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Smoky No. 1 Magnetite Mine

Past Producer in Avery county in North Carolina, United States with commodity Iron
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026375
MRDS ID K004782
Record type Site
Current site name Smoky No. 1 Magnetite Mine
Related records 10150898

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -81.96484, 36.1337 (WGS84)
Elevation 1170
Relative position 1.05 MILE SSW OF CRANBERRY CEMETERY; 2 MILES SE OF ELK PARK.
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Geographic areas

Country State County
United States North Carolina Avery

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS APPROXIMATE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Magnetite Ore
Feldspar Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Cranberry Granite; Complex Of Intertonguing Rock Types Including Migmatite, Granitic Gneisses, Monzonite, Quartz Diorite, Greenstone, Mica And Hornblende Schists, Abundant Granitic Pegmatite
    Rock description Cranberry Granite; Complex Of Intertonguing Rock Types Including Migmatite, Granitic Gneisses, Monzonite, Quartz Diorite, Greenstone, Mica And Hornblende Schists, Abundant Granitic Pegmatite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -81.96484, 36.1337
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Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Granite Becomes Less Platy And Interfoliated Gneisses Become Less Abundant As Distance From Vein Increases.

Ore body information

  • General form LINEAR, PINCH AND SWELL

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Magnetite Is Intimately Associated With Hornblende

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE VEIN IS BORDERED BY A NARROW ZONE OF EPIDOTE - RICH ROCK WHICH LOCALLY WIDENS INTO A COARSE - GRAINED AGGREGATE OF EPIDOTE, QUARTZ, AND IDIOMORPHIC HORNBLENDE. MAGNETITE OCCURS AS VEINLETS ALONG THE BORDERS OF HORNBLENDE MASSES, AS VEINLETS WITHIN THEM, OR AS GRANULAR MIXTURES WITH HORNBLENDE. GRANULAR AGGREGATES OF HORNBLENDE WITH MAGNETITE VEINLETS THROUGHOUT ARE ALSO COMMON. THIN SEAMS AND LENSES OF MAGNETITE ARE SCARCE IN EPIDOTE. LENSES OF HORNBLENDE, MAGNETITE, AND MIXTURES OF THE TWO ARE ELONGATE IN THE PLANE OF THE VEIN, CONTRIBUTING TO AN APPARENT SCHISTOSITY OF THE ROCK. HOWEVER, QUARTZ RARELY EXHIBITS ELONGATION AND ELONGATED EPIDOTE WAS NOT OBSERVED. ORE IS CHIEFLY ALONG THE CENTER OF THE VEIN.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No

Mining district

District name Cranberry Magnetite District

Comments on the workings information

  • THE VEIN LOCALLY THINS TO AS LITTLE AS 4 INCHES IN WIDTH.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: THE MAGNETITE IS EASILY SEPARATED FROM GANGUE AND IS EXCEPTIONALLY LOW IN PHOSPHOROUS, TITANIUM, AND SULFUR.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS K004782

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    STUCKEY, J. L., 1965, NORTH CAROLINA: ITS GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES: RALEIGH, N. C., NORTH CAROLINA DEPT. CONSERV. AND DEVEL., 550 P.

  • Deposit

    BAYLEY, W. S., 1923, THE MAGNETIC IRON ORES OF EAST TENNESSEE AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: TENNESSEE DIV. GEOLOGY BULL. 29, 252 P.

  • Deposit

    KLINE, M. H., AND BALLARD, T. J., 1948, CRANBERRY MAGNETITE DEPOSITS, AVERY COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, AND CARTER COUNTY, TENNESSEE: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES REPT. INV. RI 4274, 85 P.

  • Deposit

    1923 OTHER BAYLEY, W. S., TENN. DIV. GEOL. BULL. 29

  • Deposit

    1965 COMPILE STUCKEY, J. L., N. C. DEPT. CONS. & DEVEL.

  • Deposit

    GOLDICH, S. S., AND WEDOW, HELMUTH, JR., 1943, PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE MAGNETIC IRON ORES OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND EASTERN TENNESSEE: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN - FILE REPORT.

  • Deposit

    1966 COMPILE BRYANT AND REED, GEOL. SURV. CIR. 521

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ACCORDING TO BAYLEY (1923), "THE VEINS IN WHICH THE ORE OCCURS COMPRISE MORE OR LESS BANDED MIXTURES OF PEGMATITE, EPIDOTIC GNEISSES, HORNBLENDE SCHISTS AND LENTICULAR MASSES OF A MIXTURE OF HORNBLENDE AND MAGNETITE, IN PLACES CUT BY SMALL VEINS OF MAGNETITE."

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1975 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey