DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

ALBERT B. FALL, Secretary

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director 

Bulletin 737

MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE

BY

G. W. STOSE AND F. C. SCHRADER

Prepared in cooperation with the 

TENNESSEE STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
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CONTENTS.

4

Page.

Scope of the report_________ _ _ ___ 1

Acknowledgments___ _____ ____-___ ,1

Previous work______ __ _ _______ 2

Geography of the region_____(_ ____ &

Surface forms________ ________ 3

Drainage -________ ___ 0

The manganese deposits___________________________ 8

Manganese minerals ___________ _________________ 8

Psilomelane _______________ __________________ 9

Hausinannite _ ___ _ _________ 11

Braunite______________________________________ 11

Manganite_. __________________________________ 12

Pyrolusite_____________________________________ 12

Wad_;_______________________________________ 13

Ferruginous manganese and inanganiferous iron ores_________ 13

Rhodochrosite ____________ _____________ 14

Mineral association ______ _ _ _ _ 15

Uses of manganese _____ _ : ' '_'__ _ 16

Rocks with which the ores are associated____ .________ ___ 16

Types of ore deposits !____ _ _ __ 21

Carbonate ores in older Cambrian dolomite- ____________ 22

Oxide ores in Erwin quartzite. ' _ _ __ 24

Oxide ores in Shady dolomite _ 25

Oxide ores in Watauga shale : __ ___ 28

Oxide ores in Knox dolomite_ _ _ ;. 29

Oxide ores in Tellico sandstone and Holston marble ________ 29

Oxide ores in Fort Payne chart 31

Deposits along fault planes__ 31

Oxide ores in terraced stream gravels ___ _ __ 32

Method of mining______________ _ _ 32

Mines and prospects_________ :_' 33

Production ________________ .__________________ 34

Johnson County ___ ___ _ 36

» Shady Valley district _________________________ 37

Reynolds mine________ _ _ _ _ _ 37

Neeley mine______ L 38

Sutherland prospect _ 39

 Hogback mine______ - 39

Davis mine_______ - _ 39

M. E. King prospect_ 42

Maxwell mine___ _ _ 42

Wright mine _______________-_________ 43

Osborn and Hopper prospects- _ __ 44

m

258087
CONTENTS.

Mines and prospects Continued.

Johnson County Continued. pag«.

Mountain City district ____ __________________ 44

Taylor Valley mine________________________ 44

Silver Lake mine___ _ _ __________ 47

Wills mine______________________________ 49

Silver Lake and Wills prospects________________ 50

Cornett prospects__________________________ 50 »

Wright prospect__________________________ 51

Nelson King prospect________________________ 51

Shouns prospect _________________:__________ 51

Doe Valley mine______________1___________ 51 *

Butler district ______________________________ 55

Proffit prospect______________________.____ 55

Wilson Hill mine_________________________ 55

Wagner prospect _________________.________ 59

Dry Run mine____________________________ 59

Watauga River mine_______________________ 62

Cable prospect _ __________________ 62

Goss mine ________ ___ _____________ 63

Moody prospect_________________________'._ 63

Carter County '. _ __ ________ 64

Butler district _________________ __ _ __________ 64

Elk mine __,.___________^_____ ______________ 64

Dubault prospect __ 65

Younce prospect- _ 65

Cobb Creek prospect ______ 66

Stony Creek district_____ ____ ______________ __ 66

Blevins mine 66

Hatcher prospect_^-_._ .__ . ______________ 67

Grindstaff prospect________________________ 67

Other prospects in Stony Creek valley____________ 67

Blue Spring mine _ 68

Keenburg prospect_______ 69

Hampton district__ ___ _ ______________ 70

Gardens Bluff mine 70

Teaser & Ray prospect _ _ _______ 71

Cedar Hill mine______ ____ ____________ 72

Valley Forge mine________________________ 73

Jenkins prospect 75

Hyder prospects . 75 i

Winter mine 75 ;

Patton mine_____ _ 77

Treadway prospect 78 *" i

Hodge prospect__________ _ _ 78 j

Unicoi district ____________________________ 78 j

T. J. Brummett mine 78 1

Unicoi County 81 * s'

Unicoi district ________ 81 j

Susan Brummett mine._ _ _ 81 J

Britt mine_______________________________ 82

Unicoi prospects__________ ^ 83

Bumpass Cove district___________________ 83

Embree prospect_______________ _ 83
CONTENTS. V

Mines and prospects Continued. Pago.

Washington County___ 86

Greene. Couuty__ __ 86

Haysville district 87

Haysville prospect >._ - 87

Sylvia prospect_ _ 88

Lamb prospect . 89

Payne prospect_____ 89

Cocke County __ _ 89

Del Rio district____________ - 00

Wood mine________-_ _ 90

Adams mine______ - _____________ 91

Blanchard mine_____ _ : 91

Waddell mine ____________ - 92

Long Creek prospect 93

Huff prospect ____ 93

Newport district_______ _ 94

Newport mine________ _ 9*

Jones & McMahon prospect- _ 96

Raines mine_______ - 97

Hamblen County __ _ 97

Boatman Ridge district___ _ _ _ ' 97

Lotspeich and Noeton prospects __ 97

Mays and Ivy prospects ____ __________ -*. 97

Curry prospect _____ _ __ _ _ 98

Grainger County____________________________ _ 98

Rutledge district _______^____________________ 98

Rutledge mine___________ _ ____ _____ 98

Harmon prospect_____________-__________ 100

Young and Swann prospects__________________ 100

Wasbburn district ___________________________ 101

Wallen prospect_____ __________________ 101

Frye prospect ___________________________ 101

Jefferson County __ ______________________ 101

Jefferson City district__________________________ 102

Currens prospect__________________________ 102

Sevier County __________1________________ 102

East Fork district____________________________ 102

East Fork mine___________________________ 102

Blount County_________________________________ 105

Tuckaleeche Cove district_______________________ 106

Townsend prospect_________________________ 106

Chilhowee Mountain district_______________________ 106

Sellers prospect_________________________ 106

McMurray and Miller prospects_________________ 107

Greenback district___________________________ 107

Williams prospect_________________________ 107

Curtis, Aiken, and associated prospects____________ 107

Louisville district _____________________________ 108

Louisville mine____________________________ . 108

Louisville prospect __________________________ 110
TI CONTENTS.

Mines and prospects Contained. Page.

Knox County_________________________.._____ 110

Knoxville district____________________________ 110

Fitzgerald prospect __________________:______ 110

Green and neighboring prospects________:________ 111

Copper Ridge district______________1___________ 111

Haworth prospect__________________________ 111

Anderson County _______________________________' 111

Pine Ridge district____________________________ 112

Bright & Howell prospect_______ ___________ 112

Wallace prospect __________________________ 112

Loudon County-____________________ _________' 112

Loudon district__ __________ _____________ 112

Gates prospect__________1___ _______,___ 112

Fork Creek Knobs district________ _ ________ 113

Galbraith mine_________________________ 113

Monroe County________:______ _ ________ 114

Fork Creek Knobs district___ _______ ________ 115

Mills prospect________________-________________ 115

Sweetwater district_________________-_ ______ ___ 115

McGuire mine __________________________ 115

Preston prospect _____ 119

Vida mine______________ _ ____ _ __ _ 119

Ewing mine_______________________ ____ 120

Heiskell mine________________________ _ _______ 120

Dickey prospect __________________ ___ 122

McDonald prospect ________________________ 122

Madisonville district_________________________ 123

Kimbrough prospect _________________________ 123

Tellico Plains district___________________________ 123

Ervin prospect ___________ __ 123

Cardin prospect_____________________________ 124

Groundhog Mountain prospect________________ 124

Beaty and Kilby prospects____________________ 126

McMinn County _________________________________ 126

Sweetwater district______________________________ 126

Hansard prospect______________ __ _ 126

Athens district______________________________ 127

Gilbert prospect ____________________________ 127

J. H. Jones prospect_________________ ____ 127

McMinn Ridge district______ __ _ __ 127

Pierce prospect _______ ___ _ _ _ _ _ 127

Reed and Webb prospects____________________ 128

Charleston district_________________________ 128

Bishop and associated prospects - _ _ 128

Bradley County ____________________________ _ 128

Charleston district- ____ ___ _ __: 129

Underwood mine __________________________ 129

Cleveland district __________________________ 130

Hambright mine _i_________ _________ 130

M. V. Jones prospect_________________________ 1.33

Sloan prospect ______________^___________ 134

D. A. M. mine. __ _ _ _ 134

Lord mine____________________________ 136
ILLUSTRATIONS. VII

Mines and prospects Continued. 

Bradley County Continued.

Cleveland district Continued. Page.

Snyder prospect __________ ___-_ _ 138

Hannah prospect ________________________ 139

Gee prospect ____________________. _ 139

White Oak Mountain district_____________________ 139

White Oak Mountain mine______:______________ 139

Brown and Wolf prospects___'.'.__________ _____ 142

List of mines and prospects I !____________;___ ____ 143

Index______________:_________________________ 151

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

PLATE I. Relief map of east Tennessee and adjacent part of North Carolina __________________________.,_______ 8

II. Nodular psilomelane in botryoidal clusters: A, Large elongate 

cluster, called " grape ore," from Shouns prospect, near 

Mountain City, Tenn.; B, Small rounded cluster from Mineral 

Ridge mine, Vu___,_________________________ 8

III. Rodlike forms of psilomelane: A, Radiate cluster of smooth 

rods, some of which are hollow, from Dry Run mine, Tenn.; 

B, Radiate cluster of solid rods, from Sellers mine, Va.; C, 

Irregular branching cluster, from Mount Torry mine, Va.; 

D, Single tapering rod resembling a stalactite, from Mount 

Torry mine, Va_____________________ , 8

IV. Nodular psilomelane attached at base to a thin plate of ore: 

A, From Bell mine, near Newcastle, Va.; B, From Mount 

Torry mine, near Basic, Va.; (7, From Rutledge mine, Tenn_ 9 

V. A, Section of a nodule of psilomelane the interior of which has 

been broken into polygonal pyramids by radial shrinkage 

cracks, from Mount Torry mine, near Basic, Va.; B, Polished 

section of a nodule of psilomelane from Red Brush mine, near 

Newcastle, Va., showing irregular radial and concentric shrinkage cracks which have been filled by finer-grained psilomelane; 

(7, Two varieties of psilomelane in ore replacing chert, from 

Groundhog Mountain prospect, Tenn.; D, Ferruginous man 

ganese ore, a mixture of nodular psilomelane and rust-coated 

manganiferous iron ore, from Mount Torry mine, Va____ 10 

VI. A, Crystalline manganite lining cavities in pitted psilomelane, 

Bishop mine, near Sugar Grove, Va.; B, Blacled crystals of 

pyrolusite, from Powells Fort mine, near Woodstock, Va.; C, 

Globular psilomelane nodules inclosed by crystalline manganite, from Powells Fort mine, Va_________________ 10 

VII. A, Radiate lustrous fibrous manganite, commonly called " needle 

ore," surrounding a core of dense psilomelane, from Embree 

mine, Tenn.; B, Polished surface of concentrically banded 

dense psilomelane and associated crystalline manganite, from 

Cook mine, near Walnut Grove, Ala_______________ 10 

VIII. Concentric layers of dense psilomelane and finely laminated 

lustrous manganite, shown on polished surfaces of ore from 

Compton mine, near Cornpton, Va________________ 10
VIII ILLUSTRATIONS.

0

Page.

PLATE IX. A, Pyrolusite crystallized in plumose form in a narrow crevice

in sandstone, from Mineral Ridge mine, near Zepp, Va.; B, 

Earthy compact wad traversed by a sigmoid band of similar 

composition but having a rodlike comb structure and radiate 

arrangement, from Doe Valley mine, Tenn___________ 1<)

X. A, Polished surface of manganese carbonate ore from East Fork 

mine, east of Sevierville, Tenn.; B, Photomicrograph of manganese carbonate ore showing concentric zonal structure in 

rhombic crystals, from East Fork mine, Teun_________ 11.

XI. A, Residual clay of Shady dolomite banded by incipient impregnation of manganese oxide along thin crenulated porous 

layers, from Winter mine, Tenn.; B, Manganese oxide segregated into dark specks and incipient nodules of psilomelane, 

replacing residual clay of Knox dolomite, from Rutledge mine, 

near Rutledge, Tenn________________________ 30

XII. Psilomelane replacement of sandstone, from Doe Valley mine,

in Watauga shale, Johnson County, Tenn____________ 30

XIII. Unconformity between cross-bedded crystalline sandy limestone of the "Tellico" and underlying Holston marble in 

pits of D. A. M. mine, Bradley County, Tenn_________ 30

XIV. Casts and molds of fossils in iron ore associated with the manganese ore that has replaced fossil if erous siliceous limestone beds in the " Tellico sandstone, " from Hambright mine, 

southeast of Cleveland, Tenn___________________ 31

XV. A, "Birdshot" pebble'ore, consisting of shiny black pellets of 

manganese oxide in clay, from Louisville mine, Tenn.; B, 

Ferruginous pebble bed in fossiliferous crystalline limestone 

near the top of the Holston marble, from Heiskell mine, Tenu. 34

XVI. Geologic map of east Tennessee showing location of manganese mines and prospects and their relations to the geologic 

formations ______________________________ 34 

XVII. A, Pit of Silver Lake mine, Johnson County, Tenn., in terraced 

stream gravel; B, Hills composed of Watauga shale, which 

rise to uniform height and whose flat tops form part of an 

elevated old valley floor in Doe Valley, Tenn_______ _ 48 

XVIII. Scattered detached plumose nodules of magnetite and pyrolusite embedded in crystalline quartz, from shaft of Wilson. 

Hill mine, near Neva, Tenn____ __ 49

XIX. Feathery phantoms of manganese oxide in chalcedony, from

Thompson Hollow, 10 miles southwest of Front Royal, Va___ 58 

XX. A, Cellular psilomelane, made up of noded walls that may have 

formerly been crevice fillings in rock that has since been 

dissolved, from Elk mine, Tenn.; B, Photomicrograph of a 

section of feathery manganese phantoms in translucent chalcedony, surrounded by opaque banded chalcedony, from 

Thompson Hollow, 10 miles southwest of Front Royal, Va 58

XXI. A, Open workings of Dry Run mine, near Butler, Tenn.; B, 

Large limestone pinnacles residual from subsurface erosion, 

exposed in deep surface workings of Embree mine, Bumpass 

Cove, Tenn _____ __ __ - 58

XXII. A, Irregular pit following mineralized sandy beds in decomposed 

Watauga shale, Elk mine, near Butler, Tenn.; B, Entrance to 

pit shown in A, showing hard unweathered folded Watauga 

shale in hanging wall , 59
ILLUSTRATIONS. IX

fage. 

PLATE XXIII. East Fork mine workings, East Fork. Tenn____________ 104

XXIV. Geologic map and structure sections of the Red Hills area

northeast of Sweetwater, Tenn_______ ________ 110

XXV. A, Pit of McGuire mine, near Sweetwater, Tenn.; B, 

Unconformity at base of Tellico sandstone near opening 

of McGuire mine, Tenn_______________ ____ 11.6

XXVI. Unconformity at base of Tellico sandstone near opening of

McGuire mine, Tenn___________ __ 11.7

XXVII. Geologic map and structure sections of the Red Hills area

southeast of Cleveland, Tenn_________________ 130

XXVIII. Hambright mine, near Cleveland, Tenn___________ 132

XXIX. Hambright mine workings, near Cleveland, Tenn______ 132

XXX. North wall of main pit of Lord mine, near Cleveland, Tenu_ 132 

FIGURE 1. Outline map of east Tennessee showing drainage system, boundaries of the Appalachian Valley, and names of the principal mountain ranges along the Appalachian Mountain front. 5

2. Outline map of east Tennessee showing areas in which manga- 

 > nese deposits are associated with certain rock formations- 23

3. Sketch sections along the Appalachian Mountain front showing

ideal structural relations where Shady dolomite is ore bearing- 26

4. Topographic map of Shady Valley district, showing location

of mines and prospects________________ 37

5. Sketch map of the vicinity of Davis mine, geologic section 

through the mine, and detailed section showing relation of 

ore-bearing clay to the basal arkosic beds of the Shady 

dolomite____________________________ __ 40

6. Topographic map of Mountain City district, showing location

of mines and prospects- _ __ _ ___ _____ 45

7.' Sketch map of the vicinity of Taylor Valley mine and geologic

section through the mine _______ _ _ _ ___ 40

8. Sketch map of the vicinity of Wills mine and geologic section

through the mine and adjacent quartzite knob__________ 49

9. Sketch plan of Doe Valley mine, showing purple shale breccia 

zones which are cut by the pit_________________

10. Sketches of walls of pit of Doe Valley mine___________

11. Topographic map of Butler district, showing location of manganese mines and prospects _ ________________ 55

12. Sketch map of the vicinity of Wilson Hill mine, geologic section 

across Wilson Hill, and detailed section of main pit of the 

mine_____________ __________________ 56

13. Sketch topographic map of the vicinity of Dry Run mine and

geologic section through mine pit________________ 60

14. Sketch plan and cross section of main pit of Dry Run mine__ 61

15. Sketch of face of Younce prospect pit, near Butler, Tenn., showing ore replacing thin sandy bed in Watauga shale_____ 65

16. Topographic map of Stony Creek district, showing location of

manganese mines and prospects_________________ 66

17. A, Geologic section through Hatcher pyrite mine and manganese 

prospect; B, Detailed section of base of Shady dolomite near 

Helenmode pyrite mine and Hatcher manganese prospect___ 68

18. Topographic map of Hampton district, showing location of

manganese mines and prospects _ ______________ 70

19. Sketch map of vicinity of Gardens Bluff mine__________ 71

20. Sketch map of vicinity of Cedar Hill mine____________ 72

21. Sketch map of vicinity of Valley Forge mine___________ 73
X . ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

FIGURE 22. Sketch map of vicinity of Winter and Patton mines and sketch

of the face of Winter mine pit _________________ 76

23. Sketch map of vicinity of T. J. Brummett mine and geologic

section through the mine____________________ 79

24. Topographic map of Unicoi district, showing location of nianganese mines and prospects___________________ 81

25. Sketch geologic map and section of Bumpass Cove, showing 

location of manganese and other metalliferous deposits, and 

geologic section across the cove_________________ 84

26. Sketch map of vicinity of Embree manganese prospect_____ 85

27. Sketch geologic section through Haysville prospects______ 87

28. Sketch map of .vicinity of Newport mine and sketch of face

of mine pit____________________-____ _ 95

29. Sketch map of vicinity of Rutledge mine and section of hill on

which the mine is situated____________________ 99

30. Sketch of face of Rutledge mine pit, showing three ore zones

separated by barren laminated and jointed yellow clay __ 100

31. Sketch map of vicinity of East Fork mine, showing mine openings and prospects along outcrop of carbonate ore zone___ 108

32. A, Sketch of north pit of East Fork mine, showing surface workings of oxide ore and tunnel into carbonate ore; B, Sketch 

of south pit of East Fork mine, showing upper bench____ 104

33. Sketch topographic map of vicinity of Louisville mine and

geologic section through mine pit-_______-_-__-_- 109

34. Sketch map of vicinity of Galbraith mine and geologic section

through mine pit _ ______________ _ ___ 114

35. Plan and cross sections of the workings of the McGuire mine,

showing gentle dip of ore bed to the southeast_________ 117

36. Sketch geologic section through north pit of Vida mine, showing the probable origin of the ore deposit in the filling of a 

caved-in channel______ _____-________-___-__ 120

37. Sketch geologic sections at the Heiskell mine__________ 121

38. Sketch topographic map of vicinity of Ervin prospect and geologic section through the prospect pit______._____ 124

39. Sketch map of vicinity of Groundhog Mountain prospect and

geologic section through Curd prospect pit__________ 125

40. Sketch geologic section through pit of Underwood mine___ 129

41. Sketch map of the Hambright mine, showing relation of ore 

bed to geologic formations, and geologic section across the 

mine pit, showing the vertical ore bed flattening out to the 

west_________________________________ 132

42. Sketch section through a pit of the D. A. M. mine, which follows down a weathered zone in a channel at the contact of 

the "Tellico" sandstone and the Holston marble and comes, 

out to daylight below_______________________ 135

43. Section of pit and shaft at north end of D. A. M. property, 

which follow a weathered zone along a vertical crevice in 

the " Tellico " sandstone_____________________ 135

44. Sketch section of main cut of Lord mine, showing ore bed at 

contact of " Tellico " sandstone and Holston marble and orebearing residual clay, and detailed sketch of one of the pinnacles of Holston marble in floor of pit, showing relation of 

overlying ore-bearing clay____________________ li>7

4r>. Sketch map and sections of vicinity of White Oak Mountain

mine _______________________________ 141
MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

By G. W. STOSE and F. C. SCHRADER.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT.

The area described in this report was surveyed under a cooperative 

agreement between the United States Geological Survey and the 

Geological Survey of Tennessee. Most of the field work was done 

in the summer of 1918. Arthur C. McFarlan, representing the State 

Geological Survey, examined some of the prospects, and his notes 

on these properties are embodied in the report under his name. A 

preliminary report on the area by the authors has been published by 

the State Geological Survey.1

All the operating mines and nearly all the prospects and known 

occurrences of manganese ore in this part of the State were visited, 

and the ore deposits were studied to determine their relation to the 

underlying rocks and to the surface features. The report comprises 

oiitlines of the topography and geology of the area, descriptions of 

the several types of ore deposits and of their relations to the topography and geology, and brief descriptions of the mines and prospects. 

In the detailed descriptions places where conditions are regarded as 

favorable for further prospecting are pointed out, and undeveloped 

tra.cts which seem worthy of careful testing by boring or test pits are 

described. A tabular summary of the known deposits in the area is 

appended for ready reference.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

When visiting the manganese deposits the writers were courteously 

received by the owners and operators, who gave them every possible 

assistance in their study of the mines and properties. At many places 

the writers were accompanied by men familiar with the properties, a 

courtesy that greatly facilitated the work. Special mention should 

be made of the Southern Manganese Corporation, Birmingham, Ala.,

1 Resources of Tennessee, vol. 8, Nos. 3 and 4, 1918.
2 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

whose president, Mr. Theodore Swann, arranged to have a representative act as guide at each mine and prospect from Mountain' City on 

the north to Sweetwater on the south. Mr. H. V. Maxwell, of Hampton, was especially helpful in the examination of deposits near that 

town and in Shady Valley. This cooperation by the mine owners is 

regarded not only as inspired by a desire to help the Government in 

its effort to increase the production of domestic manganese at a time 

when it was greatly needed for war purposes, but also as an expression of appreciation of the helpfulness of Government geologists, 

who freely gave their opinion as to the nature and relations of the 

ore bodies and offered advice as to further prospecting and methods 

of mining and handling the ore.

Much helpful inspiration was given by D. F. Hewett, who initiated 

the present study of the manganese deposits of the Southern States 

and who formulated the theory of secondary deposition of the ore 

during peneplanation, published in reports on Virginia.111

The geology of most of this area is mapped in geologic folios 

published by the United States Geological Survey, which were of 

great aid to the writers. The general relation of the ore deposits 

to the rock formations was readily determined from these maps and 

those in folios not yet published, but many details of geology had to 

be worked out in the field. The folios and the manuscript geologic 

maps used in this work are as follows, beginning at the north: Abingdon (manuscript map), Briceville, Maynardville, Morristown. 

Greeneville, Roan Mountain, Cranberry, Kingston, Loudon, Knoxville, Mount Guyot (manuscript map), Asheville, Chattanooga, 

Cleveland, Murphy (manuscript map), and Dalton (manuscript 

map). Most of these folios and maps were prepared by Arthur 

Keith, but several on the more southern areas were prepared by C. W. 

Hayes. The geology of the whole area, as generalized from these 

maps and somewhat revised by the authors, is shown in Plate XVI.

PREVIOUS WORK.

The occurrence of manganese ore in east Tennessee has been known 

for many years. Troost,2 in a report published as early as 1840, refers to its occurrence in Cocke County; Safford,8 in his report published in 1869, refers to its occurrence at several localities; and Killibrew and Safford,4 in a report published in 1874, refer specifically 

to deposits in Greene County. Bailey Willis,5 in the United States 

Census report for 1880, gives analyses of samples of ore from

la U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 640, pp. 37-71, 1916; Bull. 660, pp. 271-296, 1918.

2 Troost, Gerard, Fifth geological report on the State of Tennessee, pp. 22-23, 1840.

" Safford, J. M., Geology of Tennessee, pp. 224 and 505, 1869.

* The resources of Tennessee, pp. 268, 400, Tennessee State Board Agr., 1874.

