| Deposit ID | 10150868 |
|---|---|
| MRDS ID | W101464 |
| MAS/MILS ID | 0370090006 |
| Record type | Site |
| Current site name | Ore Knob Mine |
| Alternate or previous names | Ore Knob Copper Mine |
| Point of reference | Geographic coordinates: | Elevation | UTM | Precision | Relative position | Point location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Entrance | -81.32762, 36.39948 (WGS84) | 975 | 1000 | |||
| (click for info) | ||||||
| -81.34148, 36.40424 (WGS84) | Original MRDS entry | |||||
Political divisions (FIPS codes)
Ashe(county)
North Carolina(state)
United States(country)
North America(continent)
Land(continent)
USGS map quadrangles
Laurel Springs(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)
Boone(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)
Winston-Salem(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)
Hydrologic units (watersheds)
Upper New(hydrologic unit)
Kanawha(hydrologic accounting unit)
Kanawha(hydrologic subregion)
Ohio(hydrologic region)
| Country | State | County |
|---|---|---|
| United States | North Carolina | Ashe |
| Commodity | Importance |
|---|---|
| Copper | Primary |
| Gold | Secondary |
| Silver | Secondary |
| Zinc Critical | Secondary |
| Cobalt Critical | Tertiary |
| Nickel Critical | Tertiary |
| Iron | Tertiary |
| Materials | Type of material |
|---|---|
| Chalcopyrite | Ore |
| Galena | Ore |
| Pyrite | Ore |
| Pyrrhotite | Ore |
| Sphalerite | Ore |
| Actinolite | Gangue |
| Biotite | Gangue |
| Calcite | Gangue |
| Epidote | Gangue |
| Garnet | Gangue |
| Hornblende | Gangue |
| Quartz | Gangue |
| Albite | Gangue |
| Tourmaline | Gangue |
| Alabandite | Unknown |
| Bornite | Unknown |
| Chalcocite | Unknown |
| Chrysocolla | Unknown |
| Magnetite | Unknown |
| Malachite | Unknown |
| Marcasite | Unknown |
| Prochlorite | Unknown |
| Model code | 91 |
|---|---|
| USGS model code | 24b |
| Deposit model name | Massive sulfide, Besshi (Japanese deposits) |
| Mark3 model number | 30 |
| Host or associated | Host | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock type | Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Amphibole Schist | ||
| Rock unit name | Ashe Formation | ||
| |||
| Main Entrance (1) | -81.32762, 36.39948 | |
|---|---|---|
| (2) | -81.34148, 36.40424 |
| Type of structure | Local |
|---|---|
| Structure name | SW plunging fold |
| Thickness | 3M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 457M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Width | 61M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | 25HA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depth to top | 140M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General form | LENSES AND VEIN-LIKE |
|---|---|
| Plunge | 20 DEG SW |
| Thickness | 12M |
| Length | 1220M |
| Operation type | Underground |
|---|---|
| Development status | Past Producer |
| Commodity type | Metallic |
| Significant | Yes |
| Discovery year | 1855 |
| Year of first production | 1855 |
| Year of last production | 1962 |
| Production years | 1855-1856, 1873-1883, 1896, 1913, 1917, 1927, 1955-1962 |
| Type of mineral rights | Fee Ownership |
|---|---|
| Type of mineral rights | Minerals Only |
| Type of mineral rights | Private Lease |
| Ownership category | Private |
|---|
| Type | Owner-Operator |
|---|---|
| Owner | Appalachian Sulphides |
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Owner |
|---|---|
| Owner | Virginia Rock And Minerals Co. |
| Home office | North Carolina |
| Year | 1976 |
| Year | 1883 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | 1873-1883 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Type | In-situ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate year | 1944 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inferred | 30000mt ore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total resources | 30000mt ore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type of workings | Underground |
|---|---|
| Overall depth | 304M |
| Overall length | 914.4M |
| Overall width | 1.5M |
| Agency | Database name | Acronym | Record ID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bureau of Mines | Minerals Availability System | MAS | 0370090006 | |
| USGS | Mineral Resources Data System | MRDS | W101464 | data consolidated into this record |
Laurence, R. A., 1968, Ore Deposits Of The Southern Appalachin Ridge, J. D., Ed., Ore Deposits Of The United States, 1931, (Graton-Sales Volume) V. 1/ Am. Inst. Mining, Metall., and Petroleum Engineers
Vhay, J. S., 1952, Cobalt Resources, Chap. 6 Of Materials Survey - Cobalt: US Bureau of Mines
Vhay, J. S, Et. Al., 1973, Cobalt Chapter In Brobst, Donald A., Pratt, Walden P., Ed., United States Mineral Resources/ USGS Prof. Paper 820
Boyd, C. R., 1881, Copper-Ashe County, North Carolina/ Resources In Southwest Virginia
Hunt, T. Sterry, 1875, The Ore Knob Copper Mine and Some Related Deposits/ Am. Inst. Mining Enginers Trans, 1873-4.
Kerr, W. C. and Hanna, G. B., 1893, Ore Knob Copper Mine in Ore Knob North Carolina Chapter In Kerr, W. C., Ed., Geology Of North Carolina
Olcott, E. E., 1875, The Ore Knob Copper Mine and Reduction Ashe County, North Carolina/ Am. Inst. Mining Engineers Transcript
Staff, Bumines, 1943, Ore Knob Mine, Ashe County, NC, Bureau Of Mines War Minerals Report 61, 11 P.
