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Bishop Mine

Past Producer in Smyth county in Virginia, United States with commodities Iron, Manganese
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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. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Land status
  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 10105428
MRDS ID VA01736
Record type Site
Current site name Bishop Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.43704, 36.79286 (WGS84)
Elevation 701
Relative position AT FIRST MAJOR FORK OF BISHOP BRANCH OF THE WOLSTON, WITHIN HOLLOW FORMED BY BRUSHY MTN, SHEEP, AND HICKORY RIDGES.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Smyth(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Atkins(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wytheville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Holston(hydrologic unit)

French Broad-Holston(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Tennessee(hydrologic subregion)

Tennessee(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Jefferson National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

George Washington and Jefferson National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Smyth

Comments on the location information

  • 9550 FT. N50W OF JCT. SR 16 & 601 IN SUGAR GROVE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Manganese Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hematite Ore
Limonite Ore
Psilomelane Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Shady
    Rock description Shady
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.43704, 36.79286
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 2.74M

Comments on the geologic information

  • NO OUTCROPS AT MINE SITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1901
Year of first production 1917
Year of last production 1920

Mining district

District name Pulaski-Smyth District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner U.S. Forest Service

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 152.4M
    Overall width 274.32M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS IN 1917 CONSISTED OF: (STOSE) AN IRREGULAR PIT 100' LONG, 50' WIDE, 40' HIGHWALL; ALSO A HOLE 50' DEEP, LOCATED 600 FT N OF PIT (NOT WORKED). AREA NOW RECLAIMED BY FOREST SERVICE IN THE 1970'S. WORKED DURING THE 1940'S TO PRESENT SIZE.

Comments on development

  • MINOR EXPLORATION OCCURED BEFORE MAJOR DEVELOPMENT IN 1917 (STOSE). IN 1917, WORKING WAS WITH PICK AND SHOVEL. MATERIAL PLACED IN WOODEN CARTS AND PULLED BY CABLE TO DUMPING PLATFORM. HERE IT WAS FED ONTO A DOUBLE LOG WASHER ("BUDDLE" (ASHLIN)). THE WASHED ORE WAS THEN PLACED IN A TROMMEL AND OVERSIZED PIECES HAND REMOVED. WATER WAS SUPPLIED VIA FLUME FROM BISHOP BRANCH.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    STOSE, G.W., MISER, H.D., KATZ, F.J., AND HEWETT, D.F., 1919, MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF THE WEST FOOT OF THE BLUE RIDGE, VIRGINIA: VGS, BULLETIN 17, P. 150-152.

  • Deposit

    MILLER, RALPH L., 1944, GEOLOGY AND MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF THE GLADE MTN. DISTRICT: VGS, BULLETIN 61, P. 127-130.

  • Deposit

    LEE ASHLIN, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, 1988, SUGAR GROVE.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MINE IS LOCATED IN MIDDLE OF THE SHADY.
Deposit ANALYSID FROM BISHOP MINE (STOSE, 1919): MN 47.89%, FE 5.14%, F 0.156%, SIO2 4.12% ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV; 5 PERS COMM

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1988 Wilkes, Gerald P. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

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