5 Tenth Census Kept, vol. 15, Mining industries, pp. 336, 345, 1880.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE BEGION. 3

Sevier and Carter counties. Penrose,6 in his general report on 

manganese, describes the deposits known in the State of Tennessee 

in 1890, and Harder,7 in a report on manganese in the United States, 

brings the information for the State up to 1910. Burchard,8 in a 

report on the iron ores, refers to the occurrence of manganese with 

the iron ores of Monroe County.' Nelson,9 in.volume 1 of the Resources of Tennessee, calls attention to a newly discovered manganese deposit in this State. Purdue,10 in the same publication for 

1916, reviews the known deposits of the State and in the volume for 

1918 describes another deposit in Bradley County. The present authors have made use of these earlier reports and also of reports 

describing similar deposits in Virginia (cited above) and have 

quoted from them where data were not available from personal investigation. A preliminary report was published in July and October, 1918, by the State Geological Survey,11 and a brief summary 

of results was incorporated in a paper on manganese ores of the 

Southern States by the senior author, published in 1920.lla

GEOGRAPHY OP THE REGION.

SURFACE FORMS.

East Tennessee is partly lowland, partly mountain. The lowland 

is the Great Valley of east Tennessee, a flat-bottomed valley 40 miles 

wide, a part of the Appalachian Valley, which lies between the 

Appalachian Mountains on the southeast and the Cumberland escarpment, which is the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau, on 

the northwest. (See PI. I and fig. 1.) The floor of this valley is, in 

general, flat and stands at about the same level throughout. Its 

streams flow in relatively narrow valleys cut into the main valley 

floor 100 feet or more, and the remnants of the valley floor appear as 

benches along the stream valleys.

Most of the Tennessee-North Carolina boundary follows the crest 

of one or another of the highest ranges of the Appalachian Mountains in a general west-southwest direction. These crests form parts 

of the watershed between the Atlantic and the Gulf drainage, but 

many of the larger tributaries of Tennessee River head in North

9 Penrose, R. A. F., Manganese Its uses, ores, and deposits: Arkansas Geol. Survey 

Ann. Kept, for 1890, vol. 1, pp. 414-416, 1891.

7 Harder, E. C., Manganese deposits of the United States: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

427, pp. 72-76, 1910.

8 Burchard, E. P., The red iron ores of east Tennessee: Tennessee Geol. Survey Bull. 

16, pp. 52-54, 1913.

9 Nelson, W. A., A new manganese deposit in Tennessee: Resources of Tennessee, vol. 1, 

No. 6, pp. 220-228, 1911.

10 Purdue, A. H., Notes on manganese in east Tennessee: Resources of Tennessee, vol. 

6, No. 2, pp. 111-123, 1916; vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 46-47, 1918.

11 Stose, G. W., and Schrader, F. C., Manganese deposits of east Tennessee: Resources 

of Tennessee, vol. 8, Nos. 3 and 4, pp. 154-324, 1918. 

118 Stose, G. W., Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 110, pp. 256-262, 1920.
4 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Carolina and flow westward through deep gorges in the mountains. 

The Applachian Mountains in this region are made up of several 

high, more or less parallel ranges, which are not equally continuous,, 

Generally the northwestern ridges die down one by one southwestward, so that they overlap, and deep reentrant valleys behind them 

open southward into the Great Valley. A few high knobs and some 

linear ridges, which also trend west-southwest, lie out in the Great 

Valley and divide it longitudinally.

Holston Mountain, which at the Virginia State line is the westernmost ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, is a prominent mountain 

ridge more than 4,000 feet high that extends from Virginia into 

Tennessee for 25 miles to its rather abrupt termination north of 

Elizabethton. The long, narrow arm of the Appalachian Valley 

that lies back of it is drained chiefly southwestward by Stony 

Creek, but the upper part, called Shady Valley, drains northeastward* into Virginia. East of Stony Creek and Shady Valley is a 

prominent ridge called Iron Mountain, which also trends southwestward. It extends into Tennessee about 40 miles, but its southwestern 

part is lower and consists of detached small narrow ridges, two of 

which are called Gap Creek Mountain and Little Mountain.

The main mass of the Appalachian Mountains lies still farther 

east and has several local names. Its main crest, Stone Mountain, 

which stands a little south of the Virginia State line, is the eastern 

boundary of Tennessee to the gorge of Watauga River. South of Doe 

River the highest range, more than 6,000 feet in altitude, is known 

as Roan Mountain. The State boundary here turns westward, following the crest of this range and another range, locally called Iron 

Mountain, beyond which it resumes its southwesterly course, running along the crest of Unaka Mountain to the gorge of Nolichucky River. Beyond the Nolichucky the main ridge, which has a 

general altitude of about 4,500 feet and is called the Bald Mountains, 

has an irregular trend. Beyond the point where it bends sharply 

southwestward it forms the mountain front in Greene County, and 

for a short distance the State line, which follows its crest, is not more 

than 3 miles from the Great Valley. The low, irregular mountains 

that extend-northeast from the sharp bend in the Bald Mountains 

merge south of Johnson City into two distinct outlying ridges called 

Cherokee Mountain and Buffalo Mountain, which together correspond to Holston Mountain, the outlying ridge northeast of Johnson City. An arm of the Great Valley, similar to the valley of Stony 

Creek, extends southwestward between Buffalo Mountain and Unaka 

Mountain and terminates near.Erwin on Nolichucky River, where 

the mountains close in. .

Southwest of French Broad River the State boundary line follows the crest of the Great Smoky Mountains, a massive range that
V 

KELN.T UGKY 

>

FIGURE 1. Outline map of east Tennessee showing drainage system, boundaries of t

mountain ranges along the Appalachian Mou
6 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

rises to an altitude above 6,000 feet. Southwest of Little Tennessee 

River the continuation of this great mountain range is generally 

known as the Unaka Mountains, but on the earliest maps of the region 

the names Unaka and Great Smoky were applied indiscriminately to 

all these higher ranges of the Appalachian Mountains and were 

synonymous. Where the high mountains break down at Hiwassee 

River the State line bends southward toward the Georgia State 

line. Northwest of the Great Smoky and Unaka mountains there 

is a mountainous tract, 10 to 20 miles wide, composed mostly of irregular ridges having local names. Of these English Mountain, southwest of Newport, and Stone, Neddy, and Meadow Creek mountains, 

east of Newport, form a chain of frontal or outlying ridges that is in 

general similar to Holston Mountain, but there are no well-defined 

valley arms behind them. Chilhowee Mountain is a similar though 

less prominent outlying ridge extending from Little Pigeon River 

to the Little Tennessee south of Knoxville, and Starr and Beans 

mountains are other outlying ridges near the southern boundary of 

the State.

DRAINAGE.

Practically the whole of east Tennessee is drained by Tennessee 

Kiver. (See fig. 1.) A very small part of Polk County, in the extreme southeast corner, drains southward through Conasauga River 

into the Gulf of Mexico. The small part of the northeast corner 

that drains northward into Virginia is in the drainage system of 

Holston River, a branch of the Tennessee. Although the name Tennessee is applied only to the river below Knoxville, where the Holston and the French Broad unite, that name might appropriately 

be applied also to the Holston, for it is the direct continuation of the 

main stream and flows in the same southwesterly course. Holston 

River heads in Virginia, and its two main branches unite at Kingsport, just over the State line in Tennessee. Its North Fork therefore 

lies almost wholly in Virginia. Its South Fork, which enters Tennessee 10 miles east of Bristol, is joined from the east by Watauga 

River 25 miles from the State line. The latter river and one of its 

main tributaries, Elk Creek, head in the midst of the Appalachian 

Mountains, in North Carolina; with Doe River, another main tributary, which heads on the northwest slope of the mountains, they 

drain most of Carter and Johnson counties.

French Broad River heads at the eastern edge of the Appalachian 

Mountains in North Carolina and flows westward. It is first joined 

from the south by Pigeon River, a large stream which also heads in 

North Carolina and flows northward across Cocke County. It is 

next joined from the north by Nolichucky River at a point where 

the French Broad makes a sharp bend to the southwest. In fact the' 

lower parts of Nolichucky River and of its main tributary., Lick
GEOGRAPHY OF THE REGION. 7

Creek, are a direct continuation of the main southwestward-flowing 

part of the French Broad and lie entirely within the Great Valley. 

The Nolichucky heads in North Carolina and flows in a general 

westerly direction across Unicoi, Washington, and Gftreene counties. 

The French Broad is next joined from the south by Little Pigeon 

River, which heads on the -northwest slope of the Great Smokies 

within Tennessee and flows northwestward across Sevier County.

About 10 miles below Knoxville Tennessee River is joined from 

the south by Little River, which heads on the northwest slope of the 

Great Smoky Mountains,, in Sevier County, and flows across Blount 

County. In Loudon County the Tennessee is augmented by the 

Little Tennessee, another large stream, which heads far back in the 

mountains of North Carolina, and its deep gorge through this high 

range marks the dividing line between the Great Smoky and Unaka 

mountains. Its main branch, Tellico River, heads on the northwest 

slope of the Unaka Mountains and flows westward and then northward through the center of Monroe County, joining the Little Tennessee near Morganton.

Hiwassee River is the main branch of the Tennessee in the southern part of the State. It heads in the mountains of Itfof th Carolina, 

and its main tributary, Ocoee River, heads in Georgia; together 

they drain most of Polk County, the southeasternmost county of the 

State. Below its junction with the Ocoee the Hiwassee forms the 

boundary between McMinn and Bradley counties*

Just above Chattanooga the Tennessee is joined from the south 

by Chickamauga Creek, which heads in Georgia and drains a small 

part of Hamilton County in Tennessee.

All the above-described tributaries of the Tennessee enter it from 

the southeast and receive the run-off from the Appalachian Mountains, where the annual rainfall is about 65 inches. The streams are 

therefore large and generally full of water throughout the year, 

and as their gradients are steep they have great potential water 

power. Some of this power is now being converted through great 

hydroelectric power plants into electricity, which is conveyed by 

transmission lines to distant parts of the State> where it supplies 

many of the larger cities and industries with light and power. A 

new industrial South awaits the further development of the latent 

powers of these waters.

The only large stream that enters the Tennessee on its northwest 

side is Clinch River. It heads in the Appalachian Valley ridges of 

Virginia and flows southwestward in the Great Valley of east Tennessee, nearly parallel with the Holston and the Tennessee, and joins 

the Tennessee at the big bend near Kingston. In fact Tennessee 

River below Kingston is a direct southward continuation of Clinch 

River. Powell and Emery rivers join Clinch River from the north. 

105164 23 2
8 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE. .

THE MANGANESE DEPOSITS.

Most of the known manganese deposits of east Tennessee consist 

of heavy, black, hard minerals, which somewhat resemble iron ore 

in appearance and occurrence and are therefore often called " black 

iron ore " or " steel ore" by farmers. These minerals are oxides 

of manganese and occur most commonly in small masses in the soil 

and underlying clay, from which they are turned up in plowing, or 

they are seen in road cuts or are scattered over the fields as " float." 

In the clay they appear as scattered irregular masses, ranging from 

minute particles to lumps as large as a bushel basket or larger. Most 

of the pieces have botryoidal surfaces and form what is called nodular 

ore. The ore composed of small rounded nodules is called " nut" 

ore. The nodules are more generally united into clusters resembling bunches of grapes and then constitute " grape " ore or " kidney " 

ore. (See PL II.)

The ore that is scattered through the clay must be washed in a log 

washer or other suitable device to remove the clay and other impurities and is generally spoken of as "wash" ore. At and near 

the surface pebbles and fragments of rocks, usually quartzite and 

sandstone from the mountains, are mixed with the ore in the clay 

and must be either washed away with the clay or removed by hand 

picking after washing. Some of the masses of manganese oxide are 

large and clean enough to be hand picked when mined and are shipped 

without washing. Such ore is known as " lump " ore. Other masses 

fill crevices in sandstone and chert and can be recovered only by 

crushing the rock and separating the rock and ore by a log washer, 

jig, table, or similar device and by hand picking.

Only one deposit of manganese ore that is not an oxide is known 

in the region. This ore, which is a carbonate, is a light-gray to 

brown rock, part of which is crystalline and part is fine grained or 

amorphous. The crystalline portion resembles coarse dolomite in 

appearance but is heavier than that mineral. The amorphous part 

is finely banded. (See PI. X.) Fresh surfaces of both kinds of 

the carbonate ore quickly darken on exposure, becoming ^coated with 

a thin film of black oxide. This ore occurs only in solid bedrock, 

where it forms layers or lenses between beds of dolomite and slate.

MANGANESE MINERALS.

Manganese oxides closely resemble iron oxides, and the two are 

frequently mistaken for each other. A simple way to distinguish 

manganese oxide ores from iron oxide ores in the field is to scratch a 

piece of white chert or quartzite with the ore to be determined, so as 

to get the color of its streak. Manganese oxide makes a very dark 

brown to black streak. Iron oxide in the form of hematite makes
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

RELIEF MAP OF EAST TENNESSEE AND ADJACENT PART 

Photograph of part of a relief model of the southern Appalachian Valley region by Edwin 

Valley are shown in figure 1.
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN^737 PLATE II

V

NODULAR PSILOMELANE IN BOTRYOIDAL CLUSTERS.

A, large elongate cluster, called "grape ore," from Shouns prospect, near Mountain City, Tenn.; 

B, small rounded cluster from Mineral Ridge mine, near Zepp, Va. Both natural size.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE III

«

D

RODLIKE FORMS OF PSILOMELANE.

A, Radiate cluster of smooth rods, some of which are hollow, from Dry Run mine, Tenn., natural 

size; B, radiate cluster of solid rods from Sellers mine, Va., X 2; C, irregular branching cluster 

from Mount Torry mine, Va., X 2; £>, single tapering rod resembling a stalactite, from Mount 

Torry mine, Va., X 2.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE IV

NODULAR PSILOMELANE ATTACHED AT BASE TO A THIN PLATE OF ORE.

A, Nipple-shaped forms from Bell mine, near Newcastle, Va.; Bt cauliflowerlike forms, which grew 

by replacement of the wall rock from the crevice in which the plate was formed, from Mount 

Torry mine, near Basic, Va.; C, psilomelane nodules coated with brilliant red iron oxide inclosed in 

chert of Knox dolomite, which it has in part replaced, from Rutledge mine, Tenn. All natural size.
MANGANESE MINEBALS. 9

a red to reddish-brown streak and in the form of limonite a yellowishbrown streak. Iron ore containing some manganese generally makes 

a brownish-black mark.

The ores of the eastern United States that contain manganese 

oxides fall into three general groups manganese ores, ferruginous 

manganese ores, and manganiferous iron ores. All of these occur 

in the Appalachian region of east Tennessee. The manganese ores 

are of much greater value than the ferruginous manganese and manganiferous iron ores and therefore in the past have been chiefly 

sought, but the greatly increased consumption of domestic manganese 

during the war caused a large demand for manganiferous iron ore 

as well as for manganese ores, and both have recently been mined at 

many places in east Tennessee.

Most of the manganese ores in this region are oxides, four of 

which are commonly found in the deposits and another one has 

been provisionally identified. These five belong to the group of 

brown to black oxides and hydrous oxides, several of which can 

not be positively distinguished without chemical analyses. For 

tentative identification a hard black or dark-gray amorphous manganese mineral is classed as psilomelane. One that is crystalline 

is classed as manganite if fairly hard but is classed as pyrolusite 

if soft. One that is soft and granular and shows no sign of the crystalline texture of pyrolusite nor of the compact, firm, amorphous 

texture of psilomelane is classed as wad. These manganese minerals 

and a few others will be described in detail.

Psilomelane. Psilomelane is the commonest manganese mineral 

in the Appalachian deposits. It is a bluish-black to grayish-black 

amorphous mineral of uncertain formula (about Mn2O3 .H2 0-}-Ba 

and K). Its luster is submetallic and its streak brownish-black. 

It is dense, has a conchoidal fracture, and its fractured surface resembles that of steel. It usually has a concentric and somewhat 

radiate structure and a rounded or mammillary surface. This 

rounded form is due to the tendency of the mineral to grow by concentric accretion. It also tends to grow in a plumose or dendritic 

form, and in consequence some of the rounded forms are elongated 

and are arranged in clusters like bunches of grapes (see PL II) or 

in rodlike radiate clusters (PI. III). None of these odd shapes have 

been developed in open spaces; they have all been formed in clay, 

sandstone, or other rock, where they grew by the gradual replacement 

or partial absorption of the inclosing material. Where the manganese solution permeated the whole rock the nodules are more or less 

isolated and may be attached to one another by only a small projection or stem. Where the solution came more freely along a joint 

or crevice in the rock the botryoidal forms grew into the wall rock
PLATE V.

A, Section of a nodule of psilornelane the interior of which has heen broken into 

polygonal pyramids by radial shrinkage cracks. From Mount Torry mine, 

near Basic, Va. Natural size.

B, Polished section of a nodule of psilomelane showing irregular radial and concentric shrinkage cracks that have been filled by the deposition of harder, 

finer-grained psilomelane having a highly polished surface (white in photograph). The lamination of the original rock is preserved by impure bands 

in the psilomelane which replaced it. From Bell mine, near Newcastle, 

Va. X 2.

C, Two varieties of psilomelane in ore replacing chert, shown on polished surface. From Groundhog Mountain prospect, Tenn. Natural s'ze. a, Brown, 

iron-stained chert; 6,band of highly polished hard dense psilomelane (black 

in photograph) ; c, slightly softer, less homogeneous gray psilomelane.

D, Ferruginous manganese ore, a mixture of nodular psilomelane (darker 

parts) and rust-coated manganiferous iron. From Mount Torry mine, 

Va. Natural size.

10
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE V

B

MANGANESE ORES.

D
'J. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 1'LATE VI

c

CRYSTALLINE MANGANITE AND PYROLUSITE.

A , Crystalline manganite lining cavities in pitted psilomelane, from Bishop mine, near Sugar Grove, 

Va., X. 2; JB, bladed tabular orthorhombic crystals of pyrolusite, from Powells Fort mine, 

near Woodstock, Va., X 3; 6', globular psilomelane nodules inclosed by crystalline manganite 

in which open cavities are lined with manganile crystals, from Powells Fort mine, Va,, X 2.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVHY BULLETIN 737 PLATE VII

4

B 

MANGANITE AND PSILOMELANE.

A., Radiate lustrous fibrous'manganite, commonly called " needle ore," surrounding a core 

of dense psilomelane, from Embree mine, Tenn., natural size; B, polished surface of concentrically banded dense psilomelane and associated crystalline manganite; soft structureless cores of pyrolusite or wad are surrounded by banded psilomelane, the inner 

layers of which are highly crinkled and in cavities and crevices of which there is 

crystalline manganite (TO), from Cook mine, near Walnut Grove, Ala., X 3.
TJ. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE VIII

momeiane is snown ny quartz grams omy partly repiacea at g. u snows 

cally handed psilomelane developing in psilomelane made granular by inclosuro 

uartz grains (g) and some angular fragments of unaltered sandstone' si. 

:- . n v o
17. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE IX

PYROLUSITE AND WAD.

A, Pyrolusite crystallized in plumose form in a narrow crevice in sandstone, from Mineral Ridge 

mine, near Zepp, Va., natural size; B, earthy compact wad traversed by a sigmoid band that is 

of similar composition but has a rodlike comb structure and radiate arrangement (the wad apparently is in the process of changing to compact and rodlike psilomelane similar to that shown in 

Plate XII), from Doe Valley mine, Term., natural size.
II. S. GEOLOGICAL SUI1VEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE X

B 

MANGANESE CARBONATE ORE.

A , Polished surface showing white crystalline mass with some separate rhombic carbonate crystals 

and dark concentrically banded carbonate ore, also a thin layer of black oxide having a somewhat 

brassy metallic luster at or near the contact of the two rocks, from East Fork mine, east of 

Sevierville, Tenn., X 2; B, photomicrograph showing concentric zonal structure in rhombic 

crystals, in which the white marginal portions seem to contain less manganese than the dark 

centers and to he chiefly dolomite, from East Fork mine, Tenn., X 10.
MANGANESE MINERALS. 11

perpendicular to the crevice and are attached at their base to a 

plate of ore which formed in the crevice. Some of these appendages 

have a rounded nipple shape and others are cauliflower-like. (See 

PI. IV.)

Psilomelane has a hardness of about 6 and normally can not be 

'scratched by a knife blade or needle. Some specimens of psilomelane that can be slightly scratched are probably either impure or 

weathered. The mineral is heavy, its specific gravity being 3.7 

to 4.7. Its composition is complex and apparently not definite. It 

always contains water, the quantity of which ranges from 2.5 to 6 

per 'cent, and it generally contains considerable barium and some 

potassium, 17 per cent of barium and 5 per cent of. potassium being 

the maximum recorded in analyses of the mineral. These two elements are believed by some to be mechanically admixed and by 

others to be chemically combined with the manganese and other 

elements. The percentage of manganese ranges from 50 to 57. 

Some nodules are composed of two or more varieties- of the mineral, 

the original mineral composing the nodules having shrunken, probably by the loss of some of its water, and radial and concentric cracks 

which formed in the interior of the nodules have been filled with a 

similar mineral of somewhat greater hardness and finer texture. 

Such nodules closely resemble calcareous septaria. (See PI. V.)

Hausmcmnite. Hausmannite (Mn8 04 ) is a dark steel-gray mineral with a chestnut-brown or reddish-brown streak and submetallic 

luster. It is generally crystalline and has a pronounced .cleavage 

which helps to distinguish it from most other manganese ores. It 

has a hardness of 5.5 and specific gravity of 4.8. Chemically pure 

hausmannite contains 72 per cent of manganese, which is more than 

is found in any other important ore-forming mineral. It is generally so intimately mixed with psilomelane or other manganese minerals that a pure sample can be obtained only with difficulty.

Hausmannite closely resembles braunite. A crystalline mineral 

associated with psilomelane at several mines in the Cleveland and 

Sweetwater districts, also at a prospect in the Washburn district, 

was tentatively identified by the authors 12 as braunite, but as this 

mineral has in general a browner streak than that of braunite, which 

contains silica, it was tested in the laboratory by H. D. Miser for 

silica. No silica was precipitated,'so it is concluded that most if not 

all of this crystalline mineral is hausmannit.e.

Mr. Miser similarly found that much of the so-called braunite 

from the Batesville (Ark.) district was hausmannite.13

Braunite. Braunite (3Mn2 03 .MnSiO'2 ) is a heavy, nearly black, 

generally massive crystalline mineral. Its streak is brownish black,

"Stose, G. W., and Schrader, P. C., op. cit, pp. 231, 290, 306. 309. 

13 Washington Acad. Scl. Jour., vol. .10, No. 1, pp. 1-8, 1920.
12 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

its hardness 6 to 6.5 (about the same as that of psilomelane), and its 

specific gravity 4.75. It is generally so intimately mixed with 

psilomelane that it is not observed, but it may be distinguished from 

psilomelane by its cleavage faces on freshly broken surfaces and by 

its browner streak. Psilomelane, however, when weathered or impure may have a somewhat brownish streak and may be softer than' 

the typical mineral, so that these two minerals can not always be 

easily distinguished. Manganite, which is also crystalline, is readily 

distinguished from braunite, for it is considerably softer and has 

a nearly black streak. Hausmannite is less easily distinguished 

from braunite without chemical analysis, for it closely resembles 

braunite in most particulars. As braunite contains silica and hausmannite does not, the two minerals can be easily distinguished in 

the laboratory.

Braunite has not been identified with certainty in the minerals 

from east Tennessee. A mineral with bright cleavage faces in 

dense bluish-black psilomelane from several places in southern Tennessee was tentatively identified as braunite, but the samples tested 

in the laboratory proved to contain no silica and are therefore regarded as hausmannite. Some portions of the specimens whose streak 

more closely resembles that of braunite may prove to be that mineral.

Mangamte. Manganite (Mn2O3 .H2O) is a heavy grayish-black to 

black, generally crystalline mineral. It has a hardness of 4 (moderately hard; can not be scratched with a brass pin) and a specific 

gravity of 4.2 to 4.4. On fresh fracture it is grayish black, and its 

streak is dark reddish brown or nearly black. It crystallizes in 

druses in the orthorhombic form, generally in bladed or wedgeshaped crystals. (See PL VI.) The crystal faces are black and have 

a brilliant metallic luster, but they may be tarnished to a brassy 

color. It also forms spherical masses of "needle ore," which when 

broken show glistening needle-like crystals arranged radially. (See 

PL VII.) In other "needle ore" the fibrous crystals are parallel 

and some are more than 2£ inches long. The mineral contains theoretically 62.4 per cent of manganese and 10.3 per cent of water. It 

is frequently associated with psilomelane in the Appalachian deposits, generally lining small cavities in the psilomelane ore. In 

some ores these two minerals are concentrically deposited in minute 

laminae. (See PL VIII.) The presence of manganite is generally 

regarded as an indication of high-grade ore.

Pyrolusite. Pyrolusite (MnO2 , generally with a little H2 0) is a 

grayish-black to steel-gray mineral with crystalline or granular 

structure. It is decidedly soft, having a hardness of 2 to 2.5 (can 

be scratched by the finger nail and readily soils the finger), and its 

specific gravity is 4.8. Its color on fresh fracture is steel-gray, as 

distinct from the grayish black or black of manganite. Its luster
MANGANESE MINERALS. 13

is generally nonmetallic and its streak black. Some of the ore classed 

as pyrolusite has a porous texture and falls to a soft, powdery 

graphite-like mass whose specific gravity can not be readily determined. It sometimes crystallizes in plumose forms. (See PL IX.) 

