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Myers - L. Copenhaver Mine

Past Producer in Smyth county in Virginia, United States with commodities Barium-Barite, Zinc, Fluorine-Fluorite, Sulfur-Pyrite
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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. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10106184
MRDS ID W031272
Record type Site
Current site name Myers - L. Copenhaver Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.59344, 36.84036 (WGS84)
Elevation 671
Relative position 6.5 KM (4 MI) WEST OF MARION. UPDATE: 4.2 MILES NORTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN MARION.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Smyth(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Marion(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)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Smyth

Comments on the location information

  • 240 M (787 FT) SW FROM THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROADS 645 AND 658. ABOUT 0.8 KM (0.5 MI) NORTH OF MT. ZION CHURCH IN THE WASSUM VALLEY. 30 M (100 FT) EAST OF THE WASSUM VALLEY ROAD AND EXTENDING S70E. UPDATE: UTM COORDINATES LOCATE THE MAIN WORKINGS (LARGEST OPEN CUT AND PORTAL TO UNDERGROUND WORKINGS) AT THE WESTERN END OF THE PROPERTY, BUT SURFACE WORKINGS EXTEND ABOUT .25 MILES TO THE SOUTHEAST. MAIN WORKINGS ARE 2500 FEET N 2 DEGREES W FROM MT. ZION CHURCH, 700' S 48 DEGREES W FROM THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 658 AND 645, 500 FEET EAST OF WASSUM CREEK. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1986)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical Tertiary
Sulfur-Pyrite Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Fluorite Unknown

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Beekmantown Formation
    Rock description Beekmantown Formation;Clay Residuum
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite

Nearby scientific data

(1) Conococheague Formation
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne-Sw Trend, Walker Mountain Thrust Block
Type of structure Local
Structure description Marion Dome, Faulting, Mcmullen Syncline, Seven Springs Fault

Ore body information

  • General form LENSE, PINCH AND SWELL, IRREGULAR
    Strike S 70 DEG E
    Dip 30 DEG SW (?)
    Length 762M
    Width 91.44M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 12M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Veins/Shear Zone, Clay Residuum

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE HOST ROCKS CONSIST OF LIMESTONE OVERLAIN BY DOLOMITE. THE BARITE OCCURS MOSTLY IN THE LIMESTONE AND THE LOWER 30 M (100 FT) OF DOLOMITE. REGIONAL GEOLOGY FROM C. BUTTS (1933), B. COOPER (1936) AND B. FRENCH (1967).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Discoverer Myers - L. Copenhaver
Year of first production 1875

Mining district

District name Smyth County Barite Belt

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Myers- L. Copenhaver
  • Type Owner
    Owner M. M. Myers And R. L. Meek - L. Copenhaver

Comments on the production information

  • EXTENSIVE MINING HAS PROBABLY EXHAUSTED ALL OF THE LARGE DEPOSIT, BUT IT IS THOUGHT THAT SMALL QUANTITIES OF HIGH-GRADE RESIDUAL BARITE COULD BE RECOVERED FROM THE OLD WORKINGS BY HAND METHODS.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 2.024HA
    Length 45.72M
    Overall depth 12.19M
    Overall length 762M
    Overall width 91.44M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF AN OPEN ADIT, AND SURFACE TRENCHES, PITS, AND OPEN CUTS WHICH BEGIN ABOUT 100 FEET EAST OF WASSUM CREEK AND STATE ROAD 645 AND EXTEND S 70 DEG 3 TO S 60 DEG E APPROXIMATELY 2500 FEET WITHIN A 100 TO 300 FEET ZONE. OPEN CUTS UP TO 400 FEET LONG, 100 FEET WIDE AND 40 FEET DEEP. MANY OF THE SURFACE TRENCHES AND PITS ARE NOW PARTIALLY FILLED WITH ROCK DEBRIS AND TRASH, AND GROWN OVER. ADIT AT WEST END OF MINE IS OPEN AND DRY AND IN RELATIVELY GOOD CONDITION. FIELD EXAMINATION 10/8/85 AND 10/9/85.

Comments on development

  • MINING OF THIS DEPOSIT APPARENTLY OCCURRED BETWEEN 1875 AND 1885. A MILL LOCATED IN MARION AND ANOTHER OPERATED BY G.G. GOODELL AND H.P. COPENHAVER PROBABLY HANDLED THE BARITE MINED. MINING APPARENTLY WAS DONE BY MYERS AND L. COPENHAVER ON A SMALL SCALE. TRENCHES, PITS, AND OPEN CUTS WERE DUG DURING THE PRODUCTION PERIOD. ROLAND F. BEERS, INC. CORE DRILLED THE MINE IN 1959 WITH ASSISTANCE FROM THE OFFICE OF MINERALS EXPLORATION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    EDMUNDSON, R.S., 1938, BARITE DEPOSITS OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 53, 85 P.

  • Deposit

    YOUNG, R.S., AND WEDOW, H., 1962, GEOLOGIC SETTING OF THE MYERS ZINC PROSPECT, SMYTH COUNTY, VIRGINIA (ABS): GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA SPECIAL PAPER 68, P. 82.

  • Deposit

    BUTTS, CHARLES, 1933, GEOLOGY MAP OF THE APPLACHIAN VALLEY IN VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 42.

  • Deposit

    FRENCH, B. 1967, THE GEOLOGY OF THE MARION DOME, V.P.I MASTERS THESIS (UNPUBLISHED).

  • Deposit

    1959 DIREXPL ROLAND F. BEERS, INC. - CORE DRILLING

  • Deposit

    DIREXPL MYERS - L. COPENHAVER-BARITE PRODUCTION

  • Production

    EDMUNDSON (1938)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE OCCURS AS IRREGULAR FRAGMENTS IN RESIDUAL CLAY AND AS VEINS AND REPLACEMENT MASSES IN BEDROCK. THE BEDROCK IS LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE. SOME BARITE FRAGMENTS ARE OVER 0.25 M (0.8 FT) WIDE. SURFACE WORKING SCATTERED OVER A 2500 FEET BY 300 FEET AREA TRENDING S 70 DEGREE 3. MOST BARITE VEINS SEEN ARE MASSIVE CLUSTERS LESS THAN 1 FOOT THICK. EXACT SIZE (LENGTH AND WIDTH) COULD NOT BE DETERMINED.
Deposit THIS WAS THE MOST EXTENSIVELY WORKED DEPOSIT IN SMYTH COUNTY. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV; 5 PERS COMM; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1980 Trimble, David C. (Sweet, Palmer C.) Virginia Division of Mineral Resources
Updater 01-SEP-1987 Lovett, James A. 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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