National mineral assessment tract SA07 (Massive sulfide, kuroko (Phanerozoic))

Tract SA07
Geographic region Southern Appalachian Mountains
Tract area 4,420sq km
Deposit type Massive sulfide, kuroko (Phanerozoic)
Deposit age Proterozoic - Cambrian

Deposit model

Model code 28a
Model type descriptive
Title Descriptive model of Kuroko massive sulfide
Authors Donald A. Singer
URL https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/b1693/html/bull0bfp.htm
Source https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b1693

Estimates

Confidence Number of
deposits
90% 3
50% 7
10% 12
5% 12
1% 12

Estimators: Gair, Klein, Koeppen, Offield

Rationale

Explained by T.L. Klein
On the delineation of permissive tracts
Low-grade metamorphosed volcanic rocks in three areas, the Lincolnton-McCormick area of southern South Carolina, the Kings Mountain belt along the North and South Carolina border, and the area underlain by rocks of the Albemarle Group in the western part of the Carolina slate belt in central North Carolina are included in the permissive tract. In North Carolina, one of the three component areas contain two major districts (Cid, Gold Hill). Several base- and precious-metal mines thought to be kuroko deposits (Barite Hill, Dorn), as well as barite and kyanite occurrences, in the Lincolnton-McCormick district of South Carolina and Georgia and the Kings Mountain belt, also indicate that these areas are permissive for kuroko massive sulfide deposits.
On the numerical estimates made
For the 90th, 50th, and 10th percentiles, respectively, the team estimated 3, 7, and 12 undiscovered deposits consistent with the Phanerozoic kuroko model (Mark3 index 104) are present in the three districts that make up the tract.
References
Bell, Henry, III, Carpenter, R.H., and Feiss, P.G., 1980, Volcanogenic ore deposits of the Carolina slate belt, in Frey, R.W., ed., Excursions in southeastern geology, Volume 1, Field trip guidebook for the Geological Society 1980 Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia: Falls Church, Virginia, American Geological Institute, p. 149–178.
Butler, J.R., and Secor, D.T., Jr., 1991, The central Piedmont, in Horton, J.W., and Zullo, V.A., eds., The geology of the Carolinas: Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, p. 59–78.
Carpenter, R.H., Odom, A.L., and Hartley, M.E., 1982, Geochronological investigations of the Lincolnton metadacite, Georgia and South Carolina: Geological Society of America Special Paper 191, p. 145–152.
Clark, S.H.B., Grieg, D.D., and Bryan, N.L., 1992, A preliminary report on the geology of the volcanic rock-hosted Barite Hill gold deposit, Carolina slate belt: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 24, no. 2, p. 8.
Duke, N.A., 1985, The metallogeny of base and precious metal deposits in paleorift setting of the south-central Appalachians, in Misra, K.C., ed., Volcanogenic sulfide and precious metal mineralization in the southern Appalachians: Knoxville, University of Tennessee, Studies in Geology 16, p. 3–21.
Feiss, P.G., 1982, Ore deposits of the northern parts of the Carolina slate belt, North Carolina: Geological Society of America Special Paper 191, p. 153–164.
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, p. 319–345.
Franklin, J.M., Lydon, J.W., and Sangster, D.F., 1981, Volcanic-associated massive sulfide deposits, in Skinner, B.J., ed., Economic Geology Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume, 1905–1980: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Economic Geology Publishing Company, p. 485–627.
Indorf, C.P., 1981, The Silver Hill zinc deposit and associated deposits, central North Carolina: Economic Geology, v. 76, no. 5, p. 1170–1185.
Long, L.T., 1979, The Carolina slate belt—Evidence of a continental rift zone: Geology, v. 7, p. 180–184.
Neathery, T.L., and Hollister, V.F., 1985, Models for volcanogenic sulfide exploration in the southernmost Appalachians, in Misra, K.C., ed., Volcanogenic sulfide and precious metal mineralization in the southern Appalachians: Knoxville, University of Tennessee, Studies in Geology 16, p. 97–112.
Pardee, J.T., and Park, C.F., Jr., 1948, Gold deposits of the southern Piedmont: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 213, 156 p.
Singer, D.A., and Mosier, D.L., 1986, Grade and tonnage model of kuroko massive sulfide, in Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p. 190–197.
Unger, H.E., 1982, Geology of the Union copper mine, Gold Hill district, central North Carolina: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, University of North Carolina, unpublished M.S. thesis, 86 p.
Wright, J.E., and Seiders, V.M., 1980, Age of zircons from volcanic rocks of the central North Carolina Piedmont and tectonic implications for the Carolina volcanic belt: Geological Society of America Bulletin, pt. 1, v. 91, p. 287–294.

Geographic coverage

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