Elk mine

Mica Mine in Avery county, North Carolina

Elk mine

Principal periods worked 1883-1921, Int. 1922-44, 1952-59.
Workings 3 adits, numerous drifts, stopes, in area 300 by 1,050.
Description of muscovite Ruby, minor cracking, bending, stain, mineral inclusions.
Production Large sheet
Shape Lenses
Size 0.1-6 T, 5-50 L
Dip Pegmatite zone trends NW and dips NE.
Relation to wallrock Lenses are concordant
Wallrock Interlayered mica and hornblende gneiss, kyanite-garnet gneiss
Extent of weathering Unweathered
Remarks Q-M walls zone, medium to coarse grained; Pl(An 14)-Q-M core; accessory garnet, apatite, pyrrhotite. Lenses in zone 8 ft thick in gneiss. Zone cut by faults and basalt dike.
Source of information Olson (1944, p. 65-67), USGS, OF, DMEA.

Geographic context

Abbreviations

Principal periods worked
WWI World War I
WWII World War II
int intermittent
Production
Small < 500 lb
Moderate 500-10,000 lb
Large > 10,000 lb
Size of pegmatite
D depth
L length
T thickness
avg average
Internal structure
B biotite
F feldspar
M muscovite
P perthite
Pl plagioclase
Q quartz
Source information
CMC Colonial Mica Corporation
DMEA Defense Minerals Exploration Administration
OME Office of Minerals Exploration
USGS U.S. Geological Survey
OF USGS open-file reports and maps