UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. E. Wrather, Director

Bulletin 940-J

COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS 

OF ALABAMA, GEORGIA, AND TENNESSEE

BY

W. G. PIERCE

Strategic Minerals Investigations, 1943 

(Pages 265-285)

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1944

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.

Price 20 cents

CONTENTS

Page

\>

Abstract................................................. 265

Introduction............................................. 266

Geology.................................................. 267

Ore deposits............................................. 267

Character and localization........................... 267

Mineralogy........................................... 268

Distribution of cobalt content....................... . 270

Identification of cobaltiferous manganese oxides..... 270

Chemical analyses for cobalt content..................... 270

Reserves................................................. 270

Mines and prospects...................................... 271

Cartersville district, Ga............................ -271

Gerae s mine....................................... 271

Ward mine........................................ 271

White Oak Mountain, Term............................. 275

Ro ck Run area, Ala. and Ga........................... 276

VI. C. Pope prospect.............................. 276

R. Stockdale prospect.......................'..... 277

W. L. Moore prospect............................. 277

Hughes prospect.................................. 278

Pope-Hughes prospect............................. 278

Augusta mines..................................... 278

Daughdrill prospect.............................. 278

North of Bluffton................................ 278

German prospects................................. 279

McCollum prospect................................. 279

Dulin mine, Ala...................................... 280

Greasy Cove, Ala..................................... 280

Cedartown, Ga., manganiferous pellet deposits.......; 281

Gibson mine. ............^...................... t . 281

Berkstresser property............................ 282

Penland HiU..................................... 283

Coble, Hickman County, Tenn.......................... 283

Silver Bluff, S,. C................................... 284

Manganese-silicate veins of Alabama, Georgia, South

Carolina, and North Carolina....................... 284

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Plate 48. Map showing principal areas of cobalt-bearing 

manganese oxide and the rock formations with 

which they are associated................... 268

49. A, Cobalt-bearing manganese oxide in brecciated Weisner quartzite; B, Cobalt-bearing 

manganese oxide in the Port Payne chert..... 268

 * III
IV .ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Plate 50. A, Cobalt-bearing manganese oxide from the

Gemes mine near Cartersville, Ga.; B, View

of pellet-bearing clay overlying manganlferous chert of the Knox dolomite.............. 268

51. Map of the Gemea mine, Cartersville district,

Ga.......................................... 276

52. Map of White Oak Mountain manganese area,

Bradley County, Tenn........................ 276

53. Geologic map of the Rock Run area, Ala........ 276

54. Cobaltiferous manganese prospects in the Rock

Run area, Cherokee County, Ala.............. 280

55. Maps of the Cedartovm, Ga,, manganiferous

pellet deposits............................. 284
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF 

ALABAMA, GEORGIA, AND TENNESSEE

By W. G. Pierce

ABSTRACT

Although it has been known for many years that some of the 

Appalachian deposits of manganese ore contain cobalt, little 

attention has been given until recently to the possibility of 

utilizing these deposits as a source of cobalt. The war, however, has caused a sharp increase in the demand for cobalt, 

which is used in making a special alloy steel. An endeavor to 

increase our supply of cobalt from domestic sources therefore 

becomes a logical part of the strategic-mineral investigations 

which are being carried on by the Geological Survey. This 

report deals with the possibilities of obtaining cobalt from 

the manganese deposits of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.

The manganese deposits with appreciable cobalt content are 

mostly of low grade insofar as manganese is concerned. The 

cobalt is associated with near-surface or surficial rocks or 

with bedrock near the surface, and it decreases with depth. It 

was carried by ground water and deposited either with or on socalled manganese "oxides,." commonly lithiophorite or hollandite, which are the only cobaltiferous minerals. These minerals 

usually have a layered botryoidal form and a dark'blue color.

Analyses of 84 samples from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia are arranged in tabular fonh by 

States. Of these, 73 were made recently in the Geological Survey laboratory in aid of the present investigation.

Of the 101 manganese mines and prospects that were examined 

for appraisal of their cobalt possibilities, only a few were 

found to contain appreciable quantities of cobalt. Some of 

these cobaltiferous deposits are described in detail. It is 

estimated that the deposits examined contain, altogether, 7,900 

tons of manganese oxides containing 3/4 to 1 1/2 percent 

cobalt, or about 165,000 pounds of cobalt. Other deposits, in 

which the manganese oxides contain 0.2 to 0.3 percent cobalt, 

might- supply 25,000 tons of manganese oxides containing about 

140,000 pounds of cobalt.

The main cobaltiferous manganese deposits are in (1) the 

Weisner quartzite (Lower Cambrian), (2) the residual clay of 

the Shady dolomite (Lower Cambrian), (3) the Knox dolomite 

(Ordovician and Cambrian), and (4) the Fort Payn.e chert (Mississipplan). Cobalt-bearing manganese "oxide" is commonly 

associated with sandstone, chert, or other siliceous rocks;

265
266 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1S43

some of it partly replaces these rocks and some forms botryoldal incrustations and fracture fillings. It also occurs in 

nodules and masses in some residual clay deposits and as small 

manganiferous pellets in clay.

INTRODUCTION

The principal source of cobalt in recent years has been the 

Belgian Congo copper ores. At one time, however, most of the . 

world's production came from deposits in New Caledonia, where 

the cobalt occurs in a mixture of manganese and cobalt oxides 

known as asbolite. Cobalt has been used for many years in the 

ceramic industry for the production of blue glass and pigments, 

but recently it has come into increased industrial use because 

of certain qualities it imparts to alloy steels.

The presence of cobalt in some of the Appalachian manganese 

ores has been known for many years. Little was known regarding 

the cobalt, however, except that, in the course of numerous 

laboratory analyses, tests for various minor elements would 

occasionally show the presence of a little cobalt. This investigation was therefore undertaken, at the suggestion of H. D. 

Miser and'T. A. Hendricks, for the purpose of determining the 

reserves of cobaltiferous manganese ores and the quantity of 

the cobalt contained therein.

Field work on the project began with a reconnaissance of 

manganese deposits in Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia, particularly at those deposits where cobalt had already been reported. 

This examination was made in company with.H. D. Miser and H. S. 

Ladd of the Geological Survey, and to them the author is 

indebted for valuable information on the occurrence and character of various Appalachian manganese deposits. Detailed field 

work was first done in the Rock Run area of northeastern Alabama, whose deposits have the highest cobalt content. This was 

followed by an examination of other deposits'in Alabama, 

Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina (see pi. 

48). The author was ably assisted in the field by A. E. Engel, 

to whom he is indebted for his keen observations and his interest in.pursuing the several problems involved in the work. The 

chemists of the Geological Survey laboratory made 75 cobalt 

analyses, and a number of manganese analyses and X-ray determinations, especially for this project. D. M. Coulter of the 

Bureau of Mines extended cordial cooperation, and supplied manganese analyses and specimens that were used for preliminary 

evaluation of several Alabama deposits. Captain Garland 

Peyton, Director of the Georgia Division of Mines, Mining and 

Geology, made available unpublished analyses of specimens containing cobalt and also unpublished data of the WPA Mineral 

Resources Survey, which was made in cooperation with the State. 

Captain W. F. Pond, State Geologist of Tennessee, facilitated 

the investigation of the Coble, Tenn., area through a joint 

examination with G. R. Gwinn of the Tennessee Geological Survey; and Dr. G. I. Whitlatch kindly supplied two unpublished 

analyses made by the State Geological Survey. Ed Emerson and 

W. P. Cowan supplied data on the deposits in the vicinity of

Piedmont, Ala.,'with which they were familiar. Oscar Fop© 

spent several days as field guide in locating many of the old 

prospects and mines in the Rock Run, Ala., area. H. D. Miser, 

W. T. Schaller, D. F. Hewett, and F. C. Calkins made valuable 

criticisms of the report.
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 267 

GEOLOGY

Cobalt-bearing manganese oxide is commonly associated with 

some variety of siliceous rock, such as sandstone, quartzite, 

or chert, or with a fine-grained crystalline quartz which 

Kesler I/ has identified as jasperoid. The cobalt-bearing manganese oxide occurs as incrustations and fracture fillings, and 

some of it partly replaces quartz (see pis. 49 and 50).

