1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Riverville Hematite Mines

Past Producer in Amherst county in Virginia, United States with commodity Iron
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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 10106397
MRDS ID W055354
Record type Site
Current site name Riverville Hematite Mines
Alternate or previous names Divestone Ridge Hematite Mines

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -78.9103, 37.53228 (WGS84)
Elevation 213
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position 0.25 MILE N OF ST. JAMES CHURCH (AT 600 AND 622 JUNCTION)., Acc Other Pits, Trenches Occur 0.8 Mi Ne Along Ridge.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Amherst(county)

Virginia(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Buffalo Ridge(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dillwyn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Roanoke(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle James-Buffalo(hydrologic unit)

James(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Chesapeake(hydrologic subregion)

Mid Atlantic(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Amherst

Comments on the location information

  • CAN BE REACHED BY WESTVACO LUMBER ROAD WITH PADLOCKED GATE 1900 FT NE OF ENTRANCE ON RT 600 WHICH IS 900 NW OF JUNCTION WITH 622. AMES TUNNEL IS 1 OF A NUMBER OF WORKINGS OF RIVERVILLE MINES ON DYESTONE RIDGE EXTENDING ALONG NW CREST (200 FT FROM TOP) NE FROM "AMES TUNNEL" FOR ABOUT 4000 FT TO "GARDENFIELD TUNNEL" NEAR NE END OF DYESTONE RIDGE ON NW SLOPE OF DYESTONE RIDGE, 1600 FT SW OF RT 601.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SEE GENERAL COMMENTS ON OTHER ANALYTICAL DATA.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hematite Ore
Magnetite Ore

Analytical data

Result AMES TUNNEL ANALYSIS: %FE: 37.22, 32.14, 38.88, 38.79, 48.51, 42.46
Result %P: 0.025 TO 0.11 (FRAZER, 1883).

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Mica Schist
    Rock unit name Mt Athos Member, Alligator Back Formation, Lynchburg Group
    Rock description Mt Athos Member, Alligator Back Formation, Lynchburg Group

Nearby scientific data

(1) -78.9103, 37.53228
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Smith River Allocthon

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES AND BANDED AND INTERBANDED IRON FORMATION

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Chemical Precipitation, Fracture Controlled In Submarine Rifting Environment.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1800
Year of last production 1883

Mining district

District name James River-Roanoke River Mn, Fe And Ba District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Dover Mining Co.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Westvaco Lumber Co.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Unknown
    Length 152.4M
    Overall depth 35.05M

Comments on the workings information

  • 3 SHAFTS ARE DESCRIBED FOR "AMES TUNNEL" AT DEPTHS OF 60, 115 AND 105 FT (BENTON, 1886) IT IS NOT CERTAIN WHETHER LOCATION IS THE SAME AS DESCRIBED HERE OR IS PART OF OTHER RIVERVILLE MINES. ONLY A 20 FT X 20 FT PIT IS PRESENT, LARGELY FILLED. FARTHER NE FOR 0.8 MILES ARE NUMEROUS PITS FILLED WITH BRUSH AND LEAVES, AND AT NE OF DYESTONE RIDGE ONE CUT 25X25 FT AND 15' DEEP ("GARDENFIELD TUNNEL.")

Comments on development

  • AMES TUNNEL DRIVEN ALONG "VEIN NO. 11" FOR 500 FT. WORKINGS OCCUR ALONG NW SIDE OF CREST OF DYESTONE RIDGE FOR 4000 FT NE TO "GARDENFIELD TUNNEL" AND WERE SERVICED BY A SPUR OF THE RAILROAD. MINES COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS "RIVERVILLE MINES." LOCATION GIVEN IS FOR 20X20 PIT, PRESUMABLY A SHAFT, MOSTLY FILLED IN, THE MOST SW PIT ON THE NE SIDE OF 622.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    FURCRON, A.S., 1935, JAMES RIVER IRON AND MARBLE BELT, VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 39, 124P. (PL.13, P.93-94).

  • Deposit

    ESPENSHADE, G.H., 1954, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE JAMES RIVER-ROANOKE RIVER MANGANESE DISTRICT, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 1008, 155P. (PL.2, P.140)

  • Deposit

    FRAZER, PERSIFOR, JR., 1883, THE IRON ORES OF THE MIDDLE JAMES RIVER, VA: AMER. INSTITUTE MIN. ENG. TRANS., VOL. 11, P.212.

  • Deposit

    BENTON, E.R., 1886, NOTES ON THE SAMPLES OF IRON ORE COLLECTED IN VIRGINIA: UNITED STATES TENTH CENSUS, VOL. 15, P.267-268.

  • Deposit

    GOOCH, E.O., 1954, IRON IN VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES CIRCULAR NO. 1, P.15.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 3 ORE VARIETIES: 1)MICACEOUS SPECULAR; 2)SPECULAR ORE WITH FINE CRYSTALS OF DISSEMATED MAGNETITE; 3)HIGH GRADE, HARD ("STEEL") HEMATITE ORE WITH BARITE
Deposit DATA FROM BENTON (1886): 1)ANALYSIS OF HEMATITE AND MAGNETITE FROM HEAD DRIFT - FE 48.47%, FEO 6.03%, FE2O3 62.35%, AL2O3 4.94 %, CAO 0.28%, MGO 0.37%, BAO 1.18%, K2O 0.99%, NA2O 0.14%, P2O5 0.24, TIO2 0.07%, INSOL. RESIDUE 28.53%, FES 0.32%, BASO4 1.32%, S 0.35%, SIO2 21.58%. 2) ANALYSIS OF HEMATITE AND MAGNETITE FROM FAUTHER END, BETWEEN SHAFTS NO 2 AND 3; ALSO SW OF SHAFT NO 3 - FE 54,88%, FEO 13.67%, FE2O3 63.01%, AL2O3 2.93%, CAO 0.73%, MGO 0.26%, BAO 2.11%, K2O 0.54%, NA2O 0.10%, P2O5 0.14%, TIO2 0.14%, INSOL RESIDUE 20.71%, FES 20.71%, BASO4 3.04%, S 0.58%, SIO2 14.00% ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 3 FIELD OBSERV
Deposit AMES TUNNEL
Deposit Discovery Year: 1870'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-87 AS Virginia Division of Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site