHIFER GOLD MINE TO SOUTH

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Sericite Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Argillite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.69424, 35.04233
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES IN SILCICEOUS ZONE
    Length 122M
    Width 30M
    Depth to bottom 24M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Quartz Veins

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE MINE WAS OPENED IN QUARTZ VEINS ASSOCIATED WITH SILICEOUS ZONES. THE VEINS ARE MILKY QUARTZ WHICH IS IRON STAINED AND CONTAIN VUGS LINED WITH MANGANESE OXIDE. SHEARED PHYLLITE CROSSCUT BY VEINLETS OF QUARTZ FORMS THE COUNTRY ROCK ADJACENT TO THE QUARTZ VEINS AND SILICEOUS MATERIAL. TINY CUBES OF PYRITE ARE PRESENT IN THE SILICEOUS MATERIAL. GALENA, SPHALERITE AND CHALCOPYRITE HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Year of first production 1885

Mining district

District name Carolina Slate Belt

Comments on the production information

  • ORE VOLUME, ORE GRADE, AND GOLD RECOVERY UNKNOWN

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 30M
    Overall length 109.73M
    Overall width 30M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE WORKINGS CONSIST OF DENSELY SPACED PITS AND SHALLOW SHAFTS UP TO 35 FT. DEEP. MANY OF THE PITS ARE SO CLOSELY SPACED THAT THEY CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CARPENTER, P. A., 1976, METALLIC MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE CAROLINA SLATE BELT, NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA MINERAL RESOURCES BULL. 84, 166 P.

  • Deposit

    PARDEE, J. T., AND PARK, C. F., JR., 1948, GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT: U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROF PAPER 213, 156 P.

  • Deposit

    NITZE, H.B.C., 1896, GOLD DEPOSITS OF NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. NO. 3, 200P.

  • Production

    CARPENTER, 1976

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FLAT QUARTZ VEINS CUT OFF PRODUCTIVE ZONE
Deposit MOORE HILL GROUP
Deposit Discovery Year: 1880'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1976 D'Agostino, John P. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 01-DEC-1976 Mcdaniel, Ronald D. North Carolina Division of Land Resources
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.

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