Pyrolusite is the dioxide of manganese and contains theoretically 

63.2 per cent of manganese. It is generally believed that most pyrolusite was derived from manganite by oxidation and loss of water, 

the material retaining the crystalline form or fibrous radiate structure of manganite but becoming soft, somewhat porous, and therefore light in weight, and steel-gray or dull gray in color. However, 

from recent studies of crystalline pyrolusite from Virginia (see PL 

VI), Watson 14 has concluded that the mineral was originally pyrolusite and is not pseudomorphic after manganite. Some of the mineral that Avas earlier identified as pyrolusite in the Appalachian 

region has the crystalline form and hardness of manganite but 

chemically appears to range between the two minerals.

Wad. Wad is a dark, soft, earthy mineral and is an indefinite 

mixture of manganese oxides with water and other impurities such 

as clay and oxides of barium and iron. It is generally a dry, loosely 

coherent brown or brownish-black powder, not sharply distinguished 

except by its darker color from the slightly manganiferous clay with 

which it is usually associated. One specimen is compact, apparently 

approaching psilomelane in hardness and form, and is cut by a 

curved band having a comblike structure and radial arrangement, 

apparently in the process of assuming the form and character of 

pyrolusite or manganite. (See PL IX.) Wad contains from 30 to 42 

per cent of manganese and 7 to 10 per cent of water, whereas manganiferous clay carries only 5 to 10 per cent of manganese. Wad 

generally contains considerable barium, sometimes as much as 20 

per cent.

Ferruginous manganese and manganiferous iron ores. The ores 

of manganese and iron are mixtures of manganese oxides with iron 

oxides in various proportions. The iron oxide is generally limonite 

(Fe2 03+H2O), or brown ore, in which the quantity of water is 

variable. The manganese is generally psilomelane, although manganite is present in some ores. The iron and manganese oxides occur 

generally as a mixture of the two minerals in which each is readily 

distinguishable in the hand specimen (see PL V), but also as a mixture or compound in which the minerals are so intimately mingled 

that it is impossible to tell whether the substance is a mechanical 

mixture or a chemical combination. The amount of manganese in 

these mixed ores ranges from 1 to more than 40 per cent. Jron ore

14 Watson. T. L., and Wherry, E. T., Pyrolusite from Virginia: Washington Acad. Sci. 

Jour., vol. 8, pp. 550-5GO, 1918.
14 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

that contains less than 10 per cent of manganese is called manganiferous iron ore, and ore that contains from 10 to 35 per cent of manganese is called ferruginous manganese ore. The higher grades are 

generally used in the manufacture of spiegeleisen, but in some steel 

plants they are mixed with higher-grade manganese ores for making 

ferromanganese. The lower grades, of ore down to those containing 

only 3 per cent of manganese are used in making high-manganese 

pig iron.

Rhodochrosite. Rhodochrosite (MnCO3 ) is a pink, translucent 

vitreous mineral, generally crystalline and with a marked rhombohedral cleavage like that of calcite, but is heavier than that mineral. 

It has a specific gravity of 3.6, a, hardness of 4, and when pure contains 48 per cent of majiganese.

A crystalline manganiferous carbonate mineral that resembles 

rhodochrosite in many respects has been found in one of the manganese deposits in east Tennessee. In its typical form it is a white 

crystalline mass closely resembling marble. Analyses of this mineral 

follow:

Partial analyses of crystalline manganiferous carbonate ore from East Fork,

Tenn.

[George Steiger, analyst]

SiO? .. ...........................................................................

AhOa.... ...............................................:....'..................

FeaOs...........................................................................

MgO.. ..........................................................................

CaO.. .........................................................................

MnO.. ..........................................................................

A

9.53

4.02

2.28

11.63

22.10

11.98

(Mn 9. 3)

B

4.68

\ 2.07

12.63

19 47

22. 2(1

(Mn 17. 2)

A. Select sample from,a large fragment of pure white crystalline material. 

B. Small crushed crystalline fragments, not so homogeneous as A.

Small separate rhombic crystals of the mineral occur in a finegrained matrix adjacent to the massive mineral. (See PI. X.) The 

rhombs have cloudy phantoms, which may carry most of the manganese, for the clearer outer portions are apparently nearly pure 

dolomite.

With the crystalline rock is an amorphous light-gray and brown 

banded carbonate rock in which are thin layers of a black metallic 

oxide, probably psilomelane. (See PL X.) It is evident from the 

distribution of these materials that the banded rock was deposited 

later than the crystalline mass. Analyses of the banded rock show 

from 26 to 40 per cent of manganese, as follows:
MANGANESE MINERALS. 15

Partial analyses of amorphous carbonate ore from East Fork, Tonn. 

[George Steiger, analyst.)

SiO,.. ........^....,...,,.,.^^.^. ..............................................

AhO...... ......................................................................

FesOj..................................... .......................................

MgO............................................................................

CaO.............................................................................

MnO.. ..........................................................................

A

15.54

2.42

1.50

3

11.58

33. 98

(Ma 26. 3)

B

17.10

y 1.06

3.08

2.40

52.53

(Mn40.7)

A. Select sample of banded ore free from black oxide.

B. General sample of banded, ore, probably including considerable oxide.

The banded material is probably not a definite mineral compound 

but a mixture composed largely of calcium-manganese carbonate and 

silica. It is difficult to get clean samples of either of these two 

varieties of carbonate ores, and none of the analyses quoted may 

properly represent a new mineral.

Mineral association. In many of the deposits of the Appalachian 

region psilomelane nodules are inclosed in wad and appear to have 

been formed from it by concentration through the partial loss of its 

water. In such case the wad would be the original mineral deposited 

and the psilomelane secondary. A similar change from wad to 

psilomelane is suggested in the specimens shown in Plate IX. Many 

nodules and masses of psilomelane are shown on polished sections to 

be composed of alternate thin layers of hard psilomelane and a 

softer ore, generally manganite. (See PI. VIII.) Manganite also 

lines cavities and fills sharply defined veinlets in psilomelane and 

surrounds nodules of psilomelane (see Pis. VI and VII) and is here 

clearly later in origin than the psilomelane. As manganite is more 

hydrous than psilomelane there is evidently, no uniform order of 

deposition from the more hydrous to the less hydrous or vice versa. 

However, the apparent alteration of manganite to pyrolusite and of 

wad to psilomelane, if correctly interpreted, indicates progressive dehydration after their formation.

The clay in which most of the manganese ores occur is generally 

highly colored yellow to deep red by iron oxide, but some is gray 

to black from included manganese oxide where it merges into wad. 

Stiff, barren clay associated with the ore, generally of a chocolatebrown to dark-buff color but in places light buff to cream-colored, 

is referred to by the miners as "buck fat." Limonite and manganiferous iron ore are often intimately mixed with the purer manganese ores, but they are generally more plentiful or predominate in the
16 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

surficial layers of the deposits associated with sand and gravel wash. 

The iron ores are therefore apt to be siliceous, and some are highly 

siliceous. Sericite, a common constituent of the metamorphosed 

shales in certain bedrocks, is present in some clay associated with 

the ores.

Grains of quartz residual from the decomposition of quartzose 

rocks are common in the ore-bearing cl&j and in some ore, and 

secondary quartz also occurs in the ore-bearing clay. Quartz also 

occurs in some deposits as minute doubly terminated needle-shaped 

crystals, containing rounded nuclei of calcite, according to Hewett.

Bauxite is associated with the ore-bearing clays in a few places. 

Small quantities of barite and wavellite occur in some of the oxide 

ores, and pyrite and an anthracite carbon accompany the carbonate 

ores.

USES OF MANGANESE.

Manganese is used chiefly in the manufacture of steel. A very 

small quantity of manganese, generally less than 1 per cent, alloyed 

with steel gives it the hardness and toughness essential for most uses. 

The manganese required for this purpose is extracted from the ore 

as an alloy with iron, with which it is generally associated in the ore. 

It is made into either a low-manganese alloy called spiegeleisen or a 

high-manganese alloy called ferromanganese. Spiegeleisen, which 

contains from 18 to 25 per cent of manganese, 75 per cent of iron, 

and 4 or 5 per cent of carbon, is used in making steel by the Bessemer 

process. Ferromanganese, which generally contains 80 per cent of 

manganese, 12 per cent of iron, and 6 to 7 per cent of carbon, is used 

in the open-hearth process. Manganiferous pig iron, made from 

iron ore that contains from 1 to 10 per cent of manganese, is used 

as pig iron and has 4io increased value because of its content of 

manganese.

Manganese oxides are used also in dry batteries and in the manufacture of flint glass and speckled brick. For dry batteries ore that 

contains a high percentage of pyrolusite, or manganese dioxide 

(Mn02 ), is essential, as its usefulness for this purpose depends on its 

oxidizing properties.

ROCKS WITH WHICH THE ORES ARE ASSOCIATED.

The manganese deposits are associated with different groups of 

rocks in different parts of the State, and the determination of the 

relation of the deposits to these rocks is of much importance, especially in giving advice for prospecting or mining. As nine modes
ROCKS WITH WHICH THE ORES ARE ASSOCIATED. 17

of occurrence of the manganese ore, based chiefly on the groups of 

rocks with which they are associated, have been recognized in east 

Tennessee, the rocks that occur in this region will here be briefly de- 

'scribed. Their distribution at the surface is shown on the map of 

east Tennessee (PL XVI, p. 34).

The rocks of the region are chiefly limestone, sandstone, and shale, 

which occur in layers one upon the other and are tilted at various 

angles. They are called sedimentary rocks, because they were originally sediments, such as sand, mud, and calcareous silt, deposited 

from water. As the uppermost beds were deposited later than those 

normally below them, the relative ages of most of them can be determined. The sedimentary rocks accordingly have been classified 

by arranging them successively one above the other in the order in 

which they are found in the rock exposures, which is also according 

to their ages, the oldest at the bottom. The oldest rocks will therefore be described first.

The oldest rocks in east Tennessee are ancient crystalline rocks .on 

which the sedimentary rocks rest. These crystalline rocks include 

granite and allied rocks of igneous origin and schists, some of which 

were once lavas and others sediments. They occur only in the Appalachian Mountains, on the eastern border of the State. Although 

some manganese deposits have been found in crystalline rocks in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, none are known to occur 

in such rocks in Tennessee.

Overlying the crystalline rocks is a thick series of hard siliceous 

rocks, chiefly sandstone, quartzite, and conglomerate, and moderately 

hard, finer-grained siliceous and argillaceous rocks, such as slate 

and shale. A few thin layers of impure limestone and dolomite 

occur Avith the slates. Most of these rocks are more resistant to 

erosion and solution than purer limestones and soft shales, and they 

form much of the Appalachian Mountains in the extreme eastern 

part of the State, where they have been highly tilted and folded 

and uplifted. Many formations have been distinguished in this 

series of siliceous rocks, but it is not necessary to describe them 

here or give their names. They are listed and briefly described in 

the generalized tables of formations on pages 20 and 21. Attention 

is called, however, to the uppermost formation of the series a white 

quartzite called the Erwin quartzite in some places and the Hesse 

quartzite in others because two of the kinds of manganese deposits 

to be described are closely associated with it.

Overlying these quartzites and slates is a great thickness of limestones in which are interbedded some shales and soft limestones.
18 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

These beds are relatively soft or soluble and have been worn away 

faster than the resistant sandy rocks previously described, so that 

they occupy the lowlands which lie northwest of the Appalachian 

Mountains and form parts of the valley of east Tennessee. A maguesian limestone or dolomite at the base of this series, the Shady 

dolomite, is a coarse open-textured rock that is readily soluble in the 

carbonated surface waters and is generally deeply weathered to 

soft, plastic yellow clay, a residuum of its impurities. One of the 

kinds of manganese deposits is closely associated with the residual 

clay of this formation. The formation next above, called the Watauga 

shale, is composed of hard ^purple shale, calcareous shale, and calcareous sandstone. Because of the greater resistance of these rocks 

to weathering they form low, rounded hills above the adjacent limestone lowlands. This formation also carries manganese deposits in 

certain parts of the. State.

A thick series of limestones lie directly above the Watauga shale, 

and some of them contain much chert or flint. As chert is relatively 

insoluble,, masses of it abound in the soil and clay derived from the 

limestones and give rise to rounded hills. The chert masses of one 

of the formations, called the Knox dolomite, are in many places 

seamed with manganese oxide, and fragments of manganese ore occur 

in the residual soil and form deposits that have been widely 

prospected.

In east Tennessee the upper beds of this limestone series are generally a gray to> reddish crystalline limestone with some interbedded 

soft, calcareous shale. Some of the beds have the texture of marble 

and constitute the noted Tennessee marble, which is quarried chiefly 

in the vicinity of Knoxville. .This crystalline limestone and the 

associated limestone beds, some of which are shaly, argillaceous, 

and nodular and others blue, dense, pure limestone, have been called 

the Chickamauga limestone, and the marble, layers in it are called 

Holston marble. Some of the best deposits of manganese ore in the 

State occur at the contact of the marble with overlying red sandy 

limestone, which weathers to a. porous red granular sandstone known 

as the Tellico sandstone. The Chickamauga limestone that underlies 

the Holston marble in this part of the State is a well-recognized bed 

of middle Stones River age and represents the beds called Lenoir 

limestone by Safford and Ulrich, from the town of Lenoir, in 

this area.

The Tellico sandstone, which is more calcareous and much thinner in the southeast corner of the State, where the manganese deposits occur, than in the region around Knoxville and northeastward,
BOCKS WITH WHICH THE ORES ARE ASSOCIATED. 19

represents a marked change in the character of the sediments by the 

influx into the sea of red ferruginous sands from lands which lay to 

the southeast. Although there may be no great break in sedimentation at its base, the abrupt and marked change in character of the 

sediment and the irregularity of its basal beds, which have discordant cross-bedding and fill channels between bryozoan reefs (see Pis. 

XXV and XXVI), are regarded as evidence of unconformable 

relations. The shales that here overlie the Tellico and are called the 

Sevier shale in the geologic folios include yellow shale, shaly and 

oolitic limestone, and white sandy marble. These beds have been 

described by E. 0. Ulrich 15 as the Ottosee shale of Chazyan age. 

The so-called Tellico sandstone in the Red Hills area south of Cleveland, Bradley County, is apparently-a red sandy calcareous bed at 

the base of the Sevier, for it contains fossils and interbedded yellow 

shales similar to those in the Ottosee of Ulrich. The Sevier therefore apparently rests unconformably on the Holston marble in 

Bradley County.

In the southern part of east Tennessee, where manganese ores occur 

in some higher beds, the Sevier shale is overlain by sandstone and 

shale which carry some high-grade iron ore. Above these is a thin 

but persistent and conspicuous black shale overlain by white chert 

or cherty limestone. The latter, called the Fort Payne chert, contains in places manganese deposits, some of which are of high grade 

and have been extensively worked in Alabama.

In the following table the various formations are given in their 

proper order beginning at the top, and the character of each is 

briefly stated. The general age to which the rocks are assigned is 

given in the column at the left.

18 Geol. Soc. America Bull., volv 22, chart on page 608, 1911.
20 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Generalised table of geologic formations for areas where manganese deposits

occur in east Tennessee.

and Chiefly (Hamilton southeast Tennessee East Tpnnewp igeneral 

Jiast lennessee general. in Bradley counties).

Age.

Carboniferous.

Devonian or 

Carboniferous.

Silurian.

Ordovician.

Cambrian.

Pre-Cambrian.

Formation.

Fort Payne chert. ,

Chattanooga'shale.o

"Eockwood" formation.a

Sevier shale.6

Tellico sandstone.

Athens shale (in northern part only).

Holston marble (in Chickamauga limestone).

Chickamauga limestone, c

Knox dolomite.

Nolichucky shale.

Honaker limestone.

Maryville limestone.

Rogersville shale.

Rutledge limestone.

Watauga shale.

Shady dolomite.

Erwin quartzite.

Hampton shale.

Unicoi formation .

Hesse quartzite.

Murray slate.

Nebo quartzite.

Nichols slate.

Cochran conglomerate .

Hiwassee slate.

Snowbird formation.

Character of rocks.

Thin-bedded chert or cherty limestone.

Black carbonaceous shale.

Sandstone and shale.

Yellow argillaceous shale, shaly limestone, and oolitic marble.

Red sandstone and sandy granular 

limestone or marble.

Fissile gray shale.

Pinkish-buff and white marble.

Light-blue to light-gray limestone and 

shaly argillaceous limestone.

Massive dolomite and limestone containing layers and nodules of chert.

Shaly and platy limestone with thin 

argillaceous layers.

Limestone, dolomite, and shale.

Purple sandy shale, sandstone, and 

impure limestone.

Massive light-gray dolomite, much of 

it coarsely granular, and impure 

argillaceous beds, with some chert at 

base.

Hard white to buff quartzite containing scolithus tubes and some shale.

Dark shale, banded slate, and massive 

quartzite.

Coarse arkosic sandstone, quartzite, 

conglomerate, and slate.

Granite and schist.

o In northeastern Tennessee other formations of Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous ages lie above 

the Sevier shale, but they are not referred to in this report, as no manganese ores are associated with them. 

t> In this area equivalent to Ottosee shale of Ulrich. 

c In this area equivalent to Len'oir limestone (of middle Stones River age) of Safford.
TYPES OF ORE DEPOSITS. 21

Detailed section of Ordovician beds associated loith manganese deposits

of Monroe County.0'

[Chiefly from exposures at the McGuIre mine.]

Formation. Character of rocks. Thickness.

Feet.

Soft reddish porous sandstone, calcareous where unweathered, carrying a 

small amount of hematite of no economic value, and prospected for iron at 

one place to the southeast t>............................................... 10

Siliceous gray oolitic marble, reddish in part................................ 20

Shaly gray limestone........................................................ 40±

Seviershale (Ottosee White marble, mostly coarse granular, some fine saccharoidal. Reddish 

shale of Ulrich). blotched and pink bedsinlowerpart. Somewhat fossiliferous throughout.. 60 

G ray to greenish shaly limestone, very fossiliferous.......................... 40±

Soft greenish calcareous shale, weathered yellow, and some very fossiliferous 

shaly limestone at the base. The basal beds fill depressions and solution 

channels 20 feet or more deep in the upper surface of the underlying marble, 

representing a marked unconformity...................................... 50±

UnconformityCoarse granular crinoidal red marble with Bryozoa and coral reefs In the 90± 

upper part.

Pink crinoidal granular siliceous marblj with cross-beaded sandy and ferruginous .banding and layers containing small shiny hematite-colored pebbles. The ferruginous layers are workable beds of hematite and manganese 

Tellico sandstone, a Ore in places, especially where the ore is concentrated at the base of weathered zones and in residual clayey sands filling solution pockets in the underlying marble. Toward the southwest yellow shale at one or more horizons 

is present in considerable quantity. Mottled red calcareous nonbeddcd 

rock, resembling reworked disintegrated marble, forms the basal beds in 

places..................................................................... 50

Unconformity 

Holston marble. Thick-bedded pink marble with deep black stylolitic markings.............. 30

White marble, in part light greenish, mostly coarse granular but in part fine 

grained.......... ........................................................ 10

Thin-bedded blue limestone with wavy partings. Thins toward the south « 00 , 

stone of Saff ordl to 20 reet or less at tne (-ieor8ia State line..................................

Knox dolomite. Fine-grained, even-bedded light-gray dolomite and magnesian limestone 

with beds or white chert.

0 In the Red Hills area near Cleveland, Bradley County, ferruginous banded Holston 

marble is overlain in places by 30 feet of yellow shale and thin red calcareous sandstone 

which carries dossils similar to those in the Ottosee shale of Ulrich, so that the so-called 

Tellico sandstone in that district is probably a sandy bed in the Sevier shale.

6 In the Red Hills area near Cleveland the sandstone is overlain by thick soft yellow 

shale belonging to the Ottosee of Ulrich.

TYPES OF ORE DEPOSITS.

All the deposits of manganese ore in east Tennessee except those 

of one form are oxide ores in residual clay or clayey sand derived 

from the weathering of sedimentary rocks. The exceptional form 

of deposit is a carbonate ore that replaced limestone and shale. 

Most of the oxide ores may be classed as replacement deposits, some 

of them replacing the rock in place, but most of them replacing clay 

and sand, residual from rock decay, which still retain the rock 

structure. None of them except small amounts of ore associated 

with other deposits are believed to be strictly residual detrital 

deposits concentrated by gravity.

Practically all the deposits are on benches above the stream valleys. This is an important fact to consider in determining the 

genesis of the ore, for the general valley floor of which these benches 

are remnants was once the flat bottom of a valley across which
22 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

streams slowly meandered. This plain had been worn down to a 

nearly level lowland by long-continued erosion by rain, wind, and 

streams, and the rocks beneath its surface were deeply weathered 

to soil. It was during this period of deep weathering that most of 

the ore deposits were formed, the manganese set free by the weathering of the rocks being largely precipitated from solution at the 

bottom of the weathered zone, where the ore was concentrated. The 

process is believed to have taken place twice in Tertiary time, probably first in the early Tertiary and again in the late Tertiary, for 

the benches are not all remnants of the same plain but more probably 

represent two plains less than 100 feet apart. A more recent elevation of the. land caused the streams to cut down their channels, which 

are now 100 feet or more below the old valley floor.

The oxide replacement deposits occur in many different modes, 

the chief distinguishing features of which are the geologic formations with which the deposits are associated. This association 

of a deposit with a certain formation is believed to be due to its 

derivation from certain sedimentary beds in which manganese minerals originally occurred in somewhat greater abundance than in 

ordinary sediments, the concentration of the manganese from these 

beds by solution and redeposition as oxide having localized the 

deposits in residual clays and sands near these beds. A few deposits 

occur in terraced stream gravels, and some are replacements along 

fault zones. The nine modes of occurrence thus recognized in east 

Tennessee and to be described in this report in stratigraphic order 

are as follows:

" 1. Carbonate ores in older Cambrian dolomite.

2. Oxide ores in Envin qiuirtzite.

3. Oxide ores in Shady dolomite.

4. Oxide ores in Watauga shale.

5. Oxide ores in Knox dolomite.

6. Oxide ores in Tellico sandstone and Holston marble.

7. Oxide ores in Fort Payne chert.

8. Oxide ores along fault planes.

9. Oxide ores in terraced stream gravels.

The distribution of the geologic formations at the surface in east 

Tennessee is shown on Plate XVI, on which also is shown the location of manganese mines and prospects. Areas where most of the 

formations above referred to have been found to be manganiferous 

are shown in figure 2. The different modes of occurrence will be described in order, beginning with the oldest associated rocks.

CARBONATE ORES IN OLDER CAMBRIAN DOLOMITE.

Carbonate of manganese, calcium, and magnesium has been found 

in dolomite and slate in the old quartzite series of the Appalachian
KENT UGKY

CLAY

WHITEN CUMBERLANO\^--' 

'

AS

I.' -. 

:-.;-'-:

O R G I A

FIGURE 2. Outline map of east Tennessee showing areas in wbich manganese d
24 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE. ,

Mountains at one place in east Tennessee and may occur elsewhere 

under similar conditions. It occurs in lenticular beds at the contact of the dolomite and slate and is a replacement of calcareous rock 

along this zone. Manganese minerals were apparently originally 

disseminated in the dolomite, for the associated unaltered dolomite 

in the face of the mine responds to chemical tests for manganese 

and weathers on exposure to a porous brown manganiferous network 

inclosing rhombohedral molds of carbonate crystals. The ore was 

concentrated by waters that circulated along fracture planes at 

the contact while the rocks were still below the zone of surface oxidation. The beds now stand vertical, and the outcrops of the ore 

laj^ers are altered to psilomelane and manganiferous iron oxide in 

manganiferous clay. These oxide ores at the surface were first 

prospected, and only after mining to a depth of 6 to 10 feet was the 

carbonate ore discovered. This ore looks like a coarse dolomite or 

limestone (see PL X) and is distinguished only by its greater weight 

and by its discoloration on exposure at the surface, a thin film 

of dark-gray to black oxide quickly coating it. It contains about 

35 per cent or less of manganese, but as it is a carbonate it acts somewhat as a flux in the smelting process, and when it is mixed with 

oxide ores the amount of limestone necessary to the charge is reduced. 

It should therefore command a higher price at smelters than the 

manganese content alone would indicate.

The carbonate ore has been found at only one place in east Tennessee, which is near East Fork post office, on the East Fork of Little 

Pigeon River, in Sevier County, 13 miles east of Sevierville. The 

outcrop has been traced along the strike for nearly a mile and has a 

maximum width of 10 feet. Similar bodies of carbonate ore may be 

found at other places in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains 

where these older slates carry beds of dolomite.

OXIDE ORES IN EBWIN QTJARTZITE.

In places along the front quartzite ridge of the Appalachian 

Mountains the Erwin quartzite carries deposits of manganese ore. 