The stratified rocks known to contain cobaltiferous manganese deposits range in age from Carboniferous to Lower Cambrian 

and perhaps pre-Cambrlan (see pi. 48). The more important 

deposits are in the V/eisner quartzite (Cambrian), in the residual clay of the Shady dolomite (Cambrian), in the Knox dolomite 

(Cambrian-Ordovician), and the Port Payne chert (Carboniferous). 

Other deposits occur in the Talladega slate (pre-Cambrian), in 

the Rome formation (Cambrian), in the residual clay of the 

Tonoloway limestone (Silurian), and in the Floyd shale (Carboniferous ).

Cobalt-bearing manganese ore, of a type that is known as 

pellet or gravel ore, also occurs in colluvium, which Is commonly a red clay. The pel-let deposits are shallower than the 

manganese deposits in residual clay, most of them being less 

than 25 feet thick. The smallest individual pellets are as 

small as sand grains, while the largest are half an inch or 

more in diameter. The pellets may have a high iron content.

Cobalt has been reported 2/ to occur in the halloyslte 

deposits of Taylor Ridge, 5 miles north of Gore, Chattooga 

County, Ga. The cobalt seems to be associated with the black 

streaks, lenses, and impregnations of manganese in the halloysite, rather than with the white halloysite itself. Here the 

halloysite is overlain by typical Fort Payne chert. Cobalt 

also occurs in tripoli in the Fort Payne chert in Perry County, 

Term., and here too the cobalt is in manganese oxides which 

form tiny spherules, the size of a pinhead and smaller, partly 

 disseminated through the tripoli and partly concentrated in 

ribbons and lenses.

ORE DEPOSITS 

Character and localization

In all of the known cobalt-bearing manganese deposits in 

the southeastern States, the cobalt occurs in black manganese 

minerals, which are referred to as manganese "oxides." This 

usage will be continued, although some of these so-called 

oxides are known to be either salts or compounds. The deposits 

are divisible into two general types.

In one type, the manganese oxides occur as fracture fillings and incrustations in siliceous rocks, such as quartzite, 

chert, or jasperoid, and they not uncommonly replace some of 

the siliceous rock. (See pis. 49 and 50.) The deposits in the 

Welsner quartzite in the Rock Run area of northeastern Alabama 

are characteristic of this type.

I/ Kesler, T. L., Structure end ore deposition at Cartersville, Ga.: 

Am. Inst. Min. Met. Eng. Tnch. Pub. 1E26, p. 2, 1941.

2/ Shearer, H. K., A report on the bauxite and fuller's earth of the 

Coastal Plain of Georgia: Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 31, pp. 331-332, 1917.
268 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943

In the deposits of the other type, such as that on Penland 

Hill near Etna, Ga., the manganese oxide forms fragments and 

rounded concretionary pellets in colluvial clay, which is commonly red. The clay deposits are mostly 10 to 15 feet thick, 

but locally they attain a thickness of 20 to 25 feet. The 

cobalt content of this type of deposit is much lower than that 

of the first type.

An unusual variety of the pellet type of deposit was found 

in Goshen Valley, about 4 miles north of Piedmont, Ala., in the 

NW^ sec. 20, T. 12 S., R. 10 E. Here the pellets occur from 

the surface to depths of 2 to 4 feet, in an area from 600 to 

800 feet wide and half a mile long. The amounts of both cobalt 

and manganese in the pellets appear to be too small for commer- 

 cial recovery, but the deposit is noteworthy because the cobalt 

content is unusually high as compared with the manganese content. A partial analysis of one sample showed 0.26 percent 

cobalt, 7.41 percent manganese, and 21.55 percent iron. 

Another sample contained 0.23 percent cobalt,.3.93 percent manganese, and 19.00 percent iron.

In general it seems unlikely that the cobalt-bearing manganese deposits of this region could be worked commercially for 

their manganese content alone. On the other hand most of the 

high-grade, workable, manganese deposits contain little or no 

cobalt.

The cobalt-bearing manganese is found in fractures in rocks 

near the surface or is associated with surficial material, such 

as colluvial red clay and other material of the- oxidized zone. 

There is no obvious topographic control for the location of the 

deposits. Several occur at or near the tops'of hills, but 

others are on the hillsides. The deposits occur at altitudes 

ranging from 800 to 1,300 feet. Their general features indicate that the cobalt has been deposited by ground water. 

Cobalt occurs with the manganese "oxides" only; no more than a 

trace has been found in any of the several manganese-silicate 

deposits examined, or in the manganese carbonate at the East 

Fork mine near Sevierville, Tenn. The cobalt content seems to 

be highest in the near-surface parts of the .manganese deposits.

Mineralogy

The cobalt seems to be either adsorbed on the manganese 

minerals as a cobalt oxide or to be a constituent of several 

manganese-"oxide 11 minerals. In describing a specimen of 

lithium-bearing manganese dioxide from the vicinity of the proposed Appalachian Park in eastern Tennessee, Wherry 3/ states 

that it belongs to a variety approaching lithiophorite. He 

discusses ways in which the oxides.of lithium, sodium, potassium, cobalt, and nickel might occur, and, after eliminating 

several other hypotheses, he suggests that they may occur as 

gels., united by adsorption to the MnOg gel which makes up the 

"bulk of the material. C. A. Hansen, from studies on electrolytic zinc practice, is reported 4/ to have obtained evidence 

that cobalt oxide Is adsorbed on hydrated manganese dioxide,

and that the cobalt can "be removed by means of a reducing solution, such as ferrous sulfate, without greatly affecting the

3/ Wherry, E. T., Notes on alunite, psilomelanite, and titanite: U. S. 

Net. Mus. Proc., vol. 51, pp. 84-86, 1917.

4/ Relston, 0. C., Manganese in electrolytic zinc practice: Eng. end 

Min. Jour., vol. 130, no. 12, p. 607, 1930.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 48

86

36

' MA R

NORTH

L I N A

OCIeveland j 

Chattanooga._ _j... _.

/c'oBALTIFEROUS MANGANESE OXIDE 

ASSOCIATED WITH THE FOLLOWING 

ROCK FORMATIONS

EXPLANATION

Floyd shale 1 CARBON- 

©Ft.Payne chert J-I FERGUS 

Tonoloway limestone }SILURIAN

}CAMB.-ORD.

Piedmont .

M A

o

Knox dolomite 

Rome formation 

Shad/ dolomite 

Weisner quartzite 

©Talledega slate

A L A B

VrS O ,

\V Birmingham

\PRE-CAMB.(?) 

TO CARB.(?)

84* 82°

50I .-

sooMiles 

_j

MAP SHOWING PRINCIPAL AREAS OF COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE OXIDE AND

THE ROCK FORMATIONS WITH WHICH THEY ARE ASSOCIATED ssaoai o - 44 (Face P. 268).
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 49

A. COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE OXIDE IN BRECCIATED WEISNER QUARTZITE.

Cobalt-bearing manganese oxide (lithiophorite), incrusting and filling fractures in brecciated Weisner 

quartzite. Specimen is from the W. C. Pope prospect, in Cherokee County, Ala. Scale in inches.

B. COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE OXIDE IN FORT PAYNE CHERT.

Cohatt-hearing manganese oxide (lithiophorite), incriiKiing and filling fractures in the Fort Pay 

Specimen is from White Oak Mountain, Bradley County, Tenn.

e t:h«rt.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 60

A. COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE OXIDES FROM THE GEMES MINE 

NEAR CARTERSVILLE, GA.

Cobalt-bearing manganese oxides (lithiophorite and hollaiulite), iiicrusting and filling fractures in a friable 

crystalline quartz rock. Specimen is from the GemeH mine near Cartersville, Ga.

R. VIEW OF PELLET.BEAR1NG CLAY OVERLYING MANGANIFEROUS CHERT OF THE

KNOX DOLOMITE.

