Cloudland mine

Mica Mine in Mitchell county, North Carolina, this site also known as Pizzle

Cloudland (Pizzle) mine

Principal periods worked 1870-1900, int 1900-39, WWII, 1958-59
Workings Cut 250 long, 75 deep, shaft, adits, drifts, stopes, 320 along strike, 200 deep.
Description of muscovite Ruby, hard, stained, moderate ruling, bending, cracking.
Production Large sheet, some feldspar.
Shape Irregular, lenses, pinch and swell.
Size 1-35 T
Strike NE
Dip SE
Plunge SW
Relation to wallrock Partly concordant
Wallrock Mica gneiss-schist
Extent of weathering Unweathered
Remarks F-Q border zone, fine grained; Q-M walls zone, fine to medium grained; Pl-Q intermediate zone, medium to coarse grained; Q-M-Pl-P core, medium to coarse grained; accessory garnet, apatite. Smaller lenses Pl-Q-M pegmatite.
Source of information USGS, Sterrett (1923, p., 247-248), DMEA, OF.

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