The ore is dense banded psilomelane and fills crevices between 

the fragments of brecciated quartzite and replaces some of the 

quartzite. (See PL VIII, p. 10.) The ore as mined is consequently 

very siliceous and requires concentration to convert it into a commercial product. As these deposits occur chiefly where the quartzite is 

extensively broken up and brecciated, they may occur anywhere along 

the outcrop of the Erwin quartzite on the west side of the mountains 

In Tennessee they are chiefly developed near French Broad River 

east of Newport, associated with deposits in the Shady dolomite. 

The mineral is believed to have been derived from the basal beds of 

the Shady dolomite similarly to the deposits next to be described.
TYPES OF ORE DEPOSITS. 25 

OXIDE ORES IN SHADY DOLOMITE.

Throughout the Appalachian Valley in Virginia and in parts of 

eastern Tennessee manganese ores occur in the clays which are residual from impure limestones near the base of the Shady dolomite. 

The deposits of this kind in Virginia have been recently described in 

several reports.10 l Between the typical massive dolomite of the 

Shady and the uppermost white quartzite beds of the underlying 

Erwin are transition beds of various kinds, which, because they are 

pervious and partly soluble, readily weather to clay and soil and are 

generally classed with the Shady dolomite, which also usually 

\veathers to clay. These transition beds are exposed in few places, 

but in the valley of Stony Creek and in Shady Valley, in northeastern 

Tennessee, also in parts of southwestern Virginia, their character is 

Avell shown. They are there about 100 feet thick and embrace yellow

finely laminated clays, which evidently were originally calcareous 

shale, and soft mealy arkosic sandstones, some stained red and purple 

with iron, others of a greenish color, due to contained glauconite 

grains. At the top are coarse grits of rounded quartz grains, from 

which the former calcareous cement has generally been dissolved, 

leaving a very porous layer or a loosely coherent mass, in many places 

stained black with manganese oxide or rusty with iron oxide. These 

unusual sediments were evidently derived from residual products of 

the weathering of rocks on an old land mass and were deposited in 

coastal lagoons. They are closely associated with the manganese 

deposits in the Shady dolomite and are believed to have been the 

source of the manganese minerals.

The manganese ores are composed largely of separate small pieces 

of psilomelane scattered through the residual clay. Some of these 

masses are of irregular shape, but many are nodular and have 

mammillary surfaces. Nodules resembling bunches of grapes and 

irregular stalactites (Pis. II and III) are common. Some are cauliflower-like forms attached to a thin plate of ore. (See PI. IV.) 

These are growths into the bedrock walls from crevices along which 

the ore solutions moved. In some places cavities left in the psilomelane by the later solution of inclosed rock fragments are lined 

with crystalline manganite. More rarely the manganite forms distinct balls or rounded masses having a radiate fibrous structure and 

called "needle ore," surrounding a center of psilomelane. (See Pis. 

VI and VII.) Nearly all the ore must be washed to free it from the 

sticky clay. The ore that occurs in wash overlying the residual clay 

is usually ferruginous and highly siliceous from grains and small

18 Hewett, D. F., Some manganese mines in Virginia and Maryland: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 640, pp. 37-71, 1916. Hewett,. D. F., Stose, G. W., Katz, F. .1., and Miser, II. D.. 

Possibilities for manganese ore on certain undeveloped tracts in Shenandoah Valley, . Va.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 660, pp. 271-206, 1918; Manganese deposits along the west 

foot of the Blue Ridge In Virginia: Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 17. 1919.
26 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

pebbles of quartz that it contains. These impurities can not readily 

be removed by ordinary washing processes, and such ore is therefore 

rejected as of too low grade.

The manganese deposits usually lie in yellow clay derived from 

impure laminated limestones in or directly overlying the transition 

beds at the base of the Shady dolomite. The manganese is believed 

to have originally been in these basal beds in a soluble form, probably carbonate, and to have been dissolved by the circulating meteoric 

waters that also dissolved the limestone. It was redeposited as oxide 

in the adjacent residual clays which it replaced. Some of the manganese solutions followed more porous layers in the clay, and the 

oxide gradually replaced the adjacent walls; others permeated the 

porous clay, and the oxide was segregated in isolated spots, which 

later developed into nodules. (See PI. XI.)

NW. SE.

-1,500

-1,000

500

NW.

SHADYOOL

SE.

-2,000

^-1,500

-1,000'

500

3. Sketch sections along the Appalachian Mountain front showing ideal structural 

relations where the Shady dolomite is ore bearing. A, Monoclinal structure, which 

prevails in most places; B, synclinal structure, which is less common but is present in 

most reentrant valleys.

In most places the ore accumulated on the weathered outcropping 

beveled edges of the inclined beds of the Shady dolomite at the foot 

of ridges composed of the underlying Erwin quartzite uplifted in a 

monocline. (See fig. 3, A.) Where these rocks are gently folded so 

that a syncline at the surface incloses the Shady dolomite the descending ore-forming solutions following down the more pervious layers at 

the base of the Shady were concentrated along the bottom of the 

syncline. and the resulting ore deposits are generally thicker and of 

greater value. (See fig. 3, B.) This is the condition at the Oimora 

mine, near Basic, Va., the largest producing manganese mine in the 

.Appalachians.
TYPES OF OEE DEPOSITS. 27

Manganese deposits in the Shad}7 dolomite occur at many places 

along the west foot of the Appalachian Mountains in east Tennessee, 

where the. Shady dolomite lies at the foot of steep slopes of the 

Erwin quartzite ridges in the position just described, and on both 

sides of limestone coves and reentrant valleys within the mountains 

where the Shady has been infolded in synclines. The deposits are 

naturally not continuous along this dolomite-quartzite contact, as 

their accumulation depends on the quantity of the manganese minerals 

originally present in the adjacent rocks, on the steepness of dip of the 

rocks, on the extent of decay of the bedrock, on the slope of the surface 

of the bedrock or its residual clay, and on the cover of wash on the 

bedrock surface through which the ore-bearing solutions can percolate 

slowly, for the ore is apparently deposited more freely where the 

solutions move slowly. Deposits are of course not to be expected

where the rocks have been faulted so that the Shady dolomite is 

absent at the surface. The places referred to in the following paragraphs are shown in figures 4, 11, 16, 18, and 24.

The valley of Beaverdam Creek, in Johnson County, at the north 

border of the State, is a syncline, and the Erwin quartzite dips gently 

into it from both Holston Mountain on the west and Iron Mountain 

on the east. In Shady Valley and at a point farther north near 

Sutherland the syncline is depressed sufficiently to inclose Shady 

dolomite at the level of the valley floor. The conditions are thus 

favorable to the occurrence of deposits of manganese ore, and several have been prospected and mined. The dips are more gentle and 

therefore the conditions more favorable for the deposition of ore 

on the western side. The Shady Valley basin is terminated at the 

north and south by the gentle rise of the strata in these directions. 

Minor longitudinal folding at the north end of the .basin divides it 

into two shallow troughs in the vicinity of Crandull. At these rising 

ends of the trough synclinal conditions are still more favorable for 

the occurrence of commercial deposits, of which the high-grade ore 

of the Davis mine is an example. Northeast of Shady Valley, 

near the Virginia State line, where the Beaverdam syncline is depressed sufficiently to infold the Shady dolomite, commercial manganese deposits have also been opened. ^

Southwest of Shady Valley the valley of. Stony Creek, Carter 

Colinty, also lies in a syncline between Holston and Iron mountains, 

and similar geologic conditions prevail. The manganese deposits 

discovered there, however, have not proved so rich as those in Shady 

Valley. The ore-bearing formation extends to Keenburg on the west 

side of the valley and to Blue Spring on the east side of the valley. 

Beyond this the eastern belt of the Shady dolomite follows along the 

northwest foot of Iron Mountain to Valley Forge and thence along
28 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

the foot of Gap Creek Mountain and Little Mountain, the southwestward continuation of Iron Mountain, nearly to Unicoi, where it is 

terminated by a fault.

On the northwest side of Stones Mountain and on the lower slopes 

of outlying anticlinal ridges of Erwin quartzite in Johnson County 

favorable geologic relations occur at many places, but most of the 

deposits of this type that have been explored there are small. Southwestward the deposits along this belt increase in value and have been 

mined at several places at the northwest foot of Stone Mountain, in 

Carter and Unicoi counties, from Gardens Bluff to Unicoi, beyond 

which the Shadj7 dolomite1 and Erwin quartzite are much disturbed 

by faulting.

Owing to great faulting along the northwest front of the Appalachian Mountains from Erwin southwest to the State boundary the 

Shady dolomite and Erwin quartzite do not generally occur in their 

normal relations at the foot of the mountains. In Bumpass Cove, 

a faulted synclinal limestone valley shut in by mountains southwest 

of Unicoi, the geologic relations are favorable for ore deposition only 

along the northwest side, where the Erwin quartzite dips gently 

southeast under the Shady dolomite of the cove. On the south side 

of Meadow Creek Mountain, in the southern part of Cocke and 

Greene counties, these formations locally outcrop in their normal 

monoclinal relations, and geologic conditions are there favorable for 

the occurrence of manganese ore, but the few deposits that have been 

prospected there and at the east end of Meadow Creek Mountain 

have proved to be small and scattered and of little commercial value. 

Similarly on the north end of English Mountain, in Cocke County, 

the Shady and Erwin formations locally have their normal relations 

and manganese deposits are being mined at the base of the Shady 

dolomite.

OXIDE ORES IN WATAUGA SHALE.

In the extreme northeastern part of Tennessee as in the adjoining 

southwestern part of Virginia deposits of manganese ore occur in 

the soft disintegrated beds of Watauga shale. Such deposits have 

been worked in Johnson Count}^ northeast of Mountain City and in 

Doe Valley, southwest of Mountain City, and have been prospected 

and mined on a small scale in both Johnson and Carter counties near 

Butler. (See figs. 6 and 11.) The ore is largely psilomelane, but 

much of it is fine needle ore composed of pyrolusite. It fills pockets 

in the yellow sandy clay and replaces porous, disintegrated yellow 

sandstone. The solutions followed bedding and joint planes and 

penetrated the walls, in which tubules perpendicular to the crevices 

were formed by replacement of the sandstone, giving rise to a miter-
TYPES OF ORE DEPOSITS. 29

comb structure. The resulting ore appears like a cemented sandstone breccia. (See PL XII.)

The deposits that have been worked lie in the middle of belts of 

Watauga shale and seem to be in broad basins or troughs in the 

shale. Therefore, if structural relations have any bearing on the 

occurrence of the deposits the central part of Doe Valley, which is 

a broad syncline, and the region south and west of Butler, where 

several synclinal or trough-shaped folds occur, are the most favorable places to search for deposits of this kind. Manganese ore has 

been found in commercial quantities in both these places. The horizon in the Watauga with which the ore is associated, if it is restricted to any particular beds, has not been determined. The ore 

seems to have been concentrated only at the level of the old valleyfloor peneplain, 100 to 150 feet above the stream bottoms, and peneplain conditions seem to have been the chief controlling influence in 

its accumulation.

OXIDE ORES IN KNOX DOLOMITE.

Chert in the Knox dolomite, which is stained black by manganese 

oxide at many places, is sometimes so impregnated with the oxide 

as to form a manganese ore. Chert masses which have been broken 

into small fragments are cemented together by manganese oxide 

and in part replaced by it, so that some large masses of ore are 

formed in this manner. The chert and ore are set free by the weathering of the limestone and are found in the residual clay soil on the 

slopes of chert hills. Most of the ore in the chert is hard psilomelane, and some of the residual masses are exceptionally pure ore 

with some crystalline pyrolusite in crevices. Nodular psilomelane 

in the forms of nut and grape ore replaces the chert (see PI. IV, 0} 

and occurs as loose fragments in the clay derived from the Knox. 

Managanese does riot seem to be restricted to any particular horizon 

of chert in the Knox.

Ore in the .residual clay and chert of the Knox dolomite has been 

found throughout the valley of east Tennessee and has been prospected at many places. On finding one or two large chunks of highgrade ore one is likely to conclude that they indicate a workable deposit, but few promising deposits have been opened in ore of this 

type, and such as have been mined, as that at the Rutledge mine, are 

at the contact of the Knox dolomite and an underlying shale, where 

the conditions are somewhat more favorable for the accumulation of 

ore, because the ore solutions tend to follow the contact with the 

impervious shale.

OXIDE ORES IN TELLICO SANDSTONE AND HOLSTON MARBLE.

Marble beds, the Tennessee marble of commerce but referred to 

in geologic literature as the Holston marble, occur in the Chicka-
30 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

mauga limestone at many places in east Tennessee. Where the marbJe 

is thin and overlain by red sandy marble or calcareous sandstone, 

called Tellico sandstone, high-grade iron and manganese ores generally occur. The contact of the sandstone on the marble is in many 

places irregular (Pis. XIII, XXV> XXVI), owing to a sudden 

change in deposition from lime silt to red sand, during a part of 

which this area was probably dry land. Such an irregular contact 

indicating a break in sedimentation is called an unconformity, and 

such a change is generally accompanied by the deposition of unusual material, the waste from the weathering of older rocks 

that formed the old land surface. Manganese minerals were probably among these unusual materials and became disseminated in the 

basal Tellico sediments. When the Tellico sandstone weathered 

at the surface and the soluble lime carbonate was dissolved out 

of it the manganese and associated iron were concentrated by solution and redeposition and formed layers and lenses of ore in the 

basal part of the Tellico. These deposits are generally found at 

the bottom of the disintegrated sandy rock, in contact with or close 

to the underlying unweathered Holston marble. Some of these layers 

of ore interbedded with the, sedimentary rock contain impressions 

of fossils that were in the original rock and are now preserved 

in the ore. (See PI. XIV.) Most of the ore mined, however, is in 

loose residual masses in sandy clay derived from the weathered 

Tellico and resting on the unweathered marble. This manganese ore 

is a mixture of psilomelane and a crystalline mineral, probably 

hausmannite, and most of it is so clean that it can be hand picked 

and shipped without washing. The associated iron ore is a highgrade red hematite, including both fossil ore and fine shiny-pebble 

ore. (See Pis. XIV, XV.)

In the Cleveland Eed Hills area, near the south border of the 

State, the so-called Tellico sandstone contains fossils similar to 

those in the Ottosee shale of Ulrich and is interbedded with yellow 

shale of Sevier type, so it is probably a sandy bed at the base of the 

Sevier, at the unconformable contact with the Holston marble.

The only known occurrences of manganese ore in the Tellico sandstone and Holston marble are in the southern part of the State in the 

vicinity of Sweetwater, Cleveland, and Louisville. Several belts of 

marble overlain by the Tellico sandstone occur east and south of 

Knoxville, and small pieces of manganese ore have been found in 

the overlying soil, but only in a few places have deposits of commercial value thus far been developed. In Monroe County, between 

Philadelphia and Sweetwater, several deposits of high-grade ore 

have been mined. This Sweetwater belt is cut off by a fault at 

Sweetwater but reappears 6 miles south of Cleveland, where it is
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XI

4*.*

I*

RESIDUAL CLAY CONTAINING MANGANESE OXIDE.
IT. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN T37 PLATE XII

PSILOMELANE REPLACEMENT OF SANDSTONE.

The 'rou nded knobby rods in part replace the sandstone walls. From Doe Valley mine, in 

WataUfra shale, Johnson County, Tenn. A, Rods arranged in comb structure perpendicular to the walls of the crevice, X 2; 5, rods arranged in miter form at the junction of 

the bedding plane of the sandstone and a perpendicular joint, natural size; C, partial replacement of sandstone resembling cemented breccia, X 1^2-
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XIII

B

UNCONFORMITY BETWEEN CROSS-BEDDED CRYSTALLINE SANDY LIMESTONE OF THK "TELLICO" AND UNDERLYING HOLSTON MARBLE IN 

PITS OF D. A. M. MINE, BRADLEY COUNTY, TENN.

A, Sandy layers in the "Tellico," brought out in relief by weathering, and thin bed of 

psilomelane (p) in marble just below the unconformity; B, & 

ble from which ore has been mined.

, solution cavities in the mar
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XIV

B

CASTS AND MOLDS OF FOSSILS IN IRON ORE ASSOCIATED WITH THE 

MANGANESE ORE THAT HAS REPLACED FOSSILIFEROUS SILICEOUS LIMESTONE BEDS IN THE "TELLICO SANDSTONE."

From Hambright mine, southeast of Cleveland, Term., X 2. A, Fracture surface 

snowing longitudinal and cross sections of crinoid stems and Rryozoa; B, weathered bedding surface, showing numerous fragments of Bryozoa and a few brachiopod shells.
TYPES OF OEE DEPOSITS. -l-i

also ore bearing, and several mines have there been operated. This 

ore belt continues into Georgia, where, however, the deposits are 

apparently not so rich. Another belt, 6 miles east of the Sweetwater 

belt, has been worked in Monroe and London counties. Further 

search along these zones of contact of the Holston marble and Tellico 

sandstone is likely to result in the finding of other similar deposits.

OXIDE ORES IN FORT PAYNE CHERT.

The Fort Payne chert occurs only in the southern part of the 

State, where it makes low chert ridges. The chert has been in 

places impregnated with manganese oxide, which has filled cracks 

and crevices in the chert and has locally replaced the chert itself, 

forming large masses of ore. The slopes of the ridges, particularly 

the dip slopes, are covered with fragments of chert and masses and 

fragments of manganese ore that have been set free from the chert 

by weathering. Some of the manganese oxide also has been redeposited in the residual clay and wash on the slope. The ore in the 

chert ledges is compact, bright psilomelane, but as mined it is so 

siliceous that it can hardly be concentrated to a commercial product 

at a profit. Most of the ore in the residual clay is also psilomelane, 

in part nodular, and some of these deposits are of workable size. 

At Walnut Grove, Ala., not far south of the Tennessee line, very 

rich needle ore and powdery pyrolusite ore has been mined in these 

residual clays, but no ore of this character has thus far been observed 

in Tennessee. The manganese was apparently dissolved from limestone associated with or immediately overlying the Fort Payne chert 

when the limestone weathered and was redeposited as concentrated 

oxide in the underlying brecciated chert and residual clay, or in the 

surface wash.

Deposits in the Fort Payne chert have been mined on a small scale 

in White Oak Mountain, west of Cleveland, and have been prospected farther south along the southeast side of this mountain, 

where the same geologic conditions continue into Georgia. Other 

deposits may be discovered in the intervening undeveloped territory, 

but unless the ore is better than that which has been mined in Tennessee the deposits will hardly be of commercial value.

DEPOSITS ALONG FAULT PLANES.

Iron and manganese ores are deposited in the rocks adjacent to 

some of the fault planes. Minerals that are scattered through the 

rocks are dissolved by waters circulating along joints, bedding 

planes, and crevices, forming solutions that may rise along fault 

planes and deposit ores in brecciated zones, porous strata, or residual 

clays at or near the surface. Many of the deposits in the ore-bearing
32 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

zones already described may have been in part concentrated from 

such solutions circulating along fault or joint planes, but only the 

deposits whose location has been determined largely by this process 

are here referred to. The character of the ore is controlled chiefly 

by the formation with which it is associated.

There are many overthrust or strike faults in east Tennessee 

whose outcrops follow the general trend of outcrop of the strata, 

and many of the larger of these faults are marked at the surface by 

belts of residual siliceous iron ore and iron-stained chert. Deposits 

of iron ore along faults have been mined at several places, but only a 

few deposits of manganese ore along faults have been- prospected. 

The only worked deposit of manganese ore in east Tennessee that 

lies along a fault, the location of which has been determined largely 

by the fault itself, is at Taylor Valley, northeast of Mountain 

City. Here a fault breccia, altered to yellow clay containing 

fragments of purple schist, is in part replaced by ore along a flat 

overthrust fault plane. Similar deposits of workable ore may exist 

along some others of the numerous faults in the area.

OXIDE ORES IN TERRACED STREAM GRAVELS.

Nearly every manganese deposit in Tennessee includes in its upper 

part a layer of surficial clay and mountain wash in which some ore 

occurs. The ore was deposited in this porous material from solutions which permeated it and is in no sense a mechanical concentration of residual fragments of ore. Such deposits are therefore not 

included under this head in this report. Only those deposits are included which occur in gravels and sand of stream origin and which 

do not continue down into the underlying bedrock or its residual 

clays to a material extent. This type of ore is generally highly 

siliceous, including fragments and grains of quartz. Some is also 

highly ferruginous.

The only known manganese ore deposited in stream gravel in east 

Tennessee is at Silver Lake, northeast of Mountain City, where it occurs in old stream gravel and sand on a bench 50 feet above the present streams. (See PI. XVII.) Such deposits must be derived from 

a near-by source of ore solutions and may be looked for in stream 

gravels in old terraces near known deposits of other types.

METHOD OF MINING.

Practically all the oxide ore deposits in east Tennessee are mined 

by open cut. The carbonate ore deposit is mined by drift and shaft, 

and a little drifting has been done on some of the oxide deposits.

The general mode pf working the oxide deposits is to iirive a trench 

into the hill across the strike and.below the supposed zone of outcrop.
MINES AND PROSPECTS. 33

After the ore-bearing zone is exposed it is worked out on either side 

of the trench in wide funnel-shaped cuts where the ground is soft 

and slumps badly, or is followed by narrow trenches where the material will stand in steep walls. The pick and wheelbarrow are used 

in most small mines. Horse-drawn scrapers, some mounted on wheels, 

are in use in several mines, and various forms of drag-line scrapers 

are used in others where the overburden is heavy. A derrick with 

either horsepower or steam hoist is used in a feAv of the deeper mines.

Most of the ore'that is associated Avith clay must be thoroughly 

washed before it can be shipped. This work is done in log washers 

from 18 to 25 feet long, usually mounted in pairs. The paddles are of 

iron, generally bolted to a wooden log, but the logs in use at some 

mines are made of iron. The ore is generally hauled to the washer in 

wagons or tramcars, but at a few places it is carried by water in 

wooden flumes down steep slopes and thus washed. In some plants a 

stream of water from a nozzle is Used to break up the lumps of 

earth before washing, and one. deposit is actually hydraulickecl by 

this means.

Some of the ore is dry mined and shipped without washing, being 

either hand picked, if it occurs in large lumps, or screened and hand 

picked. The washed ore is also hand picked, usually from a slowly 

moving belt, generally by women or children.

Most of the mining rights are acquired by lease, but some mines are 

owned by the operators. The mining rights may be held under 

option pending the result of development. A royalty ranging usually 

from 25 cents to $1 a ton is paid to the owner of the land for all ore 

extracted, a minimum sum to be paid each year, whether mining is 

done or not, being generally specified in the agreement. The rate of 

royalty depends on the grade of ore obtained and the cost of mining. 

The high-grade, easily accessible lump ore of Bradley and Monroe 

counties commands the highest royalty, as much as $4 a ton having 

been paid on it.

MINES AND PROSPECTS.

The manganese mines and prospects of east Tennessee, 130 or more 

in number, lie chiefly in a narrow northeastward-trending belt about 

220 miles long, which extends diagonally across the State near its 

eastern boundary. A few unimportant deposits in Grainger County 

lie outside the belt, on the northwest. The location of the mines and 

prospects and their relation to the geologic formations are shown on 

the accompanying map (PI. XVI). Iron, lead, and zinc ores, pyrite, 

barite, marble, bauxite, kaolin, fluorite, limestone for fertilizer, ballast, and flux, and phosphate are also mined in the belt, most of them 

on a small scale, however. A comprehensive tabular list of all the
34 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

manganese mines and prospects, including the location, owner, operator, distance from railroad, and type of deposit of each, is given 

at the end of this report.

The mines and prospects are here described by counties in geographic order, beginning with Johnson County, at the Virginia State 

line, in the northeast corner .of the State. Manganese ore is known 

to occur in minable quantities in the following 17 counties, which are 

given in the same order: Johnson, Carter, Unicoi, Washington, 

Greene, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Sevier, Knox, Anderson, Blount, Loudon, Monroe, McMinn, and Bradley.

Under each county the mines are grouped into districts, which in 

general are named after some central point from which the mines are 

most accessible.

The descriptions of the mines are based chiefly on the examination 

of the deposits by Stose and Schrader made during April, May,' June, 

and October, 1918, and by Stose in October, 1917. Mr. McFaiian 

visited some prospects, and his description of them is embodied in 

the report under his name. He also made the detailed maps of the 

Sweetwater and Cleveland districts (Pis. XXIV and XXVII, pp. 

116 and 130), the geologic boundaries of which have been interpreted and modified by Stose in the field. Most of the descriptions 

include the location of the deposit, the occurrence, character, association, and geologic relations of the ore, and the development and 

equipment of the mine. The probable extent of the deposit and suggestions for further prospecting are also given if the information in 

hand warrants.

The deposits as a whole are conservatively estimated to contain 

85,000 tons of ore available for mining under recently prevailing conditions, of which 75,000 tons is classed as manganese ore but includes 

some ferruginous manganese ore and 10,000 tons as manganiferous 

iron ore. These figures are the result of an estimate made at each 

mine and prospect of the ore proved by prospecting and geologic 

relations to be present and fairly accessible. Many of the deposits may prove to be larger, and the total reserve available in time 

of extreme need may be several times greater than here estimated.

PRODUCTION.