View of open cut at the Gibson mine, Floyd County, Ga., showing steeply inclined chert tied8 of Knox dolomite 

containing irregular manses of manganese, overlain by red clay with manguniferouK pellets, a, pelletbearing clay; b, manganese in chert.
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 26,9

manganese dioxide. Recent work by Fleischer and Richmond 5/ in 

the Geological Survey chemical laboratory has shown that cobalt 

commonly occurs in at least four manganese minerals; namely, 

lithiophorite (a hydrous lithium-manganese aluminate), psilomelane (which contains essential barium), cryptomelane (which 

contains essential potassium), and hollandite (which contains 

essential barium). In the last three the percentages of cobalt 

range from 0 to 2. All the samples of lithiophorite examined 

contain appreciable quantities of cobalt, the maximum percentage being 4.84. As shown by the X-ray determinations of the 

manganese minerals in 12 of the high-cobalt samples listed in 

the following table, the high-cobalt manganese mineral is commonly either lithiophorite or a mixture of lithiophorite and 

hollandite. However, X-ray mineral determinations, supplemented by qualitative chemical tests for barium and potassium, 

of cobaltiferous manganese ores from localities in Virginia, 

show that there the manganese mineral is cryptomelane.

All of the samples shown in. the accompanying table except 

that from the McCollum prospect contain some nickel. A little 

copper occurs in the McCollum prospect and also in the White 

Oak Mountain deposit.

So far as observed in the southern Appalachians, pyrolusite 

nowhere contains as much as ^ percent of cobalt. None of the 

manganese-silicate veins in crystalline rocks that have been 

examined thus far contain more than a trace of cobalt.

Locality

Cartersville, Ga., district: 

Gemes mine; manganese oxide 

in jasperoid. 

Gemes mine; manganese 

pellets in clay.

White Oak Mountain, Bradley 

County, Term. 

Rock Run area, Ala. and Ga.: 

W . C . Pope No . 1 cut .......

Daughdrill prospect.

Burke Estate prospect, 10 miles 

southwest of Piedmont, Ala. 

Dulin mine, Clay County, Ala...

Coble, Hickman County, Tean....

Percent 

cobalt!/

1.01 

.77' 

1.60

2.28 

4.84

1.59

1.66

1 Qfi

1.14

1.26 

.97 

.64

, Manganese minerals^/

Lithiophorite and 

hollandite. 

Hollandite and lithiophorite ( ? ) . 

Hollandite and lithiophorite. 

Lithiophorite .

Lithiophorite.

hollandite. 

Hollandite.

little lithiophorite 

Hollandite and lithiophorite. 

Lithiophorite.

Lithiophorite and a 

little hollandite. 

Lithiophorite.

\J The cobalt content is only approximate,for the chemicsl analysis was 

mad£ on a sample consisting of several pieces, whereas the X-ray deterruinntion was made on a single specimen of homogeneous materiel.

2/ Geological Survey laboratory X-ray determinations by J. M. Axelrod 

except fo. specimens from Y/hite Oak .Mountain end Coble, Tenn., which were 

examined by W. E. Richmond.

5/ Fleischer, Michael, and Richmond, '. *'. E., The menganese-oxicie minerels, a preliminary report; Econ. Geology, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 269-286, 1943. 

5B2081 O - 44 - 2
270 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943 

Distribution of cobalt content

One of the first problems encountered in the study of 

cobalt-bearing manganese deposits was the seemingly very irregular distribution of the cobalt within them. Field tests of 

the distribution of cobalt in the manganese oxides were made in 

the main cut at the Stockdale prospect, and the amount of 

cobalt was found to be fairly uniform, both in various parts of 

the pit and in masses of manganese oxides that differed from 

each other in appearance. At the' Gemes mine, near Cartersville, Ga., five samples collected from an area of 200 by 300 

feet contained 0.75, 0.77, 0.90, 1.01, and 1.30 percent cobalt 

(see pi. 51). At White Oak Mountain, Tenn., three samples 

taken at intervals of about 25 feet contained 0.82, 1.05, and 

0.88 percent cobalt, but for a larger area of thinly disseminated and discontinuous manganese oxide- the cobalt content 

ranged from 0.37 to 1.19 percent (see pi. 52). At Greasy Cove, 

Ala., however, rough chemical field tests on different manganese lenses in a 3-foot zone indicated 0.1 to 1 percent cobalt.

Identification of cobaltiferous manganese oxides

Manganese oxides that contain 1 percent or more of cobalt 

can usually be recognized by their appearance. In color they 

are dark blue or bluish black, rather than light blue or steel 

gray. They are only moderately hard; in a mortar they crush to 

a soft rather than a gritty powder. Little or no cobalt was 

found, however, in soft pyrolusite. Many samples of. iron oxide 

were tested, but none of them contained cobalt, althxmgh cobalt 

was found with manganese oxide that was associated with iron 

deposits.

CHEMICAL ANALYSES FOR COBALT CONTENT

The results of the 73 chemical analyses for cobalt content 

made in the chemical laboratory of the Geological Survey for 

this investigation, together with other available cobalt determinations on material from the region investigated, are given 

in the table on pages 272-275.

RESERVES

Ten small deposits in northeastern Alabama are estimated to 

contain, in all, 900 tons of manganese oxides that contain from 

1 to li? percent cobalt, or 25,000 pounds of cobalt. The Gemes, 

McCollum, and Ward properties in northwestern Georgia, and the 

White Oak Mountain property in southeastern Tennessee, are 

estimated to contain 7,000 tons of manganese oxides with from 

3/4 to l£ percent cobalt, or about 140,000 pounds of cobalt. 

The Gibson, Penland Hill, Berkstresser, and Callahan deposits 

in Floyd and Polk Counties, Ga., the r Thompson property near 

Piedmont, Ala., and the Arms mine on Flat Top Mountain in 

southwestern Virginia, contain an estimated aggregate of 25,000 

tons of low-grade manganese oxides with from 0.2 to O.3 percent

of cobalt, or about 140,000 pounds of cobalt.
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 271 

MINES'AND PROSPECTS

During this investigation 101 manganese mines and prospects 

were examined 50 in northeastern Alabama, 25 -in Georgia, 14 in 

Tennessee, 6 in Virginia, 4 in North Carolina, and 2 in South 

Carolina.

Cartersville district. Georgia

Several of the manganese mines in the Cartersville district 

were examined in company with T. L. Kesler of the Geological 

Survey. Because of his intimate knowledge of the district, it 

was possible to make a preliminary evaluation of the cobalt 

possibilities of many more of the mines than could otherwise 

have been done in the short time available. It was not feasible, however, to make a careful examination of the entire district, so that there may well be other cobalt-bearing manganese 

deposits in the district than the two here described.

Gemes mine. The Gemes mine, owned by Tom V. Gemes of 

Cartersville, is located about a mile northeast of Cartersville 

.(see pi. 51). When the mine was operated by Gemes and Dodd 

some years ago, about 35 carloads of manganese ore were taken 

out, but for the past 15 years it has been worked only on a 

small scale. The cobalt-bearing manganese ore was poor in manganese and hence very little of it has been mined. In 1942 an 

attempt was made to concentrate low-grade manganese ore 

obtained from the red clay on the east side of the hill shown 

in plate 51, but after a. few months the 'operation was discontinued.

According to Kesler,(3/ who has recently completed detailed 

studies of the district, the property is underlain by red 

residual clay derived from the Shady dolomite. The manganese 

minerals occur both in the clay and in a weathered, crumbly, 

quartz rock known as jasperoid. Part of the manganese ore in 

the clay is in a colluvial surface layer. The ore consists 

partly of fragments, partly of small round pellets with outer 

concretionary layers of manganese oxides. Tills kind of material could easily be concentrated by washing alone. Of the ore 

in the jasperoid, some partly replaces the rock and some forms 

incrustations, fracture fillings, and cement. All this jasperoid ore would have to be crushed and jigged after it was washed.

