Mercury District of Southwest Arkansas

Past Producer in Pike county in Arkansas, United States with commodities Mercury, Antimony
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Production statistics
  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 60000974
MRDS ID M055045
Record type District
Current site name Mercury District of Southwest Arkansas
Alternate or previous names Arkansas Quicksilver District

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Centroid
Geographic coordinates: -93.66441, 34.17352 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 500(meters)
Relative position District is about 26 mi long with a maximum width of 6 mi. It extends from sec 13, T7S, R 27W in eastern Howard County all the way across Pike County into Sec. 5, T7S, R22W in western Clark County. Location given is near the center of the band within Pike County.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pike(county)

Arkansas(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Narrows Dam(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Arkadelphia(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Little Rock(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Little Missouri(hydrologic unit)

Upper Ouachita(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Red-Ouachita(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Mississippi(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Corps of Engineers(Branch)

Branch USACE(Type of land area)

USACE(Federal land areas administered by USACE)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arkansas Pike
United States Arkansas Clark
United States Arkansas Howard

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
5th Principal 06S-07S 028W-021W Arkansas

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary
Antimony Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Metacinnabar Ore
Calomel Ore
Eglestonite Ore
Livingstonite Ore
Mercury Ore
Quartz Gangue
Dickite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Goethite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Siderite Gangue
Barite Gangue
Opal Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Pyrite Unknown
Stibnite Unknown
Stibiconite Unknown
Galena Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) ARGILLIC

Analytical data

Result See Clardy and Bush, Appendix, p. 47-51.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Gap Ridge Sandstone Member of the Stanley Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Mississippian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Jackfork Sandstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pennsylvanian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Pennsylvanian

Nearby scientific data

Centroid (1) -93.66441, 34.17352

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description STEEP REGIONAL S DIP TO CARBONIFEROUS FORMATIONS. OVERTHRUST BLOCK CUT BY NE TEAR FAULTS, BEDDING PLANE FAULTS, AND N-S FAULTS WITH WEST SIDE MOVING RELATIVELY NORTH. TWO TYPES OF SMALL FOLDS FORMED BY E-W COMPRESSION. ; REG.TRENDS: THRUST FAULTING FROM S IN LATE PALEOZOIC.
Type of structure Local
Structure name Ore bodies localized along faults.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault/fracture
  • fault controlled. Ore bodies are localized along faults.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1930
Discoverer D.F. Short at Nutts Crossing Sec. 28, T6S. R23W/ Crowm Cox in Sec. 1, T7S, R26W.
Year of first production 1931
Year of last production 1944
Production years 1931-1944, intermittent but negligible since 1946

Mining district

District name ARKANSAS QUICKSILVER DISTRICT (Mercury District of southwest Arkansas)

Production statistics

  • Year 1944
    Period 1931-1944
    Material 1,500 76-pound flasks
    Accuracy Accurate
  • Year 1946
    Material 11 76-pound flasks
    Accuracy Accurate
  • Year 1965
    Material 27 76-pound flasks
    Accuracy Accurate

Comments on the production information

  • MR-30 idnciates about 10,000 flasks were produced from the district, which is a much larger number than the total of those cited in this record.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BAILEY, E.H., USGS, PERSONAL FILES

  • Deposit

    Clardy, B.F., and Bush, W.V., 1976, Mercury district of southwest Arkansas: Arkansas Geological Commission Information Circular 23, 57 p.

  • Deposit

    Reed, J.C., and Wells, F.G., 1938, Geology and ore deposits of the southwestern Arkansas quicksilver district: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 886-C, p. 15-90.

  • Deposit

    website: http://hgms.org/Articles/ArtSmith--SouthwesternArkansasMercuryMiningDistrict.html, accessed 25-oct-2010.

  • Deposit

    Bailey, E.H., 1962, Mercury in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Resource Map MR-30, 8 p. pamphlet, scale 1:3,168,000.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Deposit consists of at least 67 separate workings (see Clardy and Bush, 1976) along a 26 mile long by 6 mi wide fault controled band mostly in Pike County. This area is in the Athens Plateau south of the Ouachita Mountain region. (Moved the location to be along this belt instead of 10 miles south of it.)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Updater 2010-10-25 Wilson, Anna B. U.S. Geological Survey Updated and revised a very skeletal existing district record. No reporter listed. Re-revised 16-nov-2012.
Reporter 2012-11-16 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey merged and deleted duplicate record 10259682 (combined record for oldMRDS W016010 and MAS 0051090067)
Reporter 1980-05-20 Rlw U.S. Bureau of Mines MAS 0051090067

Beyond USGS

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