By the term manganese ore is meant ore that contains 35 per cent 

or more of metallic manganese. Ferruginous manganese ore contains 

from 10 to 35 per cent of manganese and a percentage of iron commonly ranging from 10 to 40. Iron ore that contains less than 10 

per cent and more than 1 per cent of manganese is termed manganiferous iron ore.

The production and sale of manganese ore in east Tennessee from 

1886 to 1918 is given in the following table:
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XV

"BIRDSHOT" PEBBLE ORE, CONSISTING OF SHINY BLACK PELLETS OF 

MANGANESE OXIDE IN CLAY.

From Louisville mine, Teun. Natural size.

S. FERRUGINOUS PEBBLE BED IN FOSSIL!FKHOUS CRYSTALLINE LIMESTONE 

NEAR THE TOP OF THE HOLSTON MARBLE.

Showing pebbles composed largely of fragments of fossils partly replaced by iron and having a 

highly polished surface. From Heiskell mine, Tenn. X 9.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XVI

85°

83° 82°

K E N T U C K

X

Y /''

V 1 R G 1 N 1 A f/^^jps&^y

r-z -'/ i oOf --X 7 , i

 Graksy

>

EXPLANATION

Upper part of Ordovician Cambrian quartzites, shales, 

slates, and conglomerates

Lower part of Ordovician 

and uppermost Cambrian

Cambrian limestones, 

dolomites, and shales (Chiefly granite and other igneous rocks. 

Contain no manganese ore) (Chattanooga shale and younger formations. (Clinch sandstone, " Rockwood" formation, (Chickamaitga limestone to red sandstone at 

Fort fayne chert m Bradley and Harml- and Hancock limestone. Not manganese tovafOrdoviciOM. Manganese ore deposits (Knox dolomite. Manganese ore in residual (Shady dolomite to Nolichucky shale. Man- (Hesse and Erwin quartzites and older forton counties contains manganese deposits) bearing) at contact of Tettico sandstone and Holston chert and clay) ganese ore deposits in Shady dolomite along mations. Manganese carbonate deposits

marble in Loudon, Blount, McMinn, Man- -.......,...,. . . ,<

roe, and Bradley counties)

most of the Appalachian Mountain front 

and in Watauga shale in Johnson and 

Carter counties)

Manganese mine Manganese prospect

Scale 500,000 

10 20

MINES AND PROSPECTS.

Shady Valley district.

1. Reynolds mine, Johnson County.

2. Neely mine, Johnson County

3. Sutherland prospect, Johnson County.

4. Hogback mine, Johnson County

5. Davis mine, Johnson County.

6. M. E King prospect, Johnson County.

7. Maxwell mine, Johnson County.

8. Wright mine, Johnson County.

9. Osborn prospect, Johnson County.

10. Hooper prospect, Johnson County. 

Mountain City district.

11. Taylor Valley mine, Johnson County.

12. Silver Lake mine, Johnson County.

13. Wills mine and Silver Lake and Wills 

prospects, Johnson County.

14. Newton and Mary Cornett prospects, 

Johnson County.

15. Wright prospect, Johnson County.

16. Nelson King prospect, Johnson 

County.

17. Shouns prospect, Johnson County.

18. Doe Vailey mine, Johnson County. 

Butler district.

*19. Proffit prospect, Johnson County.

20. Wilson Hill mine, Johnson County.

21. Wagner prospect, Johnson County.

22. Dry Run mine, Johnson County.

23. Watauga River mine, Johnson County.

24. Cable prospect, Johnson County.

25. Goss mine, Johnson County.

26. Moody prospect, Johnson County.

27. Elk mine, Carter County.

28. Dubault prospect, Carter County.

29. Younce prospect, Carter County.

30. Cobb Creek prospect, Carter County. 

Stony Creek district.

31. Blevins mine, Carter County.

32. Hatcher prospect, Carter County.

33. Grindstaff prospect, Carter County.

34. Blue Springs mine, Carter County.

35. Keenburg prospect, Carter County. 

Hampton district.

36. Cardans Bluff mine, Carter County.

37. Teaster and Ray prospect, Carter 

County.

38. Cedar Hill mine, Carter County.

39. Valley Forge mine, Carter County.

40. Jenkins prospect, Carter County.

41. E. J. and Oscar Hyder prospects, 

Carter County.

42. Marion Hyder prospect, Carter 

County.

43. Winter mine, Carter County.

44. Patton mine, Carter County.

45. Treadway prospect, Carter County.

46. Hodge prospect, Carter County. 

Unicoi district.

47. T. J. Brummett mine, Carter County.

48. Susan Brummett mine, Unicoi County.

49. Britt mine, Unicoi County

50. Unicoi prospects, Unicoi County. 

Bumpass Cove district.

51. Embree prospect, Unicoi County. 

Haysville district.

52. Haysville prospect, Greene County.

53. Sylvia prospect, Greene County.

54. Lamb prospect, Greene County.

*55. Payne prospect, Greene County. 

Del Rio district.

56. Wood mine, Cocke County.

57. Adams mine, Cocke County.

58. Blanchard mine, Cocke County.

59. Waddell mine, Cocke County.

60. Huff prospect, Cocke County

61. Long Creek prospect, Cocke County. 

Newport district.

62 Newport mine, Cocke County.

63. Jones & McMahon prospect, Cocke 

County.

64. Raines mine, Cocke County. 

Boatmen Ridge district.

65 Curry prospect, Hamblen County. 

66. Noeton prospect, Hamblen County.

67. Lotspeich prospect, Hamblen County.

68. Mays and Ivy prospects, Hamblen

County. 

Rutledge district.

69. Harmon prospect, Grainger County.

70. Rutledge mine, Grainger County.

71. Young prospect, Grainger County.

72. Swann prospect, Grainger County. 

Wash burn district.

73. Wallen prospect, Grainger County.

74. Frye prospect, Grainger County. 

Jefferson district.

*75. Currens prospect, Jefferson County, 

East Fork district.

76. East Fork mine, Sevier County. 

Tuckaleeche Cove district.

77. Townsend prospect, Blount County. 

Chilhowee Mountain district.

78. Miller prospect, Blount County.

79. Sellers prospect, Blount County

80. McMurray prospect, Blount County, 

Greenback district.

81. Aiken prospect, Blount County.

82. Curtis prospect, Blount County.

83. Williams prospect, Blount County. 

Louisville district.

84. Louisville mine, Blount County.

85. Louisville prospect, Blount Cou/ity. 

Knoxville district.

86. Giezentanner prospect, Knox County.

87. Green prospect, Knox County. 

Copper Ridge district.

88. Haworth prospect, Knox County. 

Pine Ridge district.

89. Bright & Howell prospect, Anderson 

County.

*90. Wallace prospect, Anderson County. 

Loudon district.

91. Gates prospect, Loudon County. 

Fork Creek Knobs district.

92. Galbraith mine, Loudon County.

93. Mills prospect, Monroe County 

Sweetwater district.

94. McGuire mine, Monroe County.

95. Preston prospect, Monroe County.

96. Vida mine, Monroe County

97. Ewing mine, Monroe County.

98. Heiskell mine, Monroe County.

*99. Dickey prospect, Monroe County.

100. Hansard prospect, McMinn County.

101. McDonald prospect, Monroe County. 

Madisonville district.

102. Kimbrough prospect, Monroe County. 

Tellico Plains district

103. Ervin prospect, Monroe County.

104. Groundhog Mountain prospect, 

Monroe County.

105. Beaty prospect, Monroe County.

106. Kilby prospect, Monroe County 

Athens district.

107. Gilbert and J. H. Jones prospects,

McMinn County. 

McMinn Ridge district.

108. Pierce prospect, McMinn County.

109. Reed and Webb prospects, McMinn

County. 

Charleston district

110. Bishop and associated prospects,

McMinn County.

111 Underwood mine, Bradley County. 

Cleveland district.

112. Hambright mine, Bradley County. 

113 M. V. Jones prospect, Bradley County.

114. Sloan prospect, Bradley County.

115. D. A. M. mine, Bradley County.

116. Lord mine, Bradley County.

117. Snyder prospect. Bradley County.

118. Hannah prospect, Bradley County.

119. Gee prospect, Bradley County. 

White Oak Mountain district.

120. White Oak Mountain mine, Bradley 

County.

121. Brown prospect, Bradley County.

* Exact location doubtful.

GEOLOGIC MAP OF EASTERN TENNESSEE, SHOWING LOCATION OF MANGANESE MINES AND PROSPECTS AND THEIR RELATION TO THE GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS

Geology compiled chiefly from folios of the Geologic Atlas 

of the United States, with minor changes by,G. W. Stose
MINES AND PROSPECTS. 35

Manganese ores produced and marketed in east -Tennessee from 1886 to 1918,

in long tons.

1856101914......................................................................

1915.............................................................................

191C.............................................................................

1917.............................................................................

1918.............................................................................

Manganese 

ore.

02.680

250

<WQ

1,996

4,210

Ferruginous 

manganese 

ore.

83

62,075

o Approximate.

* Includes 76 tons of manganiferous iron ore.

The following table shows the production of manganese in the 

various districts of east Tennessee in 1917 and 1918:

Manganese ore produced in east Tennessee in 1911 and 1918, Ity counties and

districts, in long tons.

1917 1918

District.

Johnson County: 

Shady Valley district. ..... 

Mountain City district. . . . .

Carter County: 

Butler district. . ...........

Hampton district. .........

Cocke County:

London County: 

Fork Creek Knobs district. 

.Bradley County:

Manganese ore.

I a 935 

1 414 

6730

2,079

District.

Johnson County: 

Shady Valley district ..... 

Mountain City district. . . .

Johnson County total. . . 

Carter County: 

Stony Creek district. ......

Unicoi County:

Cocke County: 

Del Rio district ...........

Grainger County:

Loudon County:

Fork Creek Knobs district 

Bradley County:

Monroe County: 

Fork Creek Knobs district.

Manganese ore.

468 

1,301 

364

2,133 

} 666

1 312

| 559 

| 540

Ferruginous 

manganese ore.

c311 

1,266

1,577

140 

229

«94

35

4,210 2,075

Total.

779 

2,567 

364

3,710 

666 

140

541

653 

575

6,285

. ' Includes 83 tons of ferruginous manganese ore. The principal producers wore the Dry Run mine, in 

i he Butler district, and the Taylor Valley mine, in the Mountain City district. 

i> The principal producer was the Lord mine, in the Cleveland district. 

' I Deludes 25 tons of manganiferous iron ore. 

'' Includes a small area extending into Carter County. 

' Includes 51 tons of manganiferous iron ore.

The schedule of market prices of manganese ores in the United 

States fixed by the War Industries Board and the American Iron and
36 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Steel Institute 17 in June, 1918, and in effect until November 11,1918, 

was as follows:

Schedule of prices for manganese ore. (Dried at, 212° F.)

Metallic manganesecontent (per cent).

35 to 35.99.......................... ....................

36 to 36.99.... ..........................................

37 to 37.99...................... ........................

38 to 38.99.................... ..........................

39 to39.99...................... '........................

40to40.99..............................................

41to41.99..............................................

42to42.99.................................:............

43to43.99..............................................

44 to 44.99. .............................................

45 to 45.99. .............................................

46 to 46.99. .............................................

47to47.99..............................................

48to48.99..............................................

49to49.99..............................................

50 to 50.99. .............................................

51 to 51.99..............................................

52 to 52.99. .............................................

53 to 53.99..............................................

Price per unit f. o. b. 

South Chicago.

Mined 

east of 

South 

Chicago.

$1.01 

1.05 

1.09 

1.13 

1.15 

1.17 

1.19 

1.21 

1.23 

1.25 

1.27 

1.29 

1.31 

1.33 

1.35 

1.37 

1.39 

1.41 

1.43 

1.45

Mined 

west of 

South 

Chicago.

$0. 86 

0.90 

0.94 

0.98 

1.00 

1.02 

1.04 

1.06 

1.08 

1.10 

1.12 

1.14 

1.16 

1.18 

1.20 

1.22 

1.24 

1.26 

1.28 

1.30

Average price per ton 

(2,240 pounds.).

Mined 

east of 

South 

Chicago.

$35.85 

38.32 

40.87 

43.50 

45.42 

47.38 

49.38 

51.42 

53.50 

55.62 

57.78 

59.98 

62.22 

64.50 

66.82 

69.18 

71.58 

74.02 

76.50 

78.30+

Mined 

west of 

South 

Chicago.

$30.53 

32.85 

35.25 

37.71 . 

39.50 

41.31 

43.16 

45.05 

46.98 

48.95 

50.96 

53.01 

55. 10 

57.23 

59.40 

61.61 

63.86 

66.15 

68.48 

70.20 +

Prices were based on ore containing not more than 8 per cent of 

silica and not more than 0.25 per cent of phosphorus. A premium 

of 50 cents per ton was allowed for each 1 per cent of silica under 8 

per cent down to 5 per cent, and of $1 per ton for each 1 per cent of 

silica under 5 per cent; also a penalty of 50 cents per ton for each 

1 per cent of silica in excess of 8 per cent up to 15 per cent, of 75 

cents per ton for each 1 per, cent of silica in excess of 15 per cent up

to 20 per cent, and of $1 per ton for each 1 per cent of silica in 

excess of 20 per cent up to 25 per cent. Ore containing more than 

0.25 per cent of phosphorus was subject to penalty and bought at 

the option of the buyer.

. JOHNSON COUNTY.

Johnson Count}', the northeast;ernmost county of the State, is 

largely mountainous, and its county seat is fittingly named Mountain City. Doe, Dry Run, and Iron mountains and smaller ridges 

and spurs divide the county into several longitudinal northeastwardtrending valleys, in which manganese deposits occur. Descriptions 

of the 30 known manganese mines in the county follow.

17 >Eng. and Min. Jour., ,vol. 105, No. 23, p. 1053, June S, 1918.
JOHNSON COUNTY. 

SHADY VALLEY DISTRICT. 18

37

The Shady Valley district lies in the northwestern part of Johnson 

County and consists mainly of Shady Valley and its bounding mountain slopes. (See fig. 4.) Shady Valley is the flat-bottomed valley between Holston and Iron mountains, which is drained northward'by Beaverdam Creek, in the northwestern part of the county. 

Although the open valley ends a mile or so north of Crandull, where 

the stream enters a rocky gorge, the few mines and prospects far4. Topographic map of Shady Valley district, showing location of mines and 

. . prospects.

tlier down the creek, near Sutherland, are here included in the district. Nearly all the deposits occur in residual clay of the lower part 

of the Shady dolomite.

Reynolds mine. The Reynolds mine is 1^ miles south of Damascus, Va,, just south of the Virginia State line, and three-fourths of 

a mile northeast of Sutherland. It is owned by A. D. Rejiiolds, of 

Bristol. Manganiferous iron ore was mined at the north end of the 

property many years ago. At the time of the writer's visit the 

Lehigh Valley Manganese Ore Co., of Bethlehem, Pa., and Damascus, Va,, had leased the property, and it began development in June,

18 Descriptions of the Reynolds, Neely, and Hogback mines and Sutherland prospect 

were written by F. C. Sc.hrader after his visit, in October, 1918. Descriptions of all other 

mines and prospects in Shndy Valley wore written by G. W. Stosc.
38 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

1918. By October 100 tons of ore had been mined, about half of 

which had been shipped. The ore is reported to be about half manganese, ore, averaging 40 per cent manganese and 13 per cent silica, 

and half ferruginous manganese ore. More than half of the ore is 

fines.

The mine is on a terraced spur on the northwest slope of Iron 

Mountain, at an elevation of 2,400 feet, or 450 feet above the creek. 

It is in red and yellow clay, believed to be residual from the Shady 

dolomite, resting on Erwin quartzite. The structure seems to be 

locally synclinal, as the quartzite in the gulch to the north dips 40° S.

The deposit is opened to a depth of 10 feet by several cuts, which 

extend through a vertical range of 50 feet on the slope. Most of 

them show nodular psilomelane wash ore in the clay, chiefly in the 

upper layers. Most of the ore is scattered, but irregular streaks and 

lenses also occur and show evidence of disturbance and creep down 

the slope. A bed of soft ore about a foot in thickness was observed 

near the north end of the property. The indications are on the 

whole unfavorable for profitable mining.

The ore is sledded down the steep slope to the washer, 230 feet 

below the mine, and the washed ore is hauled by wagon to the 

railroad.

Neely mine. The Neely mine is 1 mile south of Sutherland, on 

the east side of Beaverdam Creek, in the Unaka National Forest. 

The deposit was first opened by J. A. Neely, of Damascus, Va. It 

was worked about 1898 for iron ore. At the time of the writer's 

visit it was being operated by the Laurel Mining Co., of Mountain 

City, and 27 tons of manganese ore, mostly from the old dumps, 

had been shipped, and about 4 tons lay on the dump. The ore was 

dry screened, and the shipped ore was reported to have run about 

45 per cent manganese and 4 per cent silica. It was hauled down 

the steep slope from the mine to the railroad on sleds, but the company intended to build a wagon road.

The mine is on a bench on the northwest slope of Iron Mountain, 

2,800 feet in elevation, or 600 feet above the creek. It is in reddishbrown clay, probably residual from the Shady dolomite, which rests 

on Erwin quartzite and apparently dips northwestward into the 

Beaverdam syncline. The main opening, which is the original working reopened and the source of the ore first shipped, is a 50-foot cut 

running into the ridge and following an ore bed about 8 feet thick 

which dips 20° NNW. The cut is 20 feet wide and 15 feet high 

at the face. The ore is mainly hard psilomelane in nodules and 

irregular mammillary fragments, the largest a foot in diameter, but 

it includes some wad and soft pyrolusite.

About 250 feet northeast of the main cut another old working 

was being reopened and showed considerable scattered ore. It has
JOHNSON COUNTY. 39

been reported since the visit made by the writer that a solid body 

of ore was found in this working. The prospects were bright for an 

active mine. In 1918 the shipments reported from the mine were 

79 tons of manganese ore.

Sutherland prospect. The Sutherland prospect is If miles southwest of Sutherland, in the Unaka National Forest. It has been 

prospected under lease from the Government by Wiley Sutherland 

and J. F. Sutherland, who report exceptionally favorable indications. 

The geologic conditions are believed to be the same as at the Neely 

mine.

Hogback mine. The Hogback mine is 2| miles south-southwest 

of Sutherland, in the Unaka National Forest. It was first opened 

in 1883 by David Blevins, of Shady Valley, for William McGovern, 

of Pennsylvania. It has only recently been developed by the Lehigh Valley Manganese Ore Co., of Bethlehem, Pa., which has an 

office at Damascus, Va. This company began operations early in 

1918 and shipped 100 tons of manganese ore. The ore is hand picked 

and dry screened at the mine, and it is in part washed at the railroad 

by a hose gravity jet. It is reported to run 42 per cent manganese. 

8 per cent iron, and 12 per cent silica.

The mine is on a bench on the northwest slope of Iron Mountain 

at an altitude of 2,900 feet, or 650 feet above the creek. The deposit 

is in brownish and red clay, in part wash and in part residual from 

Shady dolomite, resting on Erwin quartzite, which apparently dips 

northwest into the Beaverdam syncline. It is opened to a depth of 

10 feet by several cuts, which extend through a vertical range of 100 

feet on the slope, and all show ore, the best exposure being in a cut 

60 feet long. The. ore is largely psilomelane, which occurs in nodular 

botryoidal forms, most of it arranged in bands or layers several 

inches thick, but some sporadically. It contains also some wad and 

pyrolusite. None of the ore is very hard. The upper part of the 

clay is banded parallel with the surface, the banding indicating 

creep and surface deposition. Float ore occurs on the surface of the 

adjoining slope below the mine and laterally at its level. The indications were regarded as favorable to successful mining.

A few hundred yards up the slope, east of the mine, a ferruginous 

ledge, which outcrops and seems to be rather extensive, was prospected in early days, probably for iron ore, for which it looks 

promising.

Davis mine. The Davis mine, called also the Parker or Cranclull mine, is just west of Crandull at the lower end of Shady Valley. 

The openings are on a flat-topped spur on the west side of the valley, 

100 to 200 feet above the valley bottom and adjacent to the site of the 

old Heberlin mine. The property was developed by George E. Davis, 

105164 23 4
40 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

of Bristol > Va., who opened several pits and shipped a carload of ore. 

which is reported to have run about 43 per cent manganese. The 

property was later leased to the Southern Manganese Corporation, by 

which mining operations on a larger scale were begun.

The lower openings on the outer edge of a terrace about 100 feet 

above the valley bottom are on E. N. Martin's land. (See fig. 5.)

Crandull

Feet Terra ysai"plt 

-i- *s-' 2/300 -

2700-

2J500- 

2.500

0 soo ipoo 1500 2;oooFeet 

Approximate scale

NW. Prospect 

pit.

FIGURE 5. Sketch map of the vicinity of the Davis mine, geologic section through the mine, 

and detailed section showing relation of the ore-bearing clay to the basal arkosic and 

glauconitic beds of the Shady dolomite.

They are shallow pits in yellow clay and dark manganiferous clay, 

showing considerable high-grade crystalline manganese' ore, seemingly manganite, and some iron ore. Most of the manganite is cellular and forms the partitions of the cells. The clay is residual from 

impure calcareous beds of the Shady dolomite "lying just above soft 

red and green glauconitic sandstones and about 20 feet above the 

coarse sandstone of rounded quartz grains near the base of the Shady 

which outcrops on the slope below in a nearly horizontal position. 

(See fig. 5.) The face of one small pit was almost solid ore, and
JOHNSON COUNTY. 41

although considerable of the ore is iron the quantity of high-grade 

manganese ore taken from the pit looked very promising. Float ore 

and dark-brown soil above the pits indicate the probable extension of 

the deposit beneath the surface of most of the terrace.

The higher openings are a short distance farther back on the terrace, beyond a small ravine, on W. J. Parker's land. In June, 1918, 

this part of the property was leased to the Southern Manganese Corporation, which soon equipped it with machinery and began active 

mining. This tract includes the pits of the old Heberlin mine, from 

which 800 tons of manganese ore was reported 19 to have been taken 

years ago. Its old waste dump contained sufficient nodular psilomelane to be profitably reworked. The new pits are dug into the side 

of the ravine about 20 feet below the top of the terrace and showed 

excellent ore, largely psilomelane in stalactitic form, with crystalline 

manganite lining cavities and covering stalactites. The best exposure 

showed the ore inclosed in wad and dark manganiferous clay, capped 

by a nearly horizontal layer of hard manganiferous brown iron ore.

At the time of visit, in October, 1917, several tons of high-grade 

lump ore in large masses lay on the dump of this small pit, and the 

face of the pit was still in ore. Several small pits farther up the 

ravine showed the ore to extend 100 feet or more back on the terrace. 

Analysis of a carload of the better-grade ore shipped during 1917 

ran 44.18 per cent manganese, 9.77 per cent iron, and 6.27 per cent 

silica. A carload of ferruginous manganese ore from the cap rock, 

also shipped in 1917, ran 20.17 per cent manganese, 27.10 per cent 

iron, and 13.94 per cent silica.

By October, 1918, at the time of a second visit, the mine was producing 16 tons of washed ore a day, and equipment was being completed which was expected to increase the production to 40 tons a 

day by using a force of 80 men working day and night in two shifts. 

The " wash dirt" was removed from the pit by mule plows and 

scrapers, dumped through a trap hopper into tramcars, and conveyed by gravity over a double-track trestle to the 25-foot double-log 

washer, 60 feet from the lower end of the mine. The washed ore was 

hauled by wagon to the railroad at Crandull. The pumping plant is 

at Crandull, on Beaverdam Creek, and has a capacity of 300 gallons a 

minute.

The face of the working was 30 feet high and showed good ore 

throughout, except about 12 feet of lean overburden and barren clay, 

which was being removed by scrapers into the gulch below. The 

" run-of-mine dirt" concentrates 12 into 1. As much of the ore is 

brittle crystalline manganite about 40 per cent of the ore is fine, and

<° Harder, E. C., Manganese deposits of the United States : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 427, 

p. 74, 19.10.
42 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

tables were to be installed to reduce the quantity of silica, although this 

refining is generally done at the company's plant in Anniston. The 

ore shipped was reported to run 41 per cent manganese, 10 per cent 

iron, and 8 per cent silica. The development work had been well 

planned by the company's engineers, and if the deposit proved as 

large as was hoped a steam shovel was to be installed and the plant 

further enlarged.

The mine is near the end of a gentle minor syncline on the side of 

the larger Shady Valley syncline. As shown in the section in figure 

5. the rocks lie nearly flat, and the geologic conditions are unusually 

favorable for the accumulation of ore, especially on the terrace representing the old valley floor. The large quantity and high grade of the 

ore in the mine and prospects accord with this view. These f aVorable 

conditions seem to extend northeastward on the terraced spurs, where 

some prospecting has been done, also sout'hwestward, where there 

has been no prospecting so far as known. The thick layer of wash 

from the mountain slope, which covers most of the terrace'd spurs, 

makes prospecting difficult.