Seven analyzed samples of manganese minerals were found to 

contain from 0.5 to 1.3 percent of cobalt. As shown in plate 

51, the manganese-bearing area on the east of the hill i's not 

only the largest of the three cobaltiferous areas, but the 

highest in average cobalt content, which is 0.94 for the samples analyzed. An X-ray determination of the manganeae minerals showed that they are lithiophorite and hollandite.

Ward 'mine. The Ward mine is about 6 miles north-northeast 

of Cartersville (see pi. 51). According to Kesler,7/ it is a 

brecciated silicified zone in the lower part of the Rome formation. It has been developed by means of a single open cut. 

Exposures on the west side of the cut show silicified and brecciated dolomite, the fractures in which are filled with manganese oxide. Not only is the ratio of manganese oxide to chert 

low, but the two are so intermixed that crushing and jigging 

would be necessary. Some of the manganese oxide contains small 

irregular pieces of soft white hallpysite.

6/ Kesler, T. L., personal communication. 7/ Idem.
Cobalt content of samples from manganese mine

Property or mine

Alabama

Do .....................................

North of Bluff ton. .......................

TV>

TV> . ......

Harbour property, Goshen Valley. .........

Goshen Valley. ...........................

W. C. Pope, No. 1 cut. ...................

TV)

Georgia

Do .....................................

Do .....................................

Location

E. line NEiNE^ sec. 33, T. 

500 ft. W. and 1,500 ft. S. 

33, T. 12 S., R. 11 E. 

SE-jSE^ sec. 2, T. 12 S., R. 

Piedmont. 

SE-^SE^ sec. 3, T. 12 S., R. 

Wi sec. 14, T. 18 S., R. 8 

WjjNEiSWi sec. 1, T. 12 S., 

NW^ sec. 20, T. 12 S., R. 

Do ......................

Do ......................

SWlSEi sec. 18, T. 12 S., R

SWfSWi sec. 20, T. 12 S., R

SE§SWJ sec. 11, T. 12 S., R

SWj sec. 20, T. 12 S., R. 1

SEtSE£ sec. 9, T. 12 S., R. 

300 ft. ENE. of No. 1 cut .

400 ft. ENE. of No. 1 cut. 

NE^NE^ sec. 20, T. 12 S., R

Center W|- sec. 28, T. 12 S.

NEi sec. 31, T. 12 S., R. H

County.

Polk County.

Do .......................

Do ......................
Do .....................................

Penland Hill. .........'...................

Penland Hill, pit No. 4. .................

Penland Hill, pit No .' 17. ................

Potts Hill, pit No. 27.. .................

Dr>

South Carolina

McCormick mine ...........................

Silver Bluff .............................

Tennessee

Eas t Pork mine , north cut ................

White Oak Mountain, middle prospect area.

Do .....................................

n/^

Do ....................

Do ....................

Do ....................

County. 

TY>

Do ....................

1-^ miles south of Etna, P

Do ....................

Do ....................

6^ miles east of Cave Spr

Do ....................

TV>

Do ....................

8 miles northwest of Clev

County. 

Do ....................

Do ....................

Do ....................

* Kind of sample: 1_, Average sample of manganese "oxide" in single exposure 

fragments from clay; j3, single specimen; 3jr. sample of surface concentration of p

ings; £, published analysis; 7_, analysis by Tennessee Geological Survey, 1942.

t Analyst: £, Cyrus Feldman; D, K. Davidson; E, M. p. Foster; JF, Michael Fle

N, Victor North.; £3, W. G. Schlecht; W, R. C. WellsT
Cobalt content of samples from manganese mineral 

Property or mine

Tennessee Continued

White Oak Mountain, north prospect area.. 

Do .....................................

Tin . ...

Do .....................................

Virginia

North side Iron Mountain. ............ ... . ,

Crimora mine .............................

Do .....................................

Arms mine, Flat Top Mountain. ............

Do .....................................

Do .....................................

Do .....................................

Do .....................................

Fisher mine , Lick Mountain. ..............

Lick Mountain Sand Co., Lick Mountain....

Pocahontas mine ..........................

Suiter mine, Round Mountain. .............

Do.......................... ...........

Do .....................................

Williams, Spruce Run Mountain, et al.....

Boyd Stephenson prospect. ................

Location

8 miles northwest of Clevel

County. 

Do ......................

Do

Do ......................

County.

Do ......................

Old Stange mine, Bland and 

T)n

Do ......................

Do ......................

Bath County. 

Elkton ....................
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 275

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Specimens were collected at many 

places on the west face of the cut to make 

a composite sample that would represent 

the average composition of the exposed 

manganese minerals. This sample was found 

to contain 1.6 percent of cobalt. The 

manganese minerals present were determined 

by X-ray to be hollandite and lithiophorite.

White Oak Mountain, Tennessee

The White Oak Mountain manganes.e property, which belongs to Mrs. M. M. Artz of 

Cleveland, Term., lies 8 miles northwest 

of Cleveland, in Bradley County, Term. It 

is on one of the1 several northeast-trending ridges which form White Oak Mountain. 

The deposit was described by Nelson 8/ in 

1911, by Stose and Schrader 9/ in 1918 and 

1923, and by Reichert 10/ in 1942. Some 

prospecting for kaolin as well as manganese 

has been done three-quarters of a mile to 

a mile south-southwest of the area .shown 

in plate 52, but the principal manganese 

deposits are in what are designated on the 

map as the middle and north prospect areas. 

Most of the prospecting work was done 

between 1911 and 1918. The openings comprise many' surface cuts and pits, a twocompartment shaft 75 feet deep, and two 

smaller shafts. In 1941 seven trenches 

having a uniform depth of about 3 feet 

were dug, one at the north end of the middle .prospect area and six in the north 

prospect area. There is ore on the dumps 

of some of the openings, but none has been 

shipped.

The manganese minerals occur in the 

Fort Payne chert, filling cracks and 

joints and partially replacing the rock. 

The ore is high in silica and would 

require crushing and jigging. The ratio 

of manganese to chert is so low that it 

would be necessary to mine and mill a 

large amount of chert in order to recover 

a relatively small amount of manganese 

concentrates. In the middle prospect area, 

manganese minerals are most abundant at

8/ Nelson, W. A., A new manganese deposit in 

Tennessee: Tennessee Geol. Survey, The resources 

of Tennessee, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 220-228, 1911.

9/ Stose, G. W., end Schrader, F. C., Manganese deposits of east Tennessee: Tennessee Geol. 

Survey, The resources of Tennessee, vol. 7, nos. 

3 and 4, pp. 189-190, p. 323, 1911; Manganese 

deposits of east Tennessee: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 737, pp. 139-142, 1923.

10/ Reichert, S. 0., Manganese resources of 

east Tennessee: Tennessee Geol. Survey Bull. 50, 

pp. 189-193. 1942.
276 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943

the west end of the southernmost cut or trench. The large 

shaft to the east is said ll/ to be 75 feet deep, with the 

lower 22 feet in black shale. The large open cut at the north 

end of this area seems to have encountered manganiferous iron " 

oxide. The shaft to the south is about 50 feet deep, but it 

did not strike any manganese ore. In the north prospect area, 

the principal workings consist of an open cut, measuring roughly 

50 by 75 feet, and a narrow cut about 100 feet long just to the 

north of it. The best showings in the north prospect area are 

in these cuts, but even here the ratio of manganese to chert is 

very low.

The manganese minerals at the White Oak Mountain prospects 

are generally known as oxides. An X-ray determination of the 

oxide in one specimen showed it to be lithiophorite. The 

cobalt content of the seven samples analyzed ranged from 0.37 

to 2.28 percent and averaged about 1 percent. As indicated in 

the cross sections on plate 52, the manganese oxides are 

believed to be most abundant near the surface and to extend 

only to shallow depths.

Rock Run area, Alabama and Georgia

The Rock Run area comprises a belt about 11 miles long, 

which lies mostly in Cherokee County, Ala., but include:? a part 

of Cleburrie County, Ala., and a little of Polk County, Ga. (see 

pi. 53). It has aroused interest because it has been found to 

contain manganese ore containing several percent of cobalt. 

