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Irish Creek Mine

Past Producer in Rockbridge county in Virginia, United States with commodities Tin, Tungsten, Beryllium
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10008886
MRDS ID D001371
Record type Site
Current site name Irish Creek Mine
Alternate or previous names Cash Mine, Panther Run Mine
Included sites No. 1 Workings Irish Creek, No. 2 Workings

Comments on the site names

  • No. 1 Workings Irish Creek (record number 10131281) and No. 2 Workings (record number 10179581) are subsets of the site reported in current record (10008886)

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.16336, 37.84977 (WGS84)
Elevation 762
Relative position 2.7 KM (1.7 MI) SW OF MONTEBELLO.
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Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Virginia Rockbridge

Comments on the location information

  • JUST EAST OF PANTHER RUN, 0.3 KM (0.2 MI) OFF SE SIDE OF STATE ROAD 603, 3.17 KM (1.95 MI) BY ROAD SW OF JUNCTION WITH VA HWY 56 (THIS IS KNOWN AS NO 1 WORKINGS). NO 2 WORKINGS ARE LOCATED ABOUT 365 M SW AT ELEV OF 2700 FT ALONG DIRT ROAD (UTM GRID N 4190250., E 661340. (ZONE+17)) LOCATED ON PRIVATE INHOLDING WITHIN PURCHASE BOUNDARY OF PEDLAR DISTRICT, GEORGE WASHINGTON NAT'L FOREST.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tin Primary
Tungsten Secondary
Beryllium Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Beryl Ore
Cassiterite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Wolframite Ore
Ankerite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Siderite Gangue
Sphalerite Gangue

Analytical data

Result AVG CONTENT OF NO 1 WORKINGS: 1% SN (KOSCHMANN AND OTHERS, (1942). BE ANALYZED AS VARYING FROM 0.0006 TO 0.67% BY LESURE, F G, KIILSGAARD, T H, BROWN, C E, AND MROSE, M E, 1963, BERYLLIUM IN THE TIN DEPOSITS OF IRISH CREEK, VIRGINIA, IN SHORT PAPERS IN GEOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY, ARTICLES 1-59: US GEOL SURV PROF PAPER 475-B, P B12-B15.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 49
USGS model code 15c
Deposit model name Sn greisen

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Pedlar Formation
    Rock description Pedlar Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.16336, 37.84977
ListMap

Geologic structures

Type Description Terms
Regional Blue Ridge Anticlinorium, Pedlar Massif
Local Minor Faulting Evident In Host Rock

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Strike NE
    Dip SE
    Thickness 1.5M
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zones

Comments on the geologic information

  • FOR DESCRIPTION OF MINERAL PARAGENESIS, SEE GLASS AND OTHERS (1958). FOR GEOLOGY OF AREA, SEE WERNER, H J, 1966, GEOLOGY OF THE VESUVIUS QUADRANGLE, VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, REPT INV 7, 53 P

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1846
Discoverer Martha D Cash (Rediscoverer In 1882)
Year of first production 1884

Mining district

District name Northern Section - Blue Ridge Province

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Richards Co, Inc.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Owens-Illinois

Production statistics

  • Year 1892
    Period 1890-1892
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Tin Tin 1wt-pct
  • Year 1919
    Period 1918-1919
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Tin Tin 3wt-pct

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 392M
    Overall depth 47.6M

Comments on the workings information

  • IN 1979, OLD SHAFT (NO 1 WORKINGS) WAS PARTIALLY CAVED AND 2 ADITS CONTAINED ABOUT 46 CM OF WATER AND REMAINS OF OLD SUPPORTING TIMBERS REMAINED. HEAVY VEGETATION COVERS THE AREA, ESPECIALLY THE NO 2 WORKINGS AND OBSCURES THE DUMPS.

Comments on development

  • ATTEMPTS AT MINING WERE MADE BY VIRGINIA TIN MINING AND MANUFACTURING CO (1884-1886), LEXINGTON TIN MINING CO (1886), BOSTON TIN MINING CO (1889-1892), AND RICHARDS CO, INC (OCT, 1918 - AUG, 1919) ; MILL$: 0.05 ; ECON.COM: CONCENTRATING MILL ERECTED 1892, NO LONGER STANDING.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS D001371

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    FERGUSON, H G, 1918, TIN DEPOSITS NEAR IRISH CREEK, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 15-A, 40 P

  • Deposit

    LEMMON, D.M., AND TWETO, O.L., 1962, TUNGSTEN IN THE U.S., USGS MAP, MR-25.

  • Deposit

    KOSCHMANN, A H, GLASS, J J, VHAY, J S, 1942, TIN DEPOSITS OF IRISH CREEK, VIRGINIA: U S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 936-K, 26 P

  • Deposit

    SWEET, P C AND BELL, S C, 1980, METALLIC MINERALIZATION IN THE BLUE RIDGE PROVINCE OF VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, IN PREPARATION.

  • Deposit

    LEMMON, D.M., U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, UNPUBLISHED DATA.

  • Deposit

    FORDHAM, O.M., JR, 1978, STREAM SEDIMENT GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE IRISH CREEK TIN DISTRICT, ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, IN CONTRIBUTIONS TO VIRGINIA GEOLOGY-ILL: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES, PUBLICATION 7, P. 75-85.

  • Deposit

    1883 DIREXPL COMMENCED DEVELOPMENT ENDING IN 1919.

  • Deposit

    1942 DIREXPL BETHLEHEM STEEL CO: DRILLED EXPLORATORY HOLES.

  • Deposit

    1973 GEOCHEM VA DIV MIN RES: STREAM-SEDIMENT ANALSES (FORDHAM, 1978)

  • Production

    KOSCHMANN AND OTHERS (1942)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SMALL AMOUNT OF WOLFRAMITE AND SCHEELITE IN TIN DEPOSITS ALONG THE HEADWATERS OF IRISH CREEK ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF STEELE'S TAVERN. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-73 Elliott, James E. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 09-JUN-95 Meintzer, Robert E. (Le Van, D.C.) U.S. Geological Survey PARSED HOST ROCK AND ASSOCIATED ROCK INFORMATION FROM OLD SINGLE VALUED FIELD TO NEW MULTIVALUED FIELD
Editor 04-JAN-11 Nicholson, S.W. U.S. Geological Survey reviewed location and identified two other records (10179581 and 10131281) as subsets of this record