M. E. King prospect. The M. E. King prospect, owned by Miss 

M. E. King, of Danville, Va., is in the upper part of Shady Valley, 

northwest of Shady village, where several old abandoned ore banks 

remain. It is on a terrace about 20 feet above the valley floor and 

apparently in a minor gentle syncline within the Shady Valley syncline, as the coarse porous sandstone layers at the base of the Shady 

dolomite outcrop in the axis of a small anticlinal fold about half a 

mile to the south. At the time of visit the openings seen at the south 

end of the property were several small slumped and abandoned pits 

dug in residual clay of the dolomite beds of the Shady and at the 

north end of the property, on what is called the 5-acre tract, a larger 

pit, which exposes dolomite in its lower part. Psilomelane nodules 

occurred here sparingly in dark manganiferous clay beneath a 2-foot 

layer of brown iron ore, which was mined for iron many years ago. 

The amount of manganese ore appeared to be insufficient to be mined 

profitably.

Since the time of the writer's visit it is reported that 10 shafts have 

been sunk at the south end of the property, disclosing abundant ore 

which contains an average of 49.80 per cent of manganese and commands a premium because of its small content of silica. Good-sized 

chunks of clean, solid ore from the openings, which were sent to the 

writer, were composed largely of crystalline manganite. It is said 

that the Southern Manganese Corporation had examined the property 

and was so favorably impressed that it would have taken over the 

mine if the Beaverdam Railroad had not been dismantled.

Maxwell mine. The Maxwell mine is 1 mile northwest of Shady 

village, in the upper part of Shady Valley, on a tract of land of
JOHNSON COUNTY. 43

which the mineral right is owned by the Maxwell Manganese Mining 

Co., of Elizabethton, Tenn. H. V. Maxwell, the president of the 

company, was personally directing the'development of the tract at 

the time of visit, and a test carload of washed ore was nearly ready 

for shipment. Considerable manganiferous iron ore had also been 

taken out, but the cost of transportation was so high that it could 

not be shipped \vith profit. Iron ore was mined on the property 

for a local forge many years ago by Mr. Scott.

The property was developed chiefly by two shallow trenches in a 

small stream bottom on the west side of the valley, but unfortunately 

the workings were subject to flooding by water from the stream and 

had to be abandoned. The deposit is largely in clay and sand that 

was washed from the adjacent hillside and that overlies residual clay 

of the Shady dolomite. Considerable ore was seen in pockets in the 

face of the trenches. The ore is chiefly psilomelane, some of which 

is stalactitic. It occurs in irregular pockets in the yellow clay beneath a capping of manganiferous iron ore. One specimen contained 

transparent rhombohedral crystals of siderite in cavities in the 

psilomelane. The ore was being washed by hand in a sluice box in 

the stream, and the fines were therefore rather siliceous.

Several prospect pits were also being opened just north of the mine 

and 100 feet above it, on the top of a terrace which was part of the 

old valley floor but is now deeply incised by the present streams. 

These pits are in clay residual from the Shady dolomite, which directly overlies the coarse sandstone, and in purplish and greenish 

glauconitic shaly sandstone of the basal part of the Shady. The 

rocks dip about 5° SE., toward the valley on the west side of the 

flat Shady Valley syncline. At the time of visit the pits exposed 

much dark manganiferous clay and some soft ore, but not sufficient 

ore to indicate that the deposits are workable. Some of the ore is soft 

nodular pyrolusite of very light weight, which closely resembles 

plumbago in its softness, shiny streak, and greasy feel. These soft 

nodules were apparently derived from nodules of manganite by the 

loss of water, and although they are a high-grade ore they are too 

much scattered to be saved.

Wright mine. Half a mile south of the Maxwell mine is the old 

Wright bank, where 150 tons of manganese ore is reported to have 

been mined some years ago.20 At the time of visit it had recently 

been reopened by the Maxwell Manganese Mining Co., which shipped 

two carloads of ore in 1917. The mine has not since been operated. 

The deposit was opened by a pit about 20 feet square, extending 

into the face of a terrace 100 feet above the valley bottom. It consists of an irregular bed of manganiferous iron ore at the base of 5

20 Harder, E. C., op. cit, p. 74.
44 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

feet of surface wash, which rests on pink to white and yellow plastic 

clay, apparently residual from Shady dolomite, in which no ore was 

found, although it was tested to a depth of 25 feet. The ore is manganiferous brown iron ore and is so seamed and veined with psilomclane and crystalline manganite as to resemble breccia. It runs 

about 48 per cent iron and 10 per cent manganese. A carload of .the 

ore, hand-cobbed from the old ore dump, is reported to have run 30.8 

per cent manganese, 6.18 per cent silica, and iron undetermined. 

Although the ore bed is 6 feet thick in places, it probably can not be 

profitably worked because of its general low manganese content and 

the pockety occurrence of the better-grade ore.

Osborn and Hopper prospects. The Osborn and Hopper prospects are about half a mile south of the Wright bank. On Aleck 

Osborn's property psilomelane ore is exposed in a steep stream bank 

on the edge of a wash-covered bench well up on the west side of the 

valley. Little ore is exposed, but some fragments had been dug out 

of the black nianganiferous clay in the bank.

A short distance farther south, on the Hopper property, adjacent 

to an old iron bank mined years ago and close to the old manganese 

pit of Alexander Cole, openings had been more recently made by 

George E. Davis, of Bristol. ^Considerable good ore was thrown out, 

but the pit had since caved in.

Both of these prospects are underlain by clay residual from the 

lower part of the Shady dolomite, but whether the ore lies in this 

clay or in the surficial wash was not determinable owing to the poor 

exposures.

MOUNTAIN CITY DISTEICT.

The Mountain City district is in the eastern part of Johnson 

County. It embraces the low country around Mountain City, including the valley between Iron and Stone mountains north of the town, 

which is followed by the Laurel Railroad, and the upper parts of 

the valleys of Roane Creek and Doe Creek! (See fig. 6.) Seven 

of the developed deposits in the district are in Shady dolomite, four 

in Watauga shale, one on a fault plane, and one in terraced stream 

gravel.

Taylor Valley mine. The Taylor Valley mine is in the northeastern part of the district, at Matney, 10 miles north-northeast of 

Mountain City and 2 miles east of Dollars station, on the Laurel 

Railroad. It is on the I. H. Reece property and is operated by the 

.East Tennessee Mining Co., of Mountain City. At the time it was 

visited, in July, 1918, 142 tons of ore had been shipped and about 

100 tons was in the bins at the mine. During the autumn of 1918 

the mine produced 60 tons of ore a month and employed about 100
JOHNSON COUNTY. 45

men. According to Maxwell 21 116 tons of ore was shipped to the 

Southern Manganese Corporation in 1917, and 550 tons in 1918. 

Eecent shipments were made to both the Tennessee Coal, Iron & 

Railroad Co., of Birmingham, Ala., and to the Southern Manganese 

Corporation, at Anniston, Ala. The ore is reported to have averaged about 36 per cent manganese and to have contained considerable 

silica, some shipments running as high as 25 per cent.

The deposits occur in brecciated sandstone beds at the base of the 

Watauga shale and in associated residual clay of the underlying 

Shady dolomite at a fault contact with older rocks. (See fig. 7.) PreFIGURK 6. Topographic map of Mountain City district, showing location of mines and

prospects.

Cambrian volcanic rocks have been thrust westward upon the sandstone and dolomite. The pre-Cambrian rocks are chiefly a purple 

schist, which is an altered amygdaloidal lava, locally known as red 

mountain rock. On the lower slope of the spur northwest of the mine 

massive blue Shady dolomite outcrops, dipping southward at various 

low angles. Northwest of Matney the dolomite is overlain by purple 

Watauga shale. At the mine horizontal dolomite outcrop? below the

31 Maxwell, H. V., Manganese ore of east Tennessee: Eng. and Min. Tour., vol. 107, 

No. 3, p. 149, .Tan. 18, 1910. .
46 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

'NW.

lower trench, and yellow clay and sandstone beds in the main mine 

pit are probably the basal beds of the Watauga. A thin overburden 

of 3 or 4 feet of clay and soil contains a little ore.

The mine is on the southwest slope of a spur from Pond Mountain, on the east side of Owens Branch. It is at an elevation of about 

2,900 feet, or about 200 feet above the creek and washer and 100 feet 

below the crest of the spur. It is worked chiefly by plows and 

scrapers, and the dirt is thrown into tramcars from which it is 

dumped into a flume that descends the hill slope to the double-log 

washer. Much of the washed ore is of low grade and carries considerable silica.' The fines also 

contain much silica, which is removed by further washing or 

jigging.

The ore consists chiefly of 

nodules of black, impure psilomelane and- of aggregates of peasized nodules with concentric 

structure, some of which are very 

pure psilomelane. Much of the 

ore contains embedded sand 

grains and fragments of chert.

Many of the fragments and 

some of the nodules have a 

metallic slickensided surface, indicating movement since their 

formation.

The mine is opened by several

Taylor Valley mine and geologic section trenches and pits. The lowest 

through the mine. opening is a small trench that exposes an ore-bearing bed of dark-red clay lying on barren yellow clay, 

probably residual from the Watauga shale, which overlies the dolomite. The ore-bearing clay has probably been washed from the ore 

beds higher up the slope. The amount of ore showing in the face was 

small, although much good float ore is scattered over the adjacent hill 

slope.

The main trench is about 100 feet higher on the spur, at the head 

of the flume that leads to the washer, and runs southwestward into 

the hill. At the time of visit it was 80 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 

15 feet deep. (See fig. 7.) Beneath 3 feet of chocolate-colored 

overburden clay, horizontally streaked with ore in its lower part, 

the trench exposed 6 feet of yellow clay horizontally seamed with 

thin streaks of manganese oxide, next 1 foot of dark, stiff buck fat, 

and at the bottom 3 feet of yellow clay containing a considerable 

amount of ore of good grade. The floor was a soft brecciated sand3,000 -| 

2.900 - 

2/300 - 

2.700 - 

2pOO1,000 2,000 Feet

Approximate scale

FIGURE 7. Sketch, map of the vicinity of
JOHNSON COUNTY. 47

stone cemented and partly replaced by ore. The clay in the southeastern part of the pit was bluish but contained the same kind of 

ore. Much of the ore was gritty with sand grains, and the nodules 

of ore, up to 4 inches in diameter, contained much silica in their 

central parts. This trench lies in the Watauga shale, which here 

forms the footwall of the fault. The trench had not quite reached the 

fault at the time of visit, and it was predicted that the ore would 

be found to improve as the fault was approached.

The east pit, which was then 50 feet long, 25 feet Avide, and about 

30 feet deep, trends northeastward toward the upper end of the main 

trench. This is an older working, in which an excellent ore body 

had been encountered and was abandoned because of caving with 

depth. The lower part of the walls was badly caved at the time of 

visit. The west or foot wall was composed of bedded yellow clay 

residual from Watauga shale and dark manganese-stained clay with 

a little ore. The east or hanging wall was composed largely of a 

mixture of fragments of purple schist and white sandstone in bluish 

sand. At its western edge are many slickensided surfaces on steep 

joint planes. The ore occurs in a zone 20 feet wide, composed chiefly 

of dark stiff clay, much jointed and slickensided in various directions, 

and some sand. The ore belt strikes N. 20° W. and dips 75° NE. 

The ore seen in the end of the pit occurs as pockets of wad in the 

clay and is said to have been found throughout the length and depth 

of the pit, more abundantly on its eastern side. This is undoubtedly 

a zone of fault breccia. Even the ore and black manganiferous clay 

is slickensided, showing relatively recent earth movement along the 

old fault plane.

Since the time of visit a new pit has been opened on the northnortheast side of the spur, at about the same elevation as the old 

workings. This opening runs southward toward the old deep pit 

and was reported to have exposed an ore body 12 feet thick for a 

length of 50 feet, which ran one-third ore carrying 40 per cent manganese. The discovery of this ore body promptly increased the 

production of the mine to 60 tons a month. This ore body also lies 

along the fault plane and probably is continuous through the spur 

to the old workings. The new pit was opened upon advice based on 

this inference offered by the writers at the time of visit. The deposition of the ore seems to have been chiefly controlled by the circulation 

of ore-bearing solutions along the fault plane, and is regarded as a 

typical example of this mode of occurrence. This mine is believed 

to contain a considerable reserve of fair-grade manganese ore.

Silver Lake mine. The Silver Lake mine is at Silver Lake station, 

on the Laurel Railroad, in the north-central part of Johnson County, 

5 miles northeast of Mountain City. It is only a few hundred feet
48 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

from the railroad and is 80 feet above it. The property is owned by 

Wiley Sutherland, of Mountain City, who managed the mine for the 

Silver Lake Mining Co. The company began operations early in 1918 

and from February 1 to May 23, the date of visit, had shipped about 

6 tons of ore a day, or a total of about 600 tons. The ore was shipped 

mostly to the Southern Manganese Corporation, at Anniston, Ala., 

and is said to have run from 42 to 45 per cent manganese, 6 to 7 per 

cent iron, and 3 to 8 per cent silica. Eighty tons of similar highgrade ore and 120 tons of fines averaging 35 per cent of manganese 

were in the bins ready for shipment. Shipments of lower-grade fines 

ran 25 per cent manganese, 18 per cent iron, and 14 per cent silica. 

It was planned to supplement the washer with jigs to improve the 

grade of the finer ore. About 40 tons of picked iron ore which came 

from an earlier surficial part of the working was on the dump. At 

the time of visit 14 men were at work, 7 each at the mine and washer. 

Late in 1918 the deposit was reported to have been worked out and 

the mine abandoned.

The mine is in an open part of the valley of Laurel Creek on the 

top of a small round, flat-topped hill that rises 80 feet above the creek 

which flows near its base. The hill is composed of Watauga shale and 

is capped by terraced stream gravel 6 to 15 feet thick. The beds of 

shale in general lie flat, but in minor folds they dip 35° SE. The 

shale is in part hard, unweathered, and purple and in part weathered 

to soft yellow clay shale. Low ridges on the harder beds trend northeastward. The stream deposit consists largely of red, yellowish, and 

brownish sand or sandy clay, the upper part of which contains many 

waterworn pebbles, cobbles, and some boulders of quartzite a foot or 

more in diameter. These deposits were laid down by Laurel Creek 

when the valley floor was at this level and the stream flowed across 

what is now the top of the hill.

The ore occurs in the terraced stream gravel, mostly in the red 

sand near the base of the gravel, but some occurs in the upper part 

of the deposit. It appears to be more plentiful in the troughs between the ridges of shale, where the gravel is deeper than on the 

ridges. The pebbles, however, are mostly clean and not even stained 

by manganese. A small amount of ore is recovered from the clayey 

layers beneath the stream deposit, which seems to be residual clay 

derived from the bedrock. The ore is distributed chiefly in nearly 

horizontal zones 1 to 2 inches thick, but rich pockets of nearly solid 

ore are also found.

The ore is mined from a large open cut about 100 feet across and 

15 feet deep, from which trenches run irregularly, following the 

richer streaks. (See PI. XVII.) A test shaft was sunk 20 feet into 

the shales beneath the stream gravels, but they were found to be barren. The ore consists almost wholly of nodules of psilomelane, the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XVII

A. PIT OF SILVER LAKE MINE, JOHNSON COUNTY, TENN., IN TERRACED 

STREAM GRAVEL.

Large cobbles and boulders taken from the gravel are heaped in piles on the floor of the pit.

B. HILLS COMPOSED OF WATAUGA SHALE.

The hills rise to uniform height, and their flat tops form parts of an elevated old valley 

floor in DoeiValley, Tenn. Iron Mountain in the distance. View northwestward 

from a point^on the road 1 mile north of Doe Valley mine.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XVIII

B

SCATTERED DETACHED PLUMOSE NODULES OF SHINY MANGANITE WITH A 

CORE OF SOFT PYROLUSITE, EMBEDDED IN CRYSTALLINE QUARTZ.

Shown on polished surfaces. From shaft of Wilson Hill mine, near Neva, Tenn. X 2. A, Rounded 

cross sections of nodules; B, longitudinal sections showing dendritic or plumose structure.
JOHNSON COUNTY. 49

larger ones measuring 2£ feet in diameter. Although the ore occurs 

chiefly in the lower part of the surficial gravel deposit, enough ore 

is distributed through the upper part to warrant treating all the 

ground removed in the double-log washer, which stands at the foot 

of the hill.

Wills mine. The Wills mine is near the north-central part of 

Johnson County, 1 mile east of Wills station, on the Laurel Kailroad, and 4 miles northeast of Mountain City. At the time of visit 

it was owned by Oscar Wills and was being worked by the Laurel 

Mining Co., of Mountain City. The company began operations 

April 10, 1918, and by June had shipped several carloads of ore 

averaging about 40 per 

cent of manganese and 15 

per cent of iron. In 

August the mine was sold 

to the American Minerals 

Co., of Cincinnati.

The mine is at the west 

end of a low flat-topped 

hill or terrace, probably .a 

remnant of an old valley 

floor. The hill is composed 

of Shady dolomite, which 

in general dips northward 

away from a small high 

hill of Cambrian quartzite southeast of the mine, 

but on the slope just below the mine it is horizontal. (See fig. 8.) The 

deposit is chiefly in surface wash but extends down to some extent into the underlying residual clay of the Shady dolomite. It is opened by several pits to a 

maximum depth of 20 feet, but the two main pits on opposite sides of 

the hilltop indicate the trend of the deposit to be N. 35° W.

The walls of the pits expose a thickness of 5 to 15 feet of surface 

wash, consisting of reddish-brown clay and quartzite fragments 

overlying yellow to brownish-buff and blackish residual clay. The 

ore lies chiefly in the lower part of the wash and in the residual clay 

just beneath. It is chiefly psilomelane, which occurs sporadically in 

nodules and lumps, some of large size, embedded in the clay and 

wash. One lump 2-| feet in diameter was seen by the writer, and another lump is reported to have yielded a ton of good-grade ore.

Approximate scale

FICUHB 8. Sketch map of vicinity of Wills mine 

and geologic section through the mine and adjacent quartzite knob.
50 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The ore was treated in a double-log .washer at the foot of the hill 

and was sorted into several grades and sizes, of which the best grade, 

or lump ore, contained about 45 per cent manganese, a medium grade 

35 per cent, and the screenings were so sandy that they needed further treatment before shipment. Some nodules that have a thin coating of red iron oxide and other ferruginous manganese minerals that 

are present contain about 25 per cent manganese and 25 per cent iron. 

The average production was about 4 tons of ore a day, derived from 

40 tons of run-of-mine dirt put through the washer, a concentration 

of 10 into 1.

Silver Lake and Wills prospects. Several prospects have been 

opened on the Oscar Wills farm. The Silver Lake Mining Co. has 

three shallow pits on a low terrace a few hundred yards northwest of 

the Wills mine, just across a small ravine. The pits are in surface 

wash containing some rather siliceous manganese ore, which may improve in quality with depth if the ore continues into the underlying 

residual clay of the Shady dolomite. The pits cover a length of 

more than 100 feet along the terrace front, but the deposits are not 

yet proved to be workable.

The Wills prospect is about one-fourth of a mile east of the Wills 

mine, on the top of a flat-topped hill which is about 300 feet higher 

than the terrace at the mine and which seems to represent an older 

valley floor. The rocks are deeply weathered, and the development 

pits are in residual clay and chert of the Shady dolomite, which here 

dips northward away from the high hill of Cambrian quartzite. The 

pits are about 6 feet deep and are scattered over the hill with a vertical range of 60 feet. A little good nodular ore was found in some of 

the pits, but others were barren. The indications did not seem 

favorable for a workable deposit.

Cprnett prospects. The Laurel Mining Co. has prospected the Cornett tracts near the Wills mine and obtained encouraging results. 

One opening is half a mile east-northeast of the Wills mine, on the 

farm of Newton Cornett, of Mountain City. Several pits were sunk 

to depths of about 12 feet on the upper south slope of a low ridge, 

which is the northeastward extension of the Wills mine hill, but about 

300 feet higher and at the same general level as the Wills prospect. 

They disclose good nodular ore sporadically embedded in dull mottled residual clay of the Shady dolomite. Most of the ore is psilomelane, but it includes a little manganite.

Three-fourths of a mile east-northeast of the Wills mine a prospect has been opened on the Mary Cornett farm. It is on the lower 

part of the north slope of the same ridge on which the Newton Cornett 

prospect lies, about 50 feet below the general level of the hilltops. 

It is in residual clay of the Shady dolomite and is opened by a narrow 

cut, 40 feet long and 7 feet in maximum depth, showing practically
JOHNSON COUNTY. 51

throughout its extent good ore embedded in the clay. The ore is 

mostly psilomelane. At the time of visit about a ton of ore from the 

cut lay on the dump.

Wright prospect. Half a mile east of the Mary Cornett prospect, 

across a small valley, manganese ore has been reported to occur on 

the old Ward Iron Co. tract. The property has been bought by W. 

C. Wright, of Mountain City, who is reported to have prospected it 

with favorable results.

Nelson King prospect. On the south side of the anticline adjacent 

to the Wills mine, especially on the farm of Nelson King, 2 miles 

south-southwest of the mine, the surface of the cultivated fields carries float of nodular and lump manganese ore among the chert fragments derived from the Shady dolomite. Some of the ore fragments 

are of good grade, but many are manganiferous iron. Some^of the

road cuts in this vicinity also show dark manganiferous clay streaks 

with a little ore in yellow residual clay, but the surface indications 

are not promising for a workable deposit.

Shouns prospect. The Shouns prospect is 2£ miles south of Mountain City and a mile south of Shouns station, on the Southern Railway. It is on the south end of a low hill which is on a large tract 

owned by the Virginia Iron, Coal & Coke Co., of Birmingham, 

Ala. It is developed only by old openings made for iron ore many 

years ago, one 60 feet above the valley bottom and others near the 

top of the hill, 100 feet higher. Here a shaft 20 feet deep has been 

sunk in a massive, blocky yellow glistening chert ledge, stained and 

slightly seamed by iron ore, which apparently forms the base of the 

AVatauga shale in this region.

Manganese float ore is plentifully scattered over the surface and 

in the sandy soil for about 100 feet up the front slope of the hill, 

below the chert talus, although this ore is chiefly nodular and 

botryoidal psilomelane. It is rather impure and of dull luster. 

Some of it replaces chert breccia, which is derived by weathering 

from the Watauga shale. An unusually good example of the socalled grape ore from this place is illustrated in Plate II.

Doe Valley mine. The Doe Valley mine, also called the Fritz 

mine, is in the southwestern part of the district, 7 miles southwest 

of Mountain City and about the same distance north of Doe, a station 

on the Tennessee division of the Southern Railway. It is on the 

farm of E. C. Fritz, of Mountain City, and was operated by the 

East Tennessee Mining Co., of the same place.

Sixty-two tons of high-grade manganese ore, averaging more 

than 50 per cent in manganese, was shipped in 1917 to the Southern 

Manganese Corporation at Anniston, Ala., and in 1918, up to May 

24, 200 tons of similar ore had been shipped and 40 tons more had 

been mined and made ready for shipment. Late in 1918 it was re-
52 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

ported that the current production was 60 tons of ore a month and 

that a recent shipment ran 53 per cent manganese, 4 per cent 

iron, and 6 per cent silica.

The mine is on a hill on the northwest side of Doe Valley, 150 feet 

above Doe Creek. The hill is part of a dissected upland plain which 

forms an upper valley floor, about 2,500 feet in altitude, into which 

the present stream valleys are sunk. (See PL XVII.) The ore is 

removed from the mine by a short tram running to the head of a 

flume which leads to a double-log washer at the foot of the hill, 

where it is treated and the products sorted into bins.

The deposits occur in decomposed Watauga shale, the ore largely 

replacing jointed sandstone and soft weathered calcareous shale or 

yellow laminated clay still in place. (See fig. 10.) The overburden 

is about 3 feet of red clay and dark soil. The ore occurs largely in

FIGURE 9. Sketch plan of Doe Valley mine, showing purple shale breccia zones which are

cut by the pit.

irregular zones or bands more or less conformable with the bedding

of the rocks, which dip 40°-70° SE. Abrupt changes in dip, minor 

folding and puckering, and slickensiding along the bedding planes 

indicate that the rocks have been strongly compressed.