Although cobaltiferous manganese oxides are rather widespread 

in the area, the deposits are all of such low grade with 

respect to manganese that they cannot be worked profitably for 

their manganese content alone. So far as known, moreover, 

their tonnage is insufficient to warrant plans for concentrating the manganese materials and recovering the contained cobalt.

Of the ten deposits included in the Rock Run area, eight 

are in the Weisner quar-tzite and two in clay residual from the 

Knox dolomite. In all of the deposits the manganese oxides 

have about the same appearance, and all that have been analyzed 

consist of lithiophorite or hollandite or both. The manganese 

minerals occur as fracture fillings and incrustations, and they 

partially replace quartzite, sandstone, and chert. Brief 

descriptions of the cobaltiferous manganese-oxide properties in 

the Rock Run area are given below.

W. C. Pope prospect. The W. C. Pope prospect is located in 

the SE-JfSEt sec. 9, T. 12 S., R. 11 E. According to Mr. Pope, 

the first prospecting was done in 1918, when two tons of ore 

was shipped to Niagara Falls. In 1929 the property was leased 

by Mr. Blood, and some further prospecting was done. In 1931 

the Harshaw Chemical Co. took an option on the property and 

mined and shipped about 18 tons of ore, and in the following 

year they did some churn drilling and sampling. As shown in 

plate 54, many surface pits and cuts have been made in search 

for additional ore. Tyler 12/ reports that about a carload of 

manganese ore, containing 4 percent cobalt, was taken out, some 

of which was shipped for making ferromanganese.

ll/ Stose, G. W., end Schrader, F. C., op. cit., p. 141, 1923.

12/ Tyler, P. M., Cobalt: ~ U. S. Bur. Mines Inf. Circ. 6331, p. 8, 1930.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 51

Base from Geological Survey topographic 

map of Cortersvllle mining district, Go.

INDEX MAP

SHOWING LOCATION OF

GEMES AND WARD MINES

Residual clay of 

Shady dolomite

Open cut

Approximate boundary of 

cobalt-bearing manganese 

oxide

Pit

B

Shaft

Location of analyzed sample 

showing percent of cobalt contained in the manganese oxide

Dump

W.G.Pierce and A.E.Engel 

Nov. 1942

Contour interval 10 feet 

Datum approximate sea level 582081 O - 44 (Face p. 276)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 52

Chattonoogo shale and 

Rockwood formation

MIDDLE PROSPECT 

AREA

soo Feet

Contour interval 25 feet 

(Datum approximate sea levet)

Location of analyzed sample, 

showing percent of cobalt contained in the manganese oxide

Strike and dip of beds

Open cut

-r

Dump

1300'-

Section A-A

Manganese in chert 

fort Rayne chert

Chattanooga shale

Section B-B

300 Feet

Contour interval 10 feet 

(Datum approximate sea level)

MAP OF WHITE OAK MOUNTAIN MANGANESE AREA, BRADLEY COUNTY, TENN.

W.G.Pierce and A.E.Engel 

Nov. 1942

582081 O - 44 (Face p. 276)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 53

Base modified after Rock Run and 

vicinity, Ala.-Ga. topographic map

CAMBRIAN AND 

ORDOVjCIAN

Geology from Rome Folio and 

Geologic map of Alabama

EXPLANATION

CAMBRIAN

Knox dolomite Conasauga Rome formation Weisner 

formation and Shady dolomite, quartzite 

undifferentlated

 - -*^ >* x GOFIMAN

0.61

Fault Strike and Cobalt-bearingmangadipofbeds neseoxide locality,

with percent of cobalt 

in analyzed sample

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ROCK RUN AREA, ALABAMA

i o aMiles

582081 O - 44 (Face p. 276)
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GAi-TENN. 277

The only manganese ore now exposed in the prospect pits is 

in the No. 1 cut. Manganese oxide is sparingly present on the 

east side of the cut as fracture fillings arid" incrustations on 

the quartzite, and a very little can be seen on the west side. 

On the northeast face of the cut there is much iron oxide, 

occurring in the same manner as the manganese oxide, but it 

contains no cobalt. The most northeasterly cut shown on the 

map is reported to have encountered some manganese oxide, but 

none of It is now exposed.

A composite sample made up of many pieces of manganese 

oxide collected by the writer from a small ore dump of the No. 

1 cut was found on analysis to contain 4.84 percent cobalt. A 

piece of manganese oxide obtained from the dump of a small 

prospect pit about 300°feet east-northeast of the No. 1 cut 

contained 0.70 percent cobalt, and a manganese-oxide specimen 

from the dump of the most northeasterly cut contained 0.41 percent cobalt.

R. Stockdale prospect. The Stockdale prospect is near the 

center of the VJ| sec. 28, T. 12 S., R. 11 E. It has been 

worked by Ralph Stockdale, Bud Glover, Ross Clay, and Ed 

Emerson. It was last worked about 1934 by Emerson, who estimates that all told about 500 tons of ore has been mined. The 

workings (see pi. 54) consist of a roughly circular open cut 

about 50 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep, a smaller cut to 

the north, and several shallow pits and trenches.

In the main cut, manganese oxide occurs as fracture fillIngs and incrustations In brecciated Weisner quartzite. Some 

large masses of brecciated chert, which may not be in place, 

lie about 100 feet to the north-northwest. The manganese oxide 

in the chert is harder and more siliceous than that in the 

quartzite and does not have botryoidal forms.

An analysis of a composite sample of manganese oxides from 

several parts of the main pit showed 1.59 percent cobalt.

W. L. Moore prospect. Most of the prospecting by Mr. W. L. 

Moore has been done on property in the NE^- sec. 31, T. 12 S., 

R. 11 E., belonging to Norris C. Webb of Spring Garden, but 

some work has been done in the adjoining SE^- of sec. 30. The 

largest cut, designated in plate 54 as No. 1 cut, was made In 

1937. About 750 feet to the northwest is No. 2 cut, and 250 

feet farther northwest, beyond the limits of the detailed map, 

is a small shallow trench. In sec. 30 there are two prospect 

pits, about 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, and two 

shallow open cuts.

In No. 1 cut and at scattered localities to the northwest, 

cobaltiferous manganese oxides' occur as fracture fillings and 

stringers and replace brecciated ferruginous Weisner quartzite. 

At No. 2 cut there are a few nodules of manganese oxide. The 

stringers of manganese oxide, the thickest of which are about 

li inches thick, are sparingly distributed through a zone 5 

feet in maximum thickness. This mineralized zone is nearly 

vertical, being parallel to the bedding of the rocks. The 

prospect pits to the north and west of No. 2 cut contain clay 

and chert as well- as quartzite, and may be in the weathered 

residuum of the Shady dolomite. One of these pits was worked 

for brown iron ore. .

A sample of manganese oxide collected by the writer from 

the beds exposed in the face of No. 1 cut was found on analysis 

to contain 4.S3 percent cobalt; the manganese oxides in No. 2 

cut and in the prospects to the north contain much less.
278 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943

Hughes prospect. The Hughes prospect is located in the 

sec. 20, T. 12 S., R. 11 E. It was prospected about 1930 by 

digging two small pits 3 to 4 feet deep, one about 4 by 10 feet 

in horizontal dimensions and the other about 5 feet in diameter.

Manganese minerals here occur as fracture fillings and partially replace chert. The chert suggests that the deposit is 

in the Knox dolomite, but if so it is probably near a fault 

contact between the Knox dolomite and the Weisner quartzite. 

The ratio of manganese oxide to chert seems to be higher here 

than at some other Rock Run localities, and if it is found that 

this type of material . can be worked for cobalt and manganese, 

some further prospecting here to determine the extent and grade 

of the deposit might be worth while. A composite sample of 

manganese oxide collected by the writer from the dximps of the 

two pits contained 1.66 percent cobalt.

Fope-Hughes prospect. The Pope-Hughes prospect is in the 

NEiNE£ sec. 20, T. 12 S., R. 11 E. About 1938, three shallow 

pits were dug here, 7 feet apart and each about 5 feet in diameter.