Staff, Bumines, 1944, Ore Knob Mine, Ashe County, N. C. (Sup To WMR 61)/ US Bureau of Mines War Minerals Report 1
Ballard, T. J. and Clayton, A. B., 1948, Investigation of the Knob Copper Mine, Ashe County, North Carolina/ US Bureau Of Mines Report of Investigations 4341, 8 P.
Knob Copper Mine, Ashe County, North Carolina/ U. S. Bureau Of Mines Report of Investigations 4341, 8 P.
Tyler, Paul M., 1930, Cobalt: US Bureau Of Mines Information Circular 6331, 33 P.
Kinkel, A.R., 1967, The Ore Knob copper deposit, North Carolina, and other massive sulfide deposits of the Appalachians: US Geological Survey Professional Paper 558.
Gair, J.E., And Slack, J.F., 1979, Map Showing Lithostratigraphic And Structural Setting Of Stratabound (Massive) Sulfide Deposits In US Appalachians: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 79-1517.
Pierce, W. G., 1944, Cobalt-Bearing Manganese Deposits Of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee/ USGS Bulletin 940-J
Feiss, P.G., Maybin, A.H., III, Riggs, S.R., And Grosz, A.E., 1991, Mineral Resources of the Carolinas, in Horton, J.R., Jr., and Zullo, V.A., Eds., The Geology of the Carolinas: Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press
Stuckey, Jasper L, 1968, Mineral Resources Of North Carolina, North Carolina- Its Geology And Mineral Resources, North Carolina Department Of Conservation and Development
| Subject category | Comment text |
|---|---|
| General | Site listed as a Superfund site with movement towards being placed on the NPL. Per an EPA information request (dated 02 Apr 2010), "The three principal areas include the 1950s Mine and Mill Area, the 19th Century Operations Area, and the Main Tailings Impoundment. The 1950s Mine and Mill Area comprises 15 acres and is located northwest of the intersection of Ore Knob Road and Little Peak Creek Road, just north of Highway 88. This area contains derelict ore bins, concrete mill foundations, a transformer building, other ruins, a small sawmill currently in operation, two acres with about 10,000 cubic yards of tailings - now mostly covered with stumps - and a two-acre former pond where process water was stored. Little Peak Creek starts just upstream of the former pond, flows through the former pond, and discharges into Peak Creek 2.5 miles downstream. The. 19th Century Operations Area and the Main Tailings Impoundment are located across Little Peak Creek Road, at the end of Ore Knob Mine Road. The 19th Century Operations Area includes a series of barren and nearly barren stretches of land (totaling about 5 acres) near the top of Ore Knob that contain waste rock dumps from at least 11 mine shafts, as well as locations where ore was roasted to drive off sulfur and smelted to recover copper. These waste materials occur in upland areas and are subject to erosion and down-slope transport. The Main Tailings Impoundment is located about 0.3 miles northeast of the 19th Century Operations Area, covers approximately 20 acres, and is estimated to contain 720,000 cubic yards of tailings.' Tailings are the waste material left over after minerals have been extracted from ore mined at the Site. The tailings are strongly acid-generating and the average sample is characterized by high concentrations of numerous metals, including copper, zinc, arsenic, and mercury. Notably, the Tailings Impoundment is mostly barren of vegetation. At the end of the Tailings Impoundment is a dam about 60 feet high and 700 feet wide. The dam has been subjected to severe erosion and water emanates from the dam in several places. The face of the damis deeply incised and erodes directly into a creek. The creek, the Ore Knob Branch, is piped underneath the Tailings Impoundment through a 24-inch pipe that exits the bottom of the dam face. The pipe discharges into a sediment pond that was full and did not have adequate space to contain the sediment and other precipitates from continuing down Ore Knob Branch. In addition, tailings slumped over the dam face and at least partially blocked the pipe, causing water to back up into the Tailings Impoundment and seep through the dam face. In addition, the upper end of the pipe is known to become blocked." |
| Deposit | Year entered-1976. Entry is last known Owner/Operator, ceasing operations in 1962 (see reference 736, p. 284). Entry was a previous Owoer, 1943 (Ses ref. 723, / map name is Laurel Springs. The ore body was completely worked, the mine abandoned December 4, 1962 (see reference 736, p. 2) Data published in reference 721-722, p. 8. Commodity (Nickel) added July 19b7 by CAB. |
| Deposit | Elongate plunging lens, 1.5-4.5 m thick, massive and disseminations. Limbs 0.5-1.5 m ore thickness; thickening to 12 m in fold hinge. Tectonic remobilization of stratabound exhalative sulfide layer. Layer follows axial plane of SW plunging fold. Ore plunge is 20 Degrees SW. Orebody maximum thickness 1.5 - 4.5 m. Sulfide in lenses and veins. |
| Type | Date | Name | Affiliation | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reporter | 01-NOV-1983 | Whitlow, S. | U.S. Geological Survey | |
| Reporter | 27-FEB-1984 | Lyday, Travis Q. | U.S. Bureau of Mines | |
| Updater | 01-JUN-1992 | Klein, T.L. | U.S. Geological Survey | |
| Reporter | 31-JUL-1995 | Sachiko, Tanikawa | U.S. Geological Survey | |
| Editor | 23-AUG-1995 | Mosier, Dan | U.S. Geological Survey | |
| Editor | 04-DEC-2003 | Woodruff, Laurel G. | U.S. Geological Survey | Work done in Filemaker |
Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.