The deposits are opened by a main pit near the top of the hill, 

which trends N. 70° E., parallel with the strike of the rocks, and is 

120 feet long and 30 feet wide. The height of the face is about 30 

feet. A deep narrow trench running northwestward was the entry at 

the time of visit. (See fig. 9.) A new entry about 70 feet long and 15 

feet or more deep at the face was driven in from the west at a lower 

level to tap the ore deposit below the floor of the main pit. In this 

entry, 50 feet below the surface and 20 feet below the floor of the 

main pit, the best body of ore opened in the mine was reported to 

have been found in October, 1918. The pit exposes chiefly soft yellowish laminated clay, or weathered calcareous shale, in which are 

interbedded layers of light-brown porous sandstone 1 to 3 feet thick 

generally much broken by joints and largely disintegrated. The ore
JOHNSON COUNTY. 53

has followed along the joints and bedding planes of the rock and 

has replaced much of the sandstone, thus giving the material the 

appearance of a breccia. (See PL XII.) Cutting across the bedding

Soft buff sandstone; 

V some ore

/Brecciated 

sandstone 

ire bed)

5 Feet

Approximate scale

A

r

 Brecciated sahdstone(ore zone)'-

Approximate scale

B

FIGURE 10. Sketches of wails of pit of Doe Valley mine. A, Right wall of entry to pit, 

showing ore replacing sandstone beds in Watauga shale adjacent to brecclated '/.ones 

of hard purple shale fragments filling old channels; B, face of mine pit, showing ore 

replacing sandstone beds in Watauga shale.

nearly at right angles are several zones a foot or two wide, which 

resemble subterranean channel fillings. They are composed of 

breccia made up largely of hard purple shale fragments in a yellow 

clay matrix. (See fig. 10.) They are of irregular shape, and in 

depth they bend so as to follow the bedding planes between laminated
54 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

clay and porous sandstone layers. They seem to represent subterranean solution channels which connected with channels in the 

porous sandstone beds. The breaking up of the sandstone and the 

irregular folding and puckering of the laminated shale were probably caused by the settling and partial caving in of the rocks above 

the channels. The penetration of the surface waters to these and 

greater depths, the deep weathering of the rocks, and this development of subterranean channels occurred long ago, when the tops of 

this hill and of the neighboring flat-topped hills were part of the 

general floor of the valley and before the existing streams cut their 

channels to their present positions, 150 feet below that surface.

The ore consists chiefly of psilomelane and wad. A little manganite and pyrolusite also are apparently present. The ore is distributed through the rocks from near the surface to the bottom of 

the cut at least/ and perhaps farther downward. It favors, however, the arenaceous layers or zones interbedded in the clayey shale, 

and most of it is contained in four such beds or zones, each from 

1 to 3 feet thick, in which it is irregularly distributed. It forms 

seams, some as much as 3 inches in thickness, which follow both 

the bedding planes of the rocks and the joints at right angles to 

them. (See PL XII.) The ore solutions penetrated and replaced 

the sandstone walls, forming rodlike or comblike structures per- a 

pendicular to the crevices. Some of the rods or " stalactitic " forms 

are several inches long, and many of them are coated with a brown ,. 

velvety film, which is probably wad. At the junction of two planes 

at right angles the comb structures miter into each other, showing 

that the tubes, although they closely resemble stalactites, are perpendicular to the walls and were not formed as pendants from a roof. 

(See PL XII.) Some of the ore masses are aggregates of alternate 

layers of "stalactitic" psilomelane and dark-brown dense, amorphous wad of porous texture and light weight. (See PL IX, B.) 

In some specimens even the "stalactitic" material is dull and soft 

like wad and disintegrates into light powdery fragments. Some 

surfaces of the psilomelane are studded with elongated mammillary 

or nipple-shaped forms, which are jet-black and have a bright 

metallic luster.

Much of the ore is " lump ore," in pieces more than 3 inches thick, 

but the fines also are saved. It is estimated that the ratio of ore 

saved to material washed is about 1 to 15 or 20. The material excavated, taken as a whole, is said to yield a ton of washed ore for each 

50 cubic yards of ground excavated. As prospect pits along the 

trend of the ore body on the top of the hill indicate a total length 

of the deposit in that direction of at least 350 feet and a width of 

about 150 feet, and the known depth to the bottom of the deepest
JOHNSON COUNTY. 55

workings is about 60 feet, a considerable body of ore-bearing ground 

is still available as an ore reserve.

BUTLER DISTRICT.

The Butler district includes the area around Butler, on the Southern Railway, in the western part of the county. It extends up the 

valleys northeastward between Doe Mountain, Dry Run and Little 

Dry Run mountains, and Stone Mountain, southward up Elk Creek, 

and westward down Watauga River and up Cobb Creek. Several 

mines and prospects are in a part of the district that lies in Carter 

County and are described under that heading. (See fig. 11.)

82°00.'

aMiles

EXPLANATION 

 VMme x Prospect

FIGURE 11. Topographic map of Butler district, showing location of manganese mines

and prospects.

Proffit prospect. A prospect is said to have been opened by H. V. 

Maxwell on the Stacy Proffit property, 1£ miles northwest of Doe 

station, on the Southern Railway, and 5 miles north-northeast of Butler, but was not visited. The Erwiri quartzite, which is brought to the 

surface in a sharp anticlinal fold at the southwest end of Doe Mountain and probably is faulted there, is reported to be crushed and 

broken at the prospect and to be recemented into a breccia and partly 

replaced by manganese oxide. The ore may prove to be of milling 

grade, but the high cost of crushing the quartzite and the loss of fines 

in the process make it doubtful whether or not the project will 

prove profitable.

Wilson Hill mine. The Wilson Hill mine, also called the Superior 

mine, is in the south-central part of the county, 8 miles southwest 

of Mountain City and 1 mile south of Neva, on the Southern Rail105164 23 5
56 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

way. It is owned and operated by the Superior Manganese Corporation, of Elizabethton. The company commenced work early 

in 1918 and by May 25 had done considerable prospecting and

NW.

500 Feet

Approximate scale

Approximate scale

NW. SE.

FIGURE 12. Sketch map of the vicinity of Wilson Hill mine, showing topographic and 

geologic relations; geologic section across Wilson Hill; and detailed section of main 

pit of the mine.

developing and had taken out more than 80 tons of manganese ore. 

In July it was reported that a pumping plant and a 40-ton doublelog washer had been installed on Mill Creek, at the southeast foot of 

the hill, to which the ore is flumed from the mine.

The mine is on top of Wilson Hill, a high outlying ridge at the 

northeast end of Dry Run Mountain, just west of the small settlement
JOHNSON COUNTY. 57

called Baker Gap. The ridge is about a mile long and rises steeply 

600 to 800 feet above the adjacent valley bottoms. The deposit occurs 

on the upper part of the southeastern slope of the ridge, between 

elevations of 2.600 and 2,800 ,feet. (See fig. 12.) This slope is somewhat less steep than the northwestern slope and is covered with chert 

fragments in yellow clay apparently derived from Shady dolomite. 

Large masses and ledges of chert, in part brecciated, outcrop along 

the crest of the ridge. Just below the crest on the northwest side a 

quartzite, believed to be the Erwin quartzite, outcrops. As thus 

interpreted the quartzite is brought up on a sharp anticlinal fold 

faulted on its northwest side. (See fig. 12.) There was apparently 

some alteration of the Shady dolomite adjacent to the quartzite which 

resulted in the formation of massive chert beds by the replacement 

of the dolomite by silica from circulating waters, for massive chert 

is-not normally present at the base of the Shady. Similar chert beds 

have been observed at many fault contacts of the dolomite in the 

Appalachian region.

The manganese deposits occur chiefly in the clay and chert,derived 

from the Shady dolomite close to the quartzite. The ore ranges from 

nodular psilomelane to manganiferous iron ore, the latter predominating, and although a considerable tonnage can probably be developed, the better-grade manganese ore will constitute only a small 

part of the whole.

The developments at the time of visit consisted of 12 or more 

prospecting openings spaced at intervals along the top of the ridge 

for about 2,000 feet from its northeast end, beyond which chiefly 

occur iron, ores that were formerly mined near the southwest end 

of the ridge. The openings comprise deep, narrow, well-like pits, 

trenches, and larger open cuts, some having a depth of 30 feet.

The ore is chiefly dull, somewhat impure, nodular psilomelane, a 

small part being crystalline manganite, and is inclosed in banded 

yellowish and dark waddy clay. Some of the waddy clay contains 

also thin laminae of shiny ore and crystalline nuggets. In the chert 

ledges adjacent to the quartzite the ore is in a gangue of white 

crystalline secondary quartz full of drusy cavities. Some of the ore 

on the southeast slope is brown iron ore containing thin leaves of 

feathery manganite crytals ranged along fracture planes.

The best showings are at the north end of the hill, in the main 

opening,'which is a trench about 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 10 

feet deep, with a pit in the bottom about 5 feet deep. (See fig. 12.) 

Wash ore occurs in bands throughout the clay. The banding of 

yellow clay and dark manganiferous clay is approximately parallel 

to the footwall of massive chert, which dips steeply to the southeast 

and probably represents original bedding. Most of the ore mined
58 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

before the time of visit came from this pit. About one-fourth of the 

ore consists of nodular lumps, the largest being about 10 inches in 

diameter. The other, three-fourths is wash dirt, most of which occurs in the yellowish clay. A short distance southwest of this opening about 10 tons of waddy ore and a very little hard ore were 

obtained from a cross trench 18 feet deep.

Back of these openings, on the northwest crest of the ridge, a shaft 

was being sunk at the time of visit in a ledge of siliceous rock carrying considerable ore. The rock is largely crystalline quartz inclosing 

many small, detached, plumose, dendritic manganese oxide nodules 

(see PL XVIII), which vary in size and number and appear to increase 

in quantity with depth, so that the deposit farther down may prove 

to be a workable milling ore, as claimed by the owners. At a depth 

of 12 feet, reached at the time of visit, such ore had not yet been 

encountered. The nodules are composed of manganite with a core 

of pyrolusite.

The manganese oxide that formed the plumose nodules appears to 

have been segregated and to have taken form in the quartz when the 

silica was in a gelatinous state, for the nodules are unconnected and 

have parallel orientation, as if they were floated in the quartz. The 

quartz has since crystallized around them with comb structure facing 

small interstitial spaces. A similar mode of formation is suggested 

for a milky-white chalcedony inclosing dark feathery manganese 

plumes in clear chalcedony from Thompson Hollow, 10 miles southwest of Front Royal, Va., collected in the study of the manganese 

deposits of Virginia. (See PL XIX.) The feathery plumes are 

similarly oriented and detached and appear to have taken their form 

when the mineral was free to move and segregate in a liquid or 

gelatinous substance. Although it may be suggested that the plumose 

manganite nodules in quartz at Wilson Hill may have been formed 

by the partial replacement of limestone or chert by manganese oxide 

and the later replacement by quartz of the rest of the matrix (see 

PL XVIII), seemingly a very unlikely process, this explanation 

could not apply to the plumose chalcedony from Thompson Hollow, 

as the feathery phantoms of manganese oxide are so frail that they 

could not retain their form unless protected by the inclosing transparent silica (PL XIX). These two minerals were unquestionably 

deposited at the same tune, the manganese oxide being free to assume 

its feathery form while floating in unconsolidated silica. A photomicrograph of the plumose manganese in chalcedony shows this even 

more clearly. (See PL XX, Z?.)

The next opening toward the southwest on the crest of the ridge, a 

25-foot trench 7 feet wide and 5 feet deep, is said to have yielded 

2 tons of nodular lump ore and 10 tons of wash ore. It is excavated 

in reddish-brown clay in which little ore showed at the time of visit.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XIX

FEATHERY PHANTOMS OF MANGANESE OXIDE IN CHALCEDONY.

Shown on polished surfaces. From Thompson Hollow, 10 miles southwest of Front 

Royal, Va. X 3. A, Longitudinal sections of phantoms in translucent chalcedony; 

-B, cross sections of phantoms shown in A C, cross sections of the opaque chalcedony 

cells that inclose the phantoms shown in B. B and C are photographs of the same 

part of the specimen, exposed for different lengths of lime.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XX

A. CELLULAR PSILOMELANE.

Made up of noded walls that may formerly have been crevice fillings in rock 

that has since been dissolved. From Elk mine, Tenn. Natural size.

B. PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF A LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF FEATHERY 

MANGANESE OXIDE PHANTOMS IN TRANSLUCENT CHALCEDONY, 

SURROUNDED BY OPAQUE BANDED CHALCEDONY.

Similar to phantoms shown in Plate XIX, A. From Thompson Hollow, 10 miles 

southwest of Front Royal, Va. X 10.
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXI

A. OPEN WORKINGS OF DRY RUN MINE, NEAR BUTLER, TENN.

Main pit at time of visit near top of the hill at left; older shallower workings at right; 

old tunnel at foot of hill, to right of tipple.

S. LARGE LIMESTONE PINNACLES, RESIDUAL FROM SUBSURFACE 

EROSION, EXPOSED IN DEEP SURFACE WORKINGS OF EMBREE MINE, 

BUMPASS COVE, TENN.

The ore-bearing clays iu solution depressions have been removed to a depth of 40 or 50 feet.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIM 737 PLAT E XXII

A. IRREGULAR PIT FOLLOWING MINERALIZED SANDY BEDS IN DECOMPOSED WATAUGA SHALE, ELK MINE, NEAR BUTLER, TENN.

B. ENTRANCE TO PIT SHOWN IN A, SHOWING HARD UNWEATHERED 

FOLDED WATAUGA SHALE IN HANGING WALL.
JOHNSON COUNTY. 59

Several hundred feet beyond this trench along the °crest a wide 

shallow pit exposed massive chert, covered at the surface with thin 

sheets or shell-like plates of ferruginous manganese ore. When the 

soil was stripped the deposit appeared at first glance to be of good 

quality, but the ledges proved to be chert with only a thin coating of 

ore.

Toward the southwest end of the tract the surface rises more rapidly, and the soil and clay are thicker. Several well-like pits, 5 to 30 

feet deep, had been sunk along the crest in yellowish to purple clay 

containing scattered chert fragments. A little lump and wash ore 

was generally present, and only in the deepest pit at the southwest 

end of the belt was any considerable amount of ore seen. The showing of ore in these small pits was not favorable.

On the slope of Wilson Hill, several hundred feet southeast of the 

crest, four pits closely spaced up and down the slope, about 18 feet 

deep, expose some manganiferous iron ore with a little psilomelane 

and thin plates of feathery brilliant pyrolusite on joint planes in 

massive ledges of liver-colored dense ferruginous chert. The quantity of ore exposed in the faces was small. A few hundred feet eastward, diagonally down the slope from these pits, a shaft 22 feet deep, 

nearly all its depth in slide material, shows thin layers or sheets of 

manganiferous iron ore and soft wad dipping southeastward, approximately parallel with the surface. Still farther down the east 

slope, about 200 feet vertically below the highest pit on the crest of 

the hill, a cut 9 feet wide and 3 feet deep exposes an ore-bearing 

layer 8 feet wide, composed largely of massive manganese ore. It 

passes beneath a covering of 1-| feet of surface soil and yellowish 

clay and appears to extend into the hillside. A ton of lump manganese ore, 2 tons of wash ore, and a ton of manganiferous iron ore 

lay on the dump.

Wagner prospect. The Wagner prospect is on a wash-covered 

terrace at the head of Little Dry Run, 4£ miles northeast of Butler. 

It is on the D. A. Wagner property and was prospected under a 

lease by A. H. and J. L. McQueen, of Butler. A pit 12 feet deep 

exposes wad and a little hard bluish psilomelane sporadically embedded in the terrace wash and descending into underlying variegated dark and yellow residual clay of the Shady dolomite. The 

fragments of ore have a rough exterior and are partly stalactitic in 

structure. Larger lumps of float ore are found on the surface. Although the deposit has not been proved to be workable, its location 

in the same syncline with the successful Dry Run mine, next to be 

described, is favorable.

Dry Run mine. The Dry Run mine is 3 miles northeast of Butler. It was owned and operated by A. H. McQueen, of Butler, who 

sold it late in 1918. In 1917 nearly 600 tons of ore was shipped, and
60- MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

in 1918 about 1,200 tons. The better grade of ore, comprising the 

lump and larger wash ore, averaged 44 per cent manganese and 

1.65 per cent iron, and most of it ranged from 1 to 10 per cent silica, 

although some ran up to 14 per cent. The lower-grade ore, comprising the medium-sized and fine wash ore, averaged.37 per cent manganese, 1.75 per cent iron, and 23 per cent silica. The ore is therefore seen to be nearly free from iron but rather high in silica.

The mine is on a low rounded hill at the foot of the northwest 

slope of Dry Run Mountain, 200 feet'above the creek and about 2,350 

feet in altitude. (See PI. XXI.) An 1,800-foot tram descends 

from the mine to a 22-foot double-log washer on Little Dry Run,

Feet 

ipoo -,

2,500

zpoo

NW.

LITTLE DRY RUN MTN

3E.

DRY HUN MTN

1,000 2,000 3000 Feet

Approximate scale

FIGURE 13. Sketch topographic map of vicinity of Dry Run mine and geologic section

through main pit.

where the ore is washed, the water being supplied from the creek by 

a gravity flume. The inclosing dirt is black but is easily removed, 

yielding an unusually clean product of washed ore.

The deposit occurs in residual clay of the Shady dolomite, which 

occupies the synclinal valley between the Dry Run Mountain and 

Little Dry Run Mountain anticlines. Although there are no rock 

outcrops near by, a layer of chert in the pit apparently dips southeastward, and the deposit appears to lie on the northwestern limb of 

the syncline, the chert forming the northwest footwall. The ore zone 

ranges in width from 2 to 15 feet, and the deposit has been opened 

for a length of 800 feet.

There are three main openings. (See fig. 13.) The southern opening, which was the site of active mining at the time of visit, is a pit 

20 feet deep at the face and about 80 feet long. The ore lies in a bed
JOHNSON COUNTY. 61

of dark manganiferous clay, 4 to 6 feet thick, which strikes N. 20° E., 

dips 65° ESE., and contains psilomelane nodules. It is underlain 

by dark-drab clay with some wad, which rests on the chert footwall. 

(See fig. 14.) Overlying it is barren yellow clay, which contains 

in its upper part streaks or layers of angular purple shale fragments 

that apparently fill old solution channels in the Shady dolomite, the 

shale fragments being derived from the overlying purple Watauga 

shale.

 \ CHERT FRAGMENTS

J^n^.^

- Main pit. it

30 Feet

Approximate scale 

FIGURE 14. Sketch plan and cross section of main pit of Dry Run jnine.

The middle working, a tunnel 80 feet below the open pit, runs 

westward 108 feet into the hill. It could not be entered at the time 

of visit but is said to pass through 30 feet of wash ore.

The northern pit. from which 16 carloads of ore has been shipped, 

is filled with water. It is reported to be 45 feet deep and the ore bed 

to be 14 feet wide. It was abandoned because of the increase of overburden with depth in following down the dip of the ore bed to the 

southeast. At the time of visit it was being unwatered, so that work 

on the deposit could be resumed. Although considerable ore has been 

mined, there is still apparently a large amount of ore remaining in 

depth and probably also in both directions along the strike. Thus 

far prospecting along the strike has not revealed the ore bed, but 

the area of bench land between the mine and the Wagner prospect 

on the north merits careful exploration.

Judging from the exposures seen, the statement of the owners that 

the ore bed runs about 75 per cent ore seems to be correct. The ore
62 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

bed has been left unmined at several places where the overburden 

was heavier than elsewhere, but it is apparently of the same high 

grade as the part already taken out and can be profitably mined by 

the use of suitable machinery such as a steam shovel or drag-line 

scraper. The ore is mostly psilomelane but contains also a little 

pyrolusite and manganite. The washed ore is almost all nodular or 

botryoidal. An unusual specimen comprising a cluster of radiating 

rods is illustrated in Plate III (p. 8).

Watauga River mine. The Watauga Kiver mine is 2 miles southeast of Butler, on the upper northwest slope about 30 feet below the 

crest of a low ridge, which is the southwestward continuation of Dry 

Kun Mountain. The crest is 400 feet above Watauga Kiver and 

2,400 feet in total elevation, standing at about the level of the old valley floor in this region. The mine is operated by J. L. McQueen, of 

Butler, who installed a double-log washer a few hundred feet below 

the mine, on the wagon road near the river. The deposit occurs in 

decomposed Watauga shale, which here dips 35° SE. At the time 

of visit half a ton of manganiferous iron ore lay at the mouth of 

the cut.

The developments consist of an open cut about 40 feet wide and 

an old shaft 30 feet deep, from the bottom of which a 50-foot drift 

is reported to run southeastward into the ridge. A tunnel was being 

driven lower on the hillside to open the pit wider and deeper. The 

cut shows decomposed Watauga shale weathered to yellow sandy clay 

forming a vertical east wall and black waddy clay containing some 

nodular ore, apparently filling a pocket 20 feet deep on the west side. 

The pocket resembles a solution-channel filling. The lower workings, said also to carry ore, were not accessible at the time of visit.

Cable prospect. The Cable prospect is 2 miles southeast of Butler, 

on the Cable property, and has been prospected by J. E. Reece, of 

Butler. It is at an elevation of 2,200 feet, on the lower southeast 

slope of the same ridge as the Watauga River mine, from which it 

is about 500 feet distant. The deposit occurs in decomposed Watauga 

shale conformable with the bedding, which dips 35° SE.

The openings consist of an old tunnel at the foot of the ridge, 

which is driven across the structure of the shale, and a shaft starting 60 feet higher than the tunnel. Although these old workings 

were made in quest of iron ore, some manganese ore was also found. 

The/shaft, which is caved, shows an ore-bearing zone of yellow clay 

about 8 feet wide, containing scattered nodules of psilomelane and 

wad and overlain by a bed of iron ore. The tunnel is in harder 

purple sandy shale, in which are interbedded thin layers, of residual 

yellow sandy clay containing scattered nodules of manganese ore. 

The amount of ore, however, is apparently too small to be mined.
JOHNSON COUNTY. * 63

Gross mine. The Goss mine is 5 miles southeast of Butler and 

about 2 miles south of Casper. It is at the southwest end of Stone 

Mountain, about 300 feet above Watauga River, at an altitude of 

about 2,350 feet. It was operated by the W. C. Goss Manganese 

Co., of Butler, which by June, 1918, had shipped a carload of ore 

said to have run 40 per cent in manganese. The deposit occurs in 

clay and cherit residual from the Shady dolomite adjacent to hard 

purple Watauga shale and in the overlying wash. It is opened by 

several cuts 20 to 30 feet deep, which cover a vertical range of more 

than 100 feet.

In the lowest or main opening, which is a narrow cut 30 feet deep 

at the face, there is a bed of thinly laminated yellow clay which contains sparsely scattered small nodules and irregular small bodies 

of ore interbedded with chocolate-colored buckf at clays, which strike 

N. 25° E. and dip 80° SE. The ore is chiefly psilomelane, containing considerable silica in the form of finely crystalline quartz, lining 

cavities. The ore was cleaned in a double-log washer at the foot 

of the slope, to which it was carried by a steep covered flume. It 

was then hauled by wagon to Butler for shipment, a distance of 

more than 12 miles. The small amount of ore, its high content of 

silica, and the long haul to the railroad rendered the further working of this property unprofitable.

Moody prospect. The Moody prospect is 5 miles southeast of 

Butler, just northeast of the Goss mine, on the north slope of the 

same ridge. It is on the W. R. Moody property and was opened by 

C. H. White, of Elizabethton. About 3 tons of ore was mined, 

washed at the Goss plant, and shipped with the ore from the Goss 

mine. The mineral zone lies along the foot of the steeper part of the 

northwest slope of Stone Mountain, on a narrow bench at about 2,500 

feet elevation. It is in residual clay of the Shady dolomite, which 

dips steeply away from the Erwin quartzite of the mountain and 

seems also to be faulted, for the belt of dolomite is very narrow. It 

has been prospected at intervals for a distance of one-fourth of a 

mile northeast of the Goss property. . At the southwest end of the property, adjacent to the Goss mine, 

the prospect pits attain a depth of 18 feet. They expose yellow soil 

and clay containing many fragments of chert characteristic of the 

Shady dolomite, and dolomite outcrops below the northeasternmost 

pit. Small irregular bodies of wad and scattered nodules of psilomelane occur sparingly in the clay. Although some of these nodules 

are dense and heavy and contain crystalline manganite, the amount 

of ore encountered did not warrant mining.
64 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

CARTER COUNTY.

Carter County, of which Elizabethton is the county seat, lies 

southwest of Johnson County and adjacent to the North Carolina 

State line. It is largely mountainous, only its western part being 

occupied by valleys. It contains 18 or more manganese mines and 

prospects, about half of which have been productive. Most of them 

lie along a narrow belt on the northwest slopes of Gap Cre.ek Mountain and Iron Mountain, which trend northeastward through the 

center of the county. (See fig. 18.) Some lie on the south and 

southeast slopes of Holston Mountain, in the northeastern part of 

the county.

BTJTLEK DISTRICT.

Elk mine. The Elk mine is near Lineback, on Elk Creek, 2^ miles 

south of Butler. It is on the Hately & Lunsford tract and was 

operated by the McQueen Manganese Co., of Butler. The 60 tons of 

ore produced contained an average of 38.07 per cent manganese, 38 

per cent iron, and 19.27 per cent silica. The last carload shipped 

is said to have averaged 42.76 per cent manganese.

The mine is on two small hills on opposite sides of a small valley 

west of Elk Creek, 130 feet above the creek. The log washer, which 

is beside the creek, is reached by an inclined tram from the mine 

1,600 feet long. The deposits occur in decomposed Watauga shale, 

the general structure of which is monoclinal, the beds striking N. 35° 

E. and dipping on an average 45° NW. 5 but they are somewhat 

folded.

The main or older opening is a pit 20 feet wide and 30 feet long, 

on the northwest side of the valley, from which t^n irregular incline 

descends along the ore zone down the bedding to a depth of 40 feet. 