The manganese oxide is disseminated in chert, which is 

probably a part of the Knox dolomite. Fairly abundant manganese-oxide float was observed to extend for a distance of 250 

feet west of the prospect pits. A composite sample of manganese oxide from the dumps of the prospect pits contains 0.88 

percent cobalt.

Augusta minea. The Augusta mines are principally old iron 

mines, first operated about 1890, but a manganese mine near the 

east line of the NE^ sec. 33, T. 12 S., R. 11 E., was worked 

about 1918. The ore, about two carloads. of which were shipped, 

is said to have been sacked, and hauled by mules to the railroad at Borden Springs. The workings consist of three open 

cuts and several smaller pits extending up the hillside for a 

distance of 200 feet.

Weisner. quartzite is exposed at several places near the 

pits. Manganese oxide fills fractures, partially replaces 

sandstone, and occurs^ as nodules in clay which may have been 

derived from the Shady dolomite. An analysis of a specimen 

collected near these pits by T. G. Andrews showed 1.37 percent 

cobalt. Another specimen collected by Andrews from a locality 

1,000 feet to the southwest contained 0.53 percent cobalt.

Daughdrill prospect. The Daughdrill property, in the

sec. 3, T. 12 S., R. 11 E., has been prospected by W. E. 

and W. A. Daughdrill of Alabama City. A pit about 15 feet in 

diameter and originally 12 feet deep has been dug on the southwest side of a hill, and on the southeast side of the-hill is a 

trench about 50 feet long and 5 to 7 feet deep (see pi. 54).

The manganese oxide in the circular pit occurs as veins in 

fractures and as thin incrustations on the Weisner quartzite. 

The ratio of manganese oxides to sandstone and quartzite is 

very low. The trench is in a mantle of yellow clay containing 

a little iron oxide, which is thinly coated with manganese 

oxide. A composite sample of manganese oxides obtained from 

the pit contained 1.96 percent cobalt, and qualitative tests on 

the manganese oxides ^rom the trench indicate they also have an 

appreciable cobalt content.

North of Bluff ton. - North of Bluff ton, in the SE^SE^- sec.

2, T. 12 S., R. 11 E., there are thin stringers of manganese

oxide in the Weisner quartzite. No prospecting for manganese
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 279

ore has been done here, although a few shallow prospect pits 

have been made in looking for iron ore. Some unusually good 

exposures were noted,that show manganese oxides filling fractures and crevices and replacing quartzite. At one place a 3- 

foot zone in the quartzite contains several manganese-oxide 

stringers ranging from an eighth of an inch to an inch wide. 

The combined thickness of the stringers, however, is only about 

2 inches, so that the total quantity of manganese oxide is very 

small. A composite sample of manganese oxide obtained from the 

zone contains 0.56 percent cobalt.

German prospects. The German prospects consist of several 

open cuts in the N^SWi sec. 1, T. 12 S., R. 11.E., which have 

been worked for iron and manganese ores. The property was 

worked about 1930, and some prospecting was done in 1942. It 

is reported that about a carload of manganese ore has been 

shipped.

On the east side of a small draw (see pi. 53) are several 

pits. The lowest pit is in clay and sandstone. The manganese 

ore on the dump is of low grade, containing much silica and 

iron. About 100 feet up the hill to the northeast, in VJeisner 

quartzite, is a trench 40 feet long with a maximum depth of 15 

feet. The trench follows a fault that strikes N. 9° W. and 

dips 80° E. Manganese oxide fills and partially replaces the 

quartzite, but the ratio of manganese oxide to qxiartzite is 

very low. A sample of the manganese oxide"contained 0.61 percent cobalt.

The open cut on the west side of the small draw is also in 

brecciated sandstone. Here iron oxide is much more abundant 

than manganese oxide.

McCollum prospect. The McCollum property is about l£ miles 

east of the Alabama-Georgia line and about the same distance 

south of the north line of Polk County (see pi. 53). Considerable prospecting was done in 1918,157 but not much ore has been 

shipped. There are many prospect pits on the southeast slope 

of a northeast-trending ridge, in an area extending along the 

side of the ridge for about 800 feet and lying at an altitude 

of about 1,000 feet.

Manganese oxides occur as incrustations on the Knox dolomite, and some of them replace the rock. The ore is very 

siliceous, as shown by published analyses .]A/ At the southwest 

end of the deposit there is some red clay containing pellets of 

manganese oxide, which is locally called gravel ore. A sample 

of manganese oxide concentrate washed from the clay was analyzed and found to contain 0.24 percent cobalt. The middle and 

northeastern parts of the deposit contain manganese oxide, 

which forms coatings and fracture fillings and partially 

replaces pieces of chert embedded in the clay. A"sample of 

manganese oxide from the middle of the deposit contained 1.14 

percent cobalt, and one from the eastern part contained 0.65 

percent cobalt. A sample from the middle of the deposit was 

found by X-ray determination to consist of hollandite and 

lithiophorite.

13/ Hull, J. P. D., LaForge, Laurence, end Crene, W. R., Report on the 

manganese deposits of Georgia: Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 35, pp. 160-162, 

1919.

L4/ Idem, p. 161.
280 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943 

Dulin mine, Alabama

The Dulin mine is located in the NE^SW^ sec. 14, T. 18 S., 

R. 8 E., in Clay County, Ala. It is described, as the Shadix 

property,- by Prouty 15/ as follows: "At this place there is 

both a bed of bog manganese and a fairly wide (40 feet) zone of 

phyllite mineralized with stringers, veins, and lenses of psilomelane. This deposit was tested prior to 1917, and was 

worked some during 1917-18. One drawback to the ore is' the 

difficulty of separating it from the phyllite with which it is 

associated. The pure ore analyzes from 52 to 58 percent manganese. "

The workings consist of two circular pits 15 to 20 feet in 

diameter and about 20 feet deep. The pits are about 12 feet 

apart and are connected by a 'tunnel. They were half filled 

with water when visited, so that part of the old workings could 

not be examined. A drift, presumably short, could be seen to 

extend westward from the west pit, and an adit has been driven 

10 feet eastward from the east pit. About 100 feet south of 

these pits- are several shallow pits and a shaft.

The manganese mineralization at the Dulin mine is quite 

different-from.the manganese silicate type usually found in the 

crystalline rocks. No manganese silicates were found on the 

dump or in the accessible workings. The mineralization appears 

to be similar to that of, the manganese deposits in the Weisner 

quartzite, the manganese oxide having been transported by 

ground water and deposited in fractures and open spaces in the 

country rock; the manganese content will therefore probably 

decrease with depth. A composite sample from several "veins" 

in the upper part of the west pit contained 0.97 percent 

cobalt. An X-ray determination showed that the sample consisted mostly of lithiophorite, with a little hollandite.

^

Greasy Cove, Alabama

The Greasy Cove deposit is on property owned by Mrs. Rogers 

of Attalla, Ala. It is located 6 miles southwest of Attalla, 

on the top of a hill having an altitude of 965 feet,16/ in the 

SE^SWi sec. 12, T. 12 S., R. 4 E. It is reached by a trail 

leading from J. E. Blackmon's house in the NW-|NE-|- sec. 14, 

T. 12 S., R. 4 E. Mr. Blackmon reports that about 100 tons of 

ore has been taken out, and that the last mining was done about 

10 years ago. There is an 18-foot sha£t, now caved, near the 

middle of the deposit, and about 125 feet to the north-northeast 

is the portal of an inclined tunnel that pitches 17° southward. 

About 50 and 75 feet southwest of the shaft are the caved portals of two northeast-trending adits. In addition to these 

underground workings there are' several small prospect pits.

The manganese occurs in thin lenses and small irregular 

bodies of oxide in weathered chert and clay of the Fort Payne 

chert. As the deposit lies on the top of a small hill, its 

lateral extent is very limited. A specimen collected by E. P. 

Burchard was found to have a cobalt content of 0.96 percent.

IS/ Prouty, W. F., Geology and mineral resources of Clay County: Alabama Geol. Survey County Report 1, p. 70, 1923.

