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Union Copper Mine

Producer in Rowan county in North Carolina, United States with commodities Copper, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Barium-Barite
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Ownership information
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10110448
MRDS ID W014582
Record type Site
Current site name Union Copper Mine
Related records 10249010, 10273084

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -80.35201, 35.50399 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Rowan(county)

North Carolina(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Gold Hill(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Salisbury(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Charlotte(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rocky(hydrologic unit)

Upper Pee Dee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Pee Dee(hydrologic subregion)

South Atlantic-Gulf(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Rowan

Comments on the location information

  • DIGITIZED FROM STROMQUIST AND HENDERSON, 1985

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Barium-Barite Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Covellite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Barite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Talc Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Chlorite, Biotite, Silification, Sericite

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 184
USGS model code 28a
Deposit model name Massive sulfide, kuroko
Mark3 model number 93

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock
    Rock unit name Tillery Formation Or Cid Formation
    Rock description Tillery Formation Or Cid Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cambrian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -80.35201, 35.50399
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Gold Hill Fault Zone
Type of structure Local
Structure description Metamorphic Foliation N 40 E Strike Of Ore Body Approximately N 25 E. Plunge To Southwest.

Ore body information

  • General form PODS AND STINGERS
    Strike N 30 E
    Dip NW
    Plunge NW STEEPLY
    Length 600M
    Width 15M
    Depth to bottom 200M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Favorable Stratigaphic Unit

Comments on the geologic information

  • MINERALIZED PODS ARE ENLCOSED WITHIN COARSE TO FINE GRAINED FELSIC VOLCANICuROCKS (POSSIBLY FLAT SWAMP VOLCANIC ROCKS OF THE CID FORMATION).uDISCORDANT PYRITE AND CHALCOPYRITE VEINS MAY REPRESENT STRINGER ZONE.uSPHALERITE AND GALENA RICH PODS PROBABLY ARE SYNGENETIC-STRATABOUNDuDEPOSITS. THE PROXIMITY TO THE GOLD HILL FAULT ZONE MAY HAVE RESULTED INuTHE FORMATION OF LATE CALCITE AND QUARTZ VEINS. SOME BARITE IS ASSOCIATEDuWITH THE MASSIVE SULFIDE PODS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1842
Year of first production 1899
Year of last production 1906
Production years 1899-1906

Mining district

District name Gold Hill District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Union Copper Co.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCED $700,000 COPPER AND $300,000 GOLD FROM THE OXIDIZED ZONE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 182M
    Overall length 182.88M
    Overall width 12M

Comments on the workings information

  • FIVE SHAFTS EXPOITED THE DEPOSIT. THE DEEPEST (182 M) WAS WORKED AT 5 LEVELS.

Comments on development

  • IN 1943 US BUREAU OF MINES DRILLED 8 DIAMOND DRILL HOLES, FOR A TOTAL OF 760 M. TENNESSE COPPER DRILLED 7 HOLES TOTALLING 1674 M IN THE EARLY 1960'S. CONOCO MINERALS DRILLED 8 HOLES IN 1977 TOTALLING 1860 M. PHELPS DODGE DRILLED AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT SUBSEQUENT TO CONOCO'S EXPLORATION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    CARPENTER, P. ALBERT, 1976, "METALLIC MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE CAROLINA SLATE BELT, NORTH CAROLINA", N.C. DEPT. OF NAT. AND ECON. RES., MIN. RES. SECT., BULL. 84, MAP AT 1:31,000 PG. 126, MINE TEXT PG. 125, 130 TO 132, TEXT 166 PG.; MINE SITE IN GOLD HILL TOPO QUAD AT 1:24,000; LANEY, F.B., 1910, THE GOLD HILL MINING DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA: NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC SURVEY BULLETIN 21. PARDEE, J.T. AND PARK, C.F, 1948, GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT: USGS PROFESSIONAL PAPER 213. UNGER, H.E., 1982, GEOLOGY OF THE UNION COPPER DEPOSIT, GOLD HILL DISTRICT, CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA: UNPUBLISHED MS THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL

  • Production

    CARPENTER, III, P. A., 1976; LUTTRELL, 1976, USGS OPEN-FILE REPORT 78-152.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit IRREGULAR LENS-SHAPED PODS MORE THAN 30M LONG 15M WIDE ANDuEXTENDING TO MORE THAN 200M. THESE ARE CIGAR SHAPED AND PLUNGEuWESTWARD, NEARLY PARALLEL TO DIP. THE MINERALIZED LAYER MAYuCONTINUE SOUTHWARD TO THE SILVER SHAFT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1976 D'Agostino, John P. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1991 Klein, T.L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Maps centered on this site