16/ U. S. Geol. Survey, Greasy Cove, Ale., topographic map, advance 

sheet.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN »40 PLATE 54

DAUGHDRILL PROSPECT, sec.3,T.I2S,R.IIE.

EXPLANATION

Coboltiferous manganese oxide, occurring

as fracture fillings and incrustations

on sandstone and quortzite

Strike and dip of beds 

Strike and dip of overturned beds

Open cut

o 

Pit

"r.^.*

Dump

W.C.POPE PROSPECT, .£ sec9.T.I2S., R.IIE.

R.STOCKDALE PROSPECT, W. sec.28, T. 12S, RUE. W.L.MOORE PROSPECT, N E^sec.3l,T.I2S,R.IIE.

COBALTIFEROUS MANGANESE PROSPECTS IN THE ROCK RUN AREA..CHEROKEE COUNTY, ALA.

100 0 100 300 Feet

Contour interval 10 feet 

(Datum approximate sea level)

A.E.Engel 

Oct. 1942

582081 O - 44 (Pace p. 280)
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 281 

Cedartown, Georgia, manganiferous pellet deposits

Low-grade manganese of the kind variously called gravel, 

shot, or pellet ore occurs at several localities in the Cedartown area. The pellets are in a red clay, from which they can 

readily be separated by washing. Several of the deposits contain a considerable quantity of manganese-oxide pellets, but 

the manganese content of the pellets is .below normal market 

demands. The Gibson and Berkstresser deposits in Ployd County 

and the Penland Hill, Potts Hill, and Red Hill deposits in Polk 

County were examined and are estimated to contain a total of v 

16,000 tons of concentrates. Of this amount, 13,500 tons is in 

the Gibaon, Penland Hill, and Berkstresser deposits, which,are 

described below. The cobalt content of the pellets in these 

three deposits ranges between 0.2 and 0.5 percent.

Gibaon mine. The Gibson mine is 7 miles north of Cedartown 

and 6 miles east of Cave Spring, in Floyd County, Ga. It is 

said to be on lot 835, 3d district, 4th section, on property 

now owned by Glen York and R. L. Norton of Cedartown. The map 

(pi. 55) also shows part of the M. F. Hullinax property on lot 

836, which adjoins lot 835 on the west. The Gibson nine contains one of the Reynolds Mountain deposits, described by 

Watson,IT/ and it is part of the Wood and Reynolds property, 

described by Hull and others.lg/

Here for some years Mr. Gibson obtained manganese-oxide ore 

from open cuts, mining, sorting, and cobbing the ore by hand. 

Early in 1942, York and Norton made the long cut in the red 

clay to the southeast of the old workings with a power shovel, 

and hauled a few truckloads to ah iron-ore log washer for a 

trial test. In the spring of that year test pits were put down 

by the Work Projects Administration Mineral Resources Survey. 

Most of the pits were between 4 and 8 feet deep, but as they 

have been back-filled they could not be examined.

Two types of manganese ore occur here. In one type, manganese oxide replaces and fills voids in chert beds of the Knox 

dolomite. It is this type of ore that has been worked by handmethods. The other type, known locally as gravel ore, consisting of pellets, fragments, and concretionary nodules of manganese oxide in red clay, has not yet been mined, except for an 

experimental half carload which was washed in an iron-ore log 

washer.

The chert-manganese-oxide deposits contain some massive 

chert, but for the most part the chert is severely brecciated 

and mixed with clay. It is predominantly fresh, crisp, and 

hard, showing little evidence of leaching of silica. The manganese oxide occurs in irregular masses and in fracture fillings, and there are some pockets of clean high-grade ore. 

Stringers of wad and soft pyrolusite also occur in the clay and 

chert. The chert-manganese-oxide type of deposit underlies the 

pellet deposit. It is not exposed along the lower slopes of 

the hill, but lies a few feet below the surface along the hilltop. (See photograph, pi. 50, B).

The pellet-bearing clay is a roughly lens-shaped mass, 

thickest along the slope of the hill below the crest, where the

17/ Watson, T. L., A preliminary report on the manganese deposits of 

Georgia: Georgia Oeol. Survey Bull. 14, pp. 119-122, 1908.

18/ Hull, J. P. D., LaForge, Laurence, and Crane, W. R., op. clt., 

pp. 167-169.
282 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943

thickness in two test pits is over 22 feet, and thinning out 

toward the crest of the hill and the bottom of the valley, as 

shown in the cross section, plate 55. Laterally along the 

hillside the abundance of the pellets varies, probably reflecting variable extent of manganese mineralization in the underlying chert.

It seems evident that the pellets of manganese oxide have 

been derived from manganese oxide formerly in the chert. The 

upper part of the manganiferous chert grades into the pelletbearing clay. The transition zone is variable in thickness,, 

with a maximum thickness of 6 feet, and is characterized by an 

increased concentration of the more insoluble oxides of iron 

and manganese. The chert is altered, in this zone, to soft 

tripoli-like masses, commonly coated and partially impregnated 

with manganese oxide.

The pellets range in diamete? from 1 millimeter to 3 inches. 

Most of the large pellets and many of the small ones have cores 

of chert or crystalline quartz. Many of the small pellets are 

concen'trically layered, which indicates that they have been 

built up by an accretionary process. The deep red color of the 

clay in which the pellets occur suggests a residual concentration of iron as well as manganese in this surficial material. 

Analyses of the pellets show that they contain about 7 percent 

of iron.

A small sample of clay from the face of the recent large 

cut was washed and found to contain roughly 8 percent of pellets by volume. A sample of the pellets was found to contain 

24 percent manganese, 6.6 percent iron, and 0.3 percent cobalt. 

A similar sample from the upper 13 feet of a 22-foot test pit, 

100 feet northeast of the mouth of the red clay cut, contained 

roughly 5 percent of pellets, which were 14 percent manganese 

and 7.5 percent iron. The half carload of pellet concentrates 

that was shipped is said by Glen York to have contained 26 percent manganese. A sample of .manganese oxide from the chert was 

analyzed and found to contain 0.64 percent cobalt, but not all 

of the manganese oxide in the chert carries this much cobalt.

The main body of pellet-bearing material is southeast of 

the hilltop, as shown in plate 55. The deposit north of the 

hill is probably less rich, smaller in area, and not as deep. 

The small area northwest of the hill is very lean and is only 

a few feet deep.

Berkstresser property. The H. L. Berkstresser property is 

7 miles north of Cedartown and 1-g- miles west of the Gibson mine. 

It is said to be on lots 840 and 841, 3d district, 4th section. 

Some prospect pits have been dug on the property but no mining 

has been done. A carload of manganese nodules is said, however, to have been picked up on the surface and shipped.

The deposit consists of manganese-oxide pellets in a residual red clay. It is presumably underlain by the Knox dolomite. 

Except for one prospect pit 5-g- feet deep, the test pits now 

open are no more than 4 feet deep and most of them do not reach 

the base of the pellet-bearing clay. It is reported that 36 

test holes from 10 to 35 feet deep were put down in 1924, and

that in some of them the pellets extended to a depth of 20 feet. 

Present exposures in prospects are not sufficient to determine 

accurately the extent of the deposit; the approximate extent 

shown in plate 55 is largely inferred from the distribution of 

pellets on the surface. According to rough field estimates, 

the pellets make up from 4 to 8 percent of the clay. Of the 

few exposures available, the one showing the most abundant
COBALT-BEARING MANGANESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. 283

pellets was in the 4-foot pit just beyond the northwest corner 

of the cotton field. Near the top of the hill to the west of 

the deposit there is abundant float of high-grade nanganese ore 

in a cultivated field.

A single analysis of pellets washed from a 4-foot section 

of clay near the middle of the deposit showed 23 percent manganese, 7.2 percent iron, and 0.48 percent cobalt.

Penland Hill. The Penland Hill property of Charles H. Fite 

is 8 miles west of Cedartown and 1^ miles south of Etna, in 

Polk-County, Ga. It is said to be on lot 238, 17th district,^ 

3d section, and its location is shown on the Rock Run map, 

plate 53. No mining has been done on it, but 38 test pits were 

put down in 1941 by the Work Projects Administration Minerals 

Survey, and these were still open at the time of the present 

examination. Four of them were from 10 to 23-g feet deep, and 

34 were from 2 to 5 feet deep.

The pellets occur in a residual red clay, similar in 

appearance to the clay at the Gibson mine. The deposit is on 

the top of a gently rounded hill. Quartzite, apparently the 

Weisner quartzite, crops out on the south end of the hill, and 

also on the hill 1,200 feet to the west-northwest. It is 

therefore inferred that the pellet-bearing clay is derived from 

weathering of the Shady dolomite, which overlies the Weisner 

quartzite.

The location and depth of most of the prospect pits and the 

thickness of the pellet-bearing clay exposed in them are shown 

in plate 55. The horizontal extent of the pellet-bearing clay 

can be determined with a fair degree of accuracy, although the 

boundary between pellet-bearing clay and that without pellets 

is gradational. Since few of the pits were extended to the 

base of the pellet-bearing clay, the thickness of the deposit 

at most places is not known. In two of the holes, however, the 

deposit is seen to be over 23 feet thick.

Rough field estimates indicate that the concentration of 

pellets in the clay varies both laterally and vertically, ranging from 3 to 10 percent by volume. A composite sample, made 

up of the good-grade pellets from several pits, contained 28.2 

percent manganese and 0.29 percent cobalt, which is thought to 

represent approximately the best grade of material that could 

be produced in any qxiantity by concentration. The manganese 

content of an average pellet concentrate, however, is considerably less. A pellet concentrate from pit No. 17 contained 16 

percent manganese, 7.9 percent Iron, and only 0.1 percent 

cobalt.

Coble, Hickman County. Tennessee

According to S. D. Harper, who lives near Coble, cobalt was 

first discovered in this region about 1905, in a manganese 

specimen sent to the Thomas A. Edison laboratory by H. C. Lewis. 

Mr, Edison then visited the area personally, and soon thereafter exploratory work, in which Mr. Harper was employed, was 

done on several properties near Coble to see If a body of 

cobalt ore could be found.

One of these, the Nunnelly property, is 2 miles by airline 

west-southwest of Coble. Having been described by Burchard.19/

19/ Burchard, E. F., The brown iron ores of the Western Highland Rim, 

Tenn.: Tennessee Geol. Survey Bull. 39, pp. 115-116, 1934.
284 STRATEGIC MINERALS INVESTIGATIONS, 1943

it need not be described here, except to say that manganese 

oxide occurs in a small fracture and in a few vertical seams in 

weathered Port Payne chert. Burchard gives an analysis of a 

sample of manganese oxide, showing 0.81 percent cobalt oxide 

and 1.48 percent nickel oxide. A sample of similar material 

recently analyzed by the Tennessee Geological Survey contained 

0.81 percent metallic cobalt and 1.02 percent nickel.20/

Another deposit is on the Bates farm, 4% miles by airline 

southwest of Coble. It is prospected by means of a side-hill 

cut 40 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 8 feet in maximum depth. 

Manganese oxide forms incrustations on Port Payne chert; it is 

mostly confined to a horizontal layer from 6 inches to 1 foot 

thick. Some of the chert coated with manganese oxide has been 

mined but has not been shipped. A chemical teat indicates that 

the manganese oxide contains much less cobalt than the Nunnelly 

samples.

At the old Chessor mine, which lies 5-g- miles south of Coble 

and half a mile southwest of Coble Cemetery, manganese ore was 

mined many years ago for pottery use. Mr. Edison is reported 

to have had some exploration work done here at the time the 

other Coble deposits were prospected, and in 1940 a small prospect pit was dug by Omar Barber. An analysis of manganese 

oxide from the Barber pit by the Tennessee Geological Survey 

showed 0.13 percent cobalt and 0.53 percent nickel.2JL/ The 

manganese oxide seems to be mostly confined to the upper few 

feet of weathered Fort Payne chert and clay, and it is probably 

spotty and of very limited lateral extent.

Silver Bluff. South Carolina

Asbolite or earthy cobalt oxide, with 24 percent cobalt 

oxide and 76 percent manganese oxide, is reported by Dana 22/ 

to occur near Silver Bluff, S. C. Silver Bluff is on the east 

bank of the Savannah River, 2 miles southwest of the post 

office of Hankinson (now Kathwood), shown on the Augusta quadrangle topographic map. A pottery concern of Liverpool, 0., 

investigated the Silver Bluff occurrence 20 years ago or more 

and did some prospecting in the hope of finding asbolite or 

cobaltiferous manganese oxide on the old C. C. F. Hammond property, now owned by F. T. Starr of Philadelphia. They failed, 

however, to find a workable deposit of cobalt ore.

The rock exposures at Silver Bluff show about 15 feet of 

coarse sandstone and fine-grained angular conglomerate, underlain by 5 to 8 feet of blue clay which extends down to the 

water of the Savannah River. The only cobaltiferous material 

found by the writer consists of a few masses a few inches 

across in the sandstone, which have a dark m'anganiferous

cementing material that contains a little cobalt.

Manganese-silicate veins of Alabama. Georgia. 

South Carolina, and North Carolina

Seven deposits composed of veins of manganese silicates 

were examined to see whether they contained any cobalt. These

20/ Wbitletch, G. I., personal communication.

21/ Idem.

22/ Dana, E. S., Systen of mineralogy, 6th ed., p. 258, 1892.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 940 PLATE 55

INDEX MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF THE CEDARTOWN 

MANGANIFEROUS PELLET DEPOSITS 

i o i sMiles

EXPLANATION

Knox dolomite

li

W.RA. prospect pit 5 

(only 17 of a total of 42 pits are shown)

Approximate limit of manganiferous 

pellet deposit

Strike and dip of beds

Open cut or prospect pit

Mine dump

GIBSON MINE AND SECTION ON REYNOLDS MOUNTAIN 

FLOYD COUNTY, GEORGIA

Contour interval 10 feet 

(Datum approximate sta level)

N 

A

EXPLANATION

Di./ C*'

Approximate limit of manganiferous 

pellet deposit

W.P.A. prospect pit 27, total depth e.s feet 

thickness of pellet-bearing cloy* feet

THE PENLAND HILL PROPERTY OF CHAS. H. FITE

POLK COUNTY, GEORGIA

Contour interval 5 feet 

(Datum approximatesta Itval)

/' I

Clay containing 

«* '

° *'

\ 

7°

/

./-

/ /

\ manganiferous pallets /

\ Catton 

/"field

EXPLANATION 

QJ Prospect pit, showing depth in feet

SKETCH MAP OF

THE H.LBERKSTRESSER PROPERTY, 

FLOYD COUNTY, GEORGIA

Section A-A

MAPS OF THE CEDARTOWN, GA., MANGANIFEROUS PELLET DEPOSITS

too o 100 3ooFeet

W.G.Pierce and A.E. Engel 

Mopped in Oct. 1942

582081 O - 44 (Face p. 284)
 U £>- "., ; -;H-:^^yr--.v-,

COBALT-BEARING MA'N.Q^ESE DEPOSITS, ALA.-GA.-TENN. ; 285

deposits were: the Watts prospect, in the SW^ sec. 12, T. 20 

S., Rl'6»E.-, Glay' County, jAla.; the Thos. Peoples prospect and 

the G. C. Miller-prospect/"both in sec.'16, T. 18 S..,--,R. 9 E., 

Clay County, Ala-.;, the old Douglass -prospects, .now the Goldln 

property, 2- miles north of Draketown, Ga.; the Colley, Lincolnton, or Boykin mine, 3 miles east of Lincolnton, Ga.; the 

McCormick mine, on the northeast outskirts of McCormick, S. C.; 

and the old Freeman mine, now the Tar Heel .Manganese Co. 

mine,23/ 12 miles west of Mt. Airy, N. C. None of the manganese minerals in these'deposits were found to contain more than 

a trace of cobalt. « '^

22/ Jones, A. 1. , Manganese-bearing veins in southwestern Virginie: 

Econ. Geology, vol. 37, no. 5, p. 41E, 1942. ' O