The shale is largely weathered to soft yellow sandy clay, but some 

less weathered beds are still purple. (See PI. XXII.) An overburden of 2 to 8 feet of earthy soil and purple-shale fragments 

covers the residual clay. The ore is mostly psilomelane disseminated 

in a bed of soft yellow sandy clay, probably a disintegrated calcareous 

sandstone. This ore-bearing bed is thin, and the ore is not uniformly 

distributed in it, so that the incline which follows it is intricately 

ramifying. Most of the ore mined came from a depth of more than 

15 feet.

The more recent opening, on the southeast side of the valley, is a 

cross trench 15 feet deep, from the bottom of which a shaft descends 

60 feet, largely in purple shale. A drift at its bottom follows an ore 

bed in soft yellowish clay. About one-fourth of a ton of coarse 

cellular lump ore and 20 tons of wash ore lay on the dump, and more 

than 40 tons had been shipped. The cavities in the lump ore are 

lined with crystalline manganite, and this ore is said to average more
CARTER COUNTY. 65

than 40 per cent manganese. The cellular ore is made up of thin, 

noded platy walls which apparently formed on joint and bedding 

planes of the original calcareous rock and in part as replacements of 

that rock, and the unreplaced parts have subsequently been dissolved 

out. (See PL XX, A.) The wash ore is mostly of nut to pea size.

At the time of the visit the deposit seemed to be largely worked out, 

and the mine was reported closed down shortly thereafter, in July, 

1918. However, as the ore in the decomposed Watauga shale is so 

variable in its occurrence, other equally good deposits may yet be, 

discovered in the vicinity.

Dubault prospect. The Dubault prospect, on the Dubault farm, 

2 miles southwest of Butler, was opened by J. E. Reece, of Butler. 

It is on a low, flat-topped hill, 2,100 feet in altitude, on the north 

side of a deep narrow valley draining eastward into Elk Creek. The 

deposit is in a narrow northeast-trending 

belt of yellow residual clay containing fragments of chert inclosed in the Watauga shale 

and probably derived from impure dolomite 

beds in the formation such as are exposed 

on Elk Creek. It lies between hard purple 

sandy shale on the west and \vhitish shale 

on the east. At the time of visit only one 

cut G feet deep had been dug, exposing 

chocolate-colored clay which contained a 

few scattered nodules of psilomelane and 

wad. A little float is seen, but the indications arc not favorable.

Younce prospect. The Younce prospect 

is 2 miles southwest of Butler and onefourth of a mile west of the Dubault prospect, on the farm of S. S. Younce. It was 

originally opened by the McQueen Manganese Co., but in May, 1918, 

was being developed by J. E. Reece, of Butler. About one-third of a 

ton of ore was on the dump. The openings are on a flat-topped hill, 

of 2,180 feet elevation, near the head of the narrow valley passing 

the Dubault prospect. A narrow irregular pit had been dug which 

follows down a thin ore-bearing bed of residual sandy clay in the 

Watauga shale to a depth of 50 feet. The rocks are nearly vertical, 

dipping 80° S. (See fig. 15.)

The deposit consists of scattered small nodules of psilomelane 

and thin streaks of wad in a 4-inch bed of yellow sandy clay. The 

footwall is yellow laminated clay, in which is a thin bed of chert 12 

inches below the ore-bearing layer. The hanging wall is banded 

yellow and drab clay containing a little wad. The ore-bearing bed

FiGDiira 15. Sketch of face 

of Younce prospect pit, 

near Butler, Tenn., showing ore replacing thin 

sandy bed in Watnuga 

shale.
66 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

is so thin that even if it were much richer than it is shown to be 

in the present pit it could not be profitably mined.

Cobb Greek prospect?'2' The Cobb Creek prospect is 2£ miles 

northwest of Butler, on a hill west of Highhealth, on Cobb Creek, 

It is on the farm of C. S. Morley, of Butler, and was opened by 

A. H. McQueen, of Butler. The deposit occurs on the top of a flattopped hill or terrace and lies in disintegrated Watauga shale in 

the same structural belt with the Doe Valley mine, on the northeast. 

It is opened by a pit 40 feet wide by 50 feet long and 3 feet deep 

from which a ton of ore, most of it of high grade, was obtained.

lt>. Topographic map of Stony Creek district, showing location of manganese 

mines and prospects.

It was thought by those who examined the deposit that it would 

prove workable.

STONY CREEK DISTRICT.

The Stony Creek district is in the northeastern part of Carter 

County and comprises Stony Creek valley, which is about 5 miles in 

width, between Holston Mountain on the northwest and Iron Mountain on the southeast, and extends from Elizabethton 16 miles northeastward to the county line. (See fig. 16.)

Blevins mine. The Blevins mine is in the northeast corner of 

Carter County, 1£ miles up Blevins Hollow northwest from Colesville, on the Stony Creek branch of the Southern Railway. It is 

owned by Mrs. Isaac Blevins, who lives on the property. Captain

22 From notes by A. H. McQueen and Nelson Dale.
CARTER COUNTY. 67

.Robinson, of Elizabethton, opened the mine several years ago and 

shipped a carload of ore in 1917. No further work has been done.

The mine is on the top of a small terraced spur of Holston Mountain, part of the old valley floor, at an elevation of approximately 

2,500 feet. The deposit occurs in surface wash of light-brown to 

chocolate-colored clay 8 to 10 feet thick and in underlying yellow 

residual clay derived from the lower part of the Shady dolomite, for 

greenish sandy shales of the basal part of the Shady outcrop at the 

stream below. Q

As exposed by a dozen or more openings scattered over the upper 

part of the hill the deposit has a horizontal extent of more than 500 

feet. The openings are mainly small pits 8 to 10 feet deep, and a 

large cut on the north side of the hilltop which extends to a maximum 

depth of 18 feet. The ore in most of the pits is nodular psilomelane 

with dull luster, sporadically embedded in the clay and more plentifully at a depth of 8 to 10 feet, near the base of the surface wash. 

In the large cut there are also two or three layers, each 1 foot thick, 

of soft black wad and pyrolusite interbedded in the light-yellow to 

chocolate-colored residual clay which dip gently north. There seems 

to be considerable ore present, but judging from the earthy appearance of the psilomelane on the dump it will not run over 35 per cent 

manganese.

Hatcher prospect. The Hatcher prospect is in the northeastern 

part of Carter County 1 mile east of Sadie station, on the Stony 

Creek branch of the Southern Railway. It is on the Hatcher tract 

and was opened about 1903 by Col. J. N. Adams, of Charleston, 

Tenn. H. E. Graves, of Bristol, has more recently prospected it.

It is on a terraced spur on the lower1 northwest slope of Iron 

Mountain, at an elevation of approximately 2,350 feet. (See fig. 17.) 

It is about 150 feet above the opening of the neighboring Hatcher 

sulphur mine, where iron pyrites has been mined in the upper layers 

of the Erwin quartzite.

The deposit occurs in residual clay of the Shady dolomite just 

above the Erwin quartzite, which dips 40° NW., away from the 

mountain. A pit 4 feet deep on the top of the terrace, is in darkreddish mealy soil, containing a few nodules of psilomelane and some 

iron ore. A few fragments of float ore are also scattered over an acre 

of the adjacent surface. The amount of ore is apparently very small.

Grindstaff prospect. The Grindstaff prospect is southwest of and 

just across the small hollow from the Hatcher prospect, on a similar 

terraced spur. It is owned by G. L. Grindstaff, by whom it has been 

prospected by auger borings to a depth of 4 feet. The geologic and 

surface relations are similar to those at the Hatcher prospect.

Other prospects in Stony Greek valley. Several old iron mines on 

the northwest slope of Iron Mountain, all now closed, are still plainly
68 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

visible from the valley bottom. Some of them are on benches similar 

to those at the Hatcher and Grindstaff prospects, and the reported occurrence of float manganese ore at such places agrees with the indications. Prospects on the southeast slope of Holston Mountain were 

also reported. Excellent float iron ore, locally called " cannon " ore 

because of its denseness, hardness, and heaviness, occurs on this

SE. NW.

IRON MTN.

Approximate seal*

SE. NW.

ussive dolomite

vy banded impure limestone.

isri impure arkosic sandstone 

crinkly dolomite,

nd green shaly impure, 

sandstone

rd white yuartzite 

_ ^impregnated with pyrite 

^^S^^^Greenish shaly sandstone ' -- "- nhite-ijuartzite

... .....

Massive white quartzite '' ': ' f.^:-c:

FIGURE 17. A, Geologic section through Hatcher pyrite mine and manganese prospect; 

B, Detailed section of base of Shady dolomite near Helenmode pyrite mine and Hatcher 

manganese prospect. Quartzite beds at the base of the Shady or at the top of the 

Erwin are py-dtized.

mountain slope and is especially plentiful in the Unaka National 

Forest west of Winner station.

Blue Spring mine. The Blue Spring mine is in the north-central 

part of the county half a mile south of Blue Spring and 4 miles east 

of Hunter station, on the Southern Railway; It is owned by the 

Carrigan heirs and was operated by Walker & McKenna, of Elizabethton. It is credited with a production of more than 500 tons
CARTER COUNTY. 69

of manganese ore, of which 11 carloads was shipped many years 

ago. More recently 75 tons was shipped by Col. J. N. Adams, of 

Charleston, Tenn., who installed a log washer just below the mine. 

A carload of ore was mined and shipped in 1917 by H. V. Maxwell 

for H. E. Graves, of Bristol, and Mr. Maxwell zz reported that 

during 1918 two carloads was mined and shipped by W. S. Douglas, 

\vho also installed a double-log washer.

The mine is on a terraced spur on the lower northwest slope of 

Iron Mountain, at an elevation of 2,000 to 2,200 feet, which corresponds with the tops of many neighboring spurs and ridges regarded 

as remnants of the old valley floor.

The older workings were deep open cuts on the hillside and are 

largely caved. Their dumps still show a considerable amount of 

good wash ore, particularly the higher ones, which are on the Virginia Iron, Coal & Coke Co.'s land, now forming part of the national forest. The recent workings comprise several trenches 8 to 10 

feet deep and associated short tunnels. Most of them, expose dark 

manganiferous clays at the surface underlain by horizontally banded 

clays.. The ore lies in chocolate-colored sandy surficial clay, Avhich 

is generally not over 5 feet thick, the underlying yellow clay, apparently residual from the lower beds of the Shady dolomite, being 

mostly barren.

The ore is chiefly hard psilomelane in nodules ranging up to 8 

inches in diameter and in larger irregular masses. There is .also 

present considerable soft black pyrolusite, which must be collected 

by. hand to be saved. The areal extent of the deposit is large, and 

considerable minable ore is believed to be still in the ground.

Keenburg prospect. The Keenburg prospect is in the western part 

of Carter County, 3 miles north of Elizabethton and 1 mile east of 

Keenburg, on the Southern Railway. It is on the property of the 

Southern Minerals Corporation, of Boston, Mass., adjacent to that 

company's bauxite opening. It is on a spur known as Red Bird 

Hill, at the southwest end of Holston Mountain, on a bench 2,200 

to 2,300 feet in altitude, which is a little higher than most of the 

hilltop remnants of the old valley floor in the vicinity.

The deposit occurs in residual dark-red mealy clay of the basal 

part of the Shady dolomite and in the adjacent Erwin quartzite. 

The quartzite outcrops at the top of the spur above the bench, where 

it strikes N. 30° W. and dips 40° SW. Its b'recciated ledge, cemented 

by manganese ore, has been prospected but is too siliceous to be profitably mined. The deposit on the terrace below the quartzite ledge 

is opened by shallow pits at several places. Small fragments of 

manganese ore are found in the upper surficial reddish and pale33 Maxwell, Henry V., Manganese ore of cast Tennessee: Eng. and Min. .Tour., vol. 107, 

No. 3, p. 149, Jan. 18, 1919.
70 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

lavender clays in the bauxite pits and cuts, and float ore and many 

chert fragments are scattered over the face of the bench. The ore is 

chiefly nodular and stalactitic psilomelane, some of which is coated 

with black shiny ore and contains a little crystalline manganite.

The amount of ore exposed in the openings is too small to be profitably mined but might be saved as a by-product if the bauxite is 

mined.

HAMPTON DISTRICT.

The district that produces the most manganese in Carter County 

is the Hampton district, which comprises the region around Hampton, in the central part of the county. It includes not only the valley 

between the Stone Mountain-Pond Mountain group on the southeast

3 Miles

EXPLANATION 

tt Mine X Pros.pect

FIGURE 18. Topographic map of Hampton district, Carter County, showing location of 

the manganese mines and prospects.

and the Gap Creek Mountain-Iron Mountain group on the northwest, in which Hampton is situated, but also the edge of the Appalachian Valley at the northwest foot of the group last named. (See 

fig. 18.)

Gardens Bluff mine. The Gardens Bluff mine is about 4 miles 

northeast of Hampton and half a mile southwest of Gardens Bluff, 

the nearest railroad station on the Southern Eailway. It is owned 

and operated by A. D. Keynolds, of Bristol, and L. L. McQueen, of 

Butler. In 1917 the ore shipped amounted to 182 tons and averaged 

36.56 per cent manganese, 9.05 per cent iron, and 22.51 per cent 

silica. Several carloads was in the bins at the washer at the time 

of the visit, and 400 tons was reported shipped during the first half
CA11TEE COUNTY. 71

of 1918, which had an average analysis of 30 per cent manganese, 10 

per cent iron, and 25 per cent silica. Owing presumably to the high 

silica and low manganese content of the ore, the mine was closed 

down late in the autumn of 1918.

The mine is on the upper west slope of a prominent terrace at an 

elevation of 2,200 feet, a remnant of the old valley floor, the northwest foot of Pond Mountain. (See fig. 19.) The deposits occur in 

 yellowish to reddish residual clay and chert fragments of the Shady 

dolomite, the chert having been partly replaced by ore. The overburden is about 3 feet of soil and clay. Just below the mine unweathered dolomite outcrops dipping 85° NNW.

An open cut about 80 feet across and extending up the hill 200 feet 

opens the face in three benches, each 6 to 12 feet deep. The ore 

mined came chiefly from a zone 1 to 6 feet below the surface, which

was well exposed in the face of one of the benches for a width of 20 

feet. In the deepest part of the working 

ore-bearing clay continues to the bottom 

of the cut.

The ore is chiefly wad, psilomelane, 

and pyrolusite, in part crystalline but 

much of it soft and sooty. The washed 

ore looks dirty, resembling earthy chocolate-colored lumps of clay, and analyses 

show that it contains much insoluble 

matter, which consists of silica and probably alumina. The ore is conveyed from 

the mine down a short hand-cable incline 

to a loading platform and thence by a 

gravity and horse tram to a log washer 

on a small creek about one-fourth of a 

mile west.

Teasier <& Ray prospect. Two miles 

southwest of the Gardens Bluff mine 

prospecting has been done beside the 

Hampton road by M. G. Teaster and 

T. J. Ray, of Elk Park, N. C. On a low hill south of the road 

at the head of the small branch of Doe River a pit 4 feet 

deep is reported to expose lumps of psilomelane in earthy clay 

wash containing sandstone fragments. This flat divide on which 

the deposit lies is probably part of the old valley floor. On the 

spur of Pond Mountain southeast of the prospect, about 500 feet 

above the road, manganese is reported to have been found near ledges 

of Erwin quartzite, and the overlying Shady dolomite is probably 

the source of the wash deposit.

105164 23 6 '

O i.ooo 2,000 Feet 

Approximate scale

FIGDRB 19. Sketch map of tne 

vicinity of Cardens Bluff mine, 

showing topographic and geologic relations.
72 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Cedar Hill mine. The Cedar Hill mine is 1 mile south of Hampton and one-third of a mile from the East Tennessee & Western Nortn 

Carolina Railroad. It is owned by the. Stiles heirs, of California. 

It was worked for iron about 1890 and; was only recently leased and 

opened for manganese by the Maxwell Manganese Mining Co., of 

Elizabethton. At the time of visit ,(May, 1918) a force of 10 men 

was at work and a carload of ore had been washed in a 20-foot singlelog washer. Later a double-log washer was installed, and by the 

end of the year 11 cars of ore had been shipped which showed by 

analysis from 46.51 to 48 per cent manganese, 8 to 8.45 per cent iron, 

4.5 to 5.65 per cent silica, and 2.11 to 4.92 per cent alumina.

The mine is on the top of a low terraced spur at the northwest 

end of White Rocks Mountain, at an elevation of 2,150 feet, or about 

350 feet above the adjoining lowland of Doe River where the washer 

stands. (See fig. 20.) Water is conveyed by flume to the washer 

from a dam in the river. The ore is carried by a cable incline 1,400

feet long on the slope and a gravity and 

mule tram 900 feet long on the valley 

bottom. 

Small pits have been opened on the 

top of the terrace adjacent to old iron 

pits, in one of which a ledge of good 

brown iron ore is still exposed. The ore 

zone lies between clay containing yellow 

chert with drusy cavities, derived from 

Shady dolomite, exposed on the slope below, and Erwin quartzite, which outcrops 

on the mountain slope above.

The main opening is a large open cut

running southeastward into the north 

side of the spur, with a face about 30 feet high. A tunnel, 

badly slumped, runs still farther into the spur. From the side of 

the large cut runs a newer opening 20 feet wide which has a face 

15 feet high, almost all composed of dark manganiferous clay and 

soil interbedded with yellow clay. Both the yellow and the dark 

clays carry plentiful nodules of psilomelane, but the dark clay is 

noted for large pockets of soft ore which is graphitic in character 

yet nodular in form and has a radiate needle structure. As most 

of this soft ore crushes to powder on being handled and 'would be 

lost in the washer, it is bagged at the pit and shipped unwashed. 

The nodular psilomelane is mostly small, consisting of nut ore, pea 

ore, and screenings, and the carload analyses would probably show 

a much lower content of manganese if the higher-grade soft ore were 

not saved and mixed with it. A 5-foot horse of barren yellow clay 

is exposed in the middle of the cut. This appears to be unmoved

1,000 2.OOO 3,000 Feet

I I ^ I

A ,roxi~"tp "-.ale

FIGUHE 20. Sketch map of 

vicinity of Oedar Hill mine,

showing topographic and geologic relations.
CARTER COUNTY. 73

residual clay of the Shady dolomite, whereas the ore-bearing clay 

is apparently residual clay that has slumped and settled into solution depressions and pockets in the old land surface or valley floor 

and has there become impregnated with ore.

The ore reserves appear to have amply justified the enlargement 

of the plant. A considerable area of prospective ground is untouched on,the hilltop. Mr. Maxwell said that float ore has been 

found all along tfie foot of the northwest slope of the mountain from 

the Cedar Hill mine to- the Gardens Bluff mine, and as the geologic 

and surface conditions are favorable for ore accumulation in this 

belt other good deposits may 

be expected on benches of 

the same elevation as these 

mines.

Valley Forge mine.-* 

The Valley Forge mine, 

formerly known as the Toncray mine, is in the central 

part of the county, threefourths of a mile east of 

Valley Forge, on the East 

Tennessee & Western North 

Carolina Railroad. It is 

owned and operated by the 

Valley Forge Mining Co., 

of Bristol, Va. It is reported to have shipped in 

1917 about 800 tons of ore, 

of which 50 tons averaged 

43 per cent manganese, 3 per cent iron, and 6 per cent silica. Average analyses of carload shipments of this ore were later reported to 

have run 42 to 46 per cent manganese, 4.8 to 8 per cent iron, and 

9.2 to 12 per cent silica. It is reported that during the year 1918 

5 carloads of ore was shipped to the steel plant at Bethlehem, Pa.25

The mine is on the northwest slope of the southwest end of Iron 

Mountain, at an elevation of about 2,240 feet, and about 500 feet 

above and three-fourths of a mile north of Doe River. (See fig. 

21.) It is on a short terraced spur projecting to the northwest, the 

surface of which is a remnant of an old valley floor. Similar benches 

at about the same level on spurs to the northeast have similar geologic 

and surface relations and are therefore favorable places to prospect. 

Old caved pits and dumps on immediately adjacent portions of the 

ridge were opened for iron ore many years ago.

3,000 Feet

mate scale

FIGURE 21. Sketch map of vicinity of Valley 

Forge mine, showing topographic and geologic relations.

* Description by F. C. Schrader.

28 Maxwell, Henry V., op. cit., p. 140.
74 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The deposit occurs in residual clay of the Shady dolomite near 

its contact with the underlying Erwin quartzite, which outcrops to 

the southeast. The structure is monoclinal, the dip of the rocks 

being about 60° NNW. The clay is mostly dark reddish or chocolate-colored. The ore is sporadically embedded in it in the form of 

nodules and aggregates.

The deposits are mostly contained in a mineralized zone about 60 

feet wide, which trends east-northeast for about 400 feet and seemingly passes through the spur, for they are exposed on both sides. 

They have a known vertical range of about 160 feet. On the northwest slope of the spur developments begin at an elevation of 2,100 

feet in yellow clay, but no ore was found below an elevation of 2,175 

feet, from which point the developments extend interruptedly up 

the 35° slope to where the tram crosses the ridge at 2,280 feet elevation. Surface indications of ore continue up the slope to the top 

of the spur at 2,340 feet elevation.

Three tunnels on the northwest slope of the spur,' not enterable at 

the time of visit, form a considerable part of the development. The 

lowest tunnel, 150 feet in length, is driven southwestward in yellow 

clay and encountered no ore. The intermediate tunnel, 100 feet in 

length, runs southward and is said to have found a trace of manganese ore in red clay. The upper tunnel, starting near the collar 

of the shaft and at the lower limit of the main deposit, runs southwestward and is said to be 120 feet long, with ore present throughout 

its length. The ore is said to be best developed, however, at depths 

between 10 and 15 feet, and about all the ore thus far mined seems 

to have coine from depths not exceeding 30 feet. The seat of active 

operations at the time of visit was an open pit on the northwest side 

of the spur at about 100 feet below the crest, in the vicinity of the 

upper tunnel and a little higher than, the shaft. The ground being 

worked seems to be a continuation of the upper ore-bearing zone in 

the shaft, which passes through 5 feet of dark-reddish ore-bearing 

clay, then 18 feet of barren yellow clay, below which ore is again 

found.

The ore is mostly hard psilomelane. It occurs in rough nodules 

and slabs or fragments composed of aggregate botryoidal and mammillary forms. There is present, however, a moderate amount of 

soft crystalline and sooty pyrolusite and wad. The wad includes 

dark-brown nodules 2^ inches in diameter, seemingly of good-grade 

ore.

The equipment consists chiefly of a four-log washer and pump, 

with about 4,000 feet of pipe line, half a mile of tram, cast-iron 

flume, gasoline engine, and several buildings. The washer is on the 

southeast slope of the spur at a point about midway between the
CARTER C'OUNTY. 75

mine and the river, whence a gravity tram extends southward to 

the railroad at the river, where also is placed the pump which raises 

water to the washer and mine. From the mine the ore is raised 

80 feet by a'gasoline engine up a short inclined tram to the crest 

of the ridge, from which point it is flumed to the washer. The mine 

was expected to produce about 40 tons of ore a day when fully 

equipped. Exposures on both sides of the ridge appear to indicate 

that the ore reserves are large.

Jenldns prospect. The Jenkins prospect is in the southwestern 

part of the district 2 miles southwest of Valley Forge. It is owned 

by the Abe Jenldns heirs and was opened by J. N. Koch and associates, of Knoxville, in 1917, when, it is reported, a carload of ore was 

mined and shipped and the prospect was then abandoned as unprofitable. The ore is said to consist chiefly of nodular psilomelane and

to have run 36.20 per cent manganese, 4.78 per cent iron, and 17.71 per 

cent silica.

The prospect is on a flat-topped spur about 2,200 feet in elevation, 

on the northwest slope and near the northeast end of Gap Creek 

Mountain. It is in residual clay of the Shady dolomite. Float 

ore is reported on adjacent spurs at this general level, and manganese 

deposits probably extend along the entire northwest slope of the 

mountain.

Hyder prospects. The Hyder prospects are 2| to 3 miles southwest of Valley Forge, 1 to 2 miles beyond the Jenkins prospect. 

One is on Eliza Jane Hyder's farm and another is farther southwest on Oscar Hyder's farm, both on flat-topped spurs of Gap 

Creek Mountain about 2,200 feet in elevation. Another prospect 

still farther southwest, near Gap Creek, is on Marion Hyder's farm, 

likewise on a bench which is 2,150 feet in elevation. These prospects are all small surface openings in dark manganiferous clay 

lying on yellow clay residual from Shady dolomite and show some 

psilomelane ore. They were opened by J. N. Koch and associates, 

of Knoxville, but not sufficiently to determine their worth.

Winter mine. The Winter mine, also known as the Taylor mine, 

is 6 miles southeast of Johnson City and 4 miles south of Watauga 

-« Point, on the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad. 

The property is owned by the Taylor heirs and was opened by the 

Maxwell Manganese Mining Co., of Elizabethton, which in 1917 

mined and shipped a carload of ore, including some ore from the 

near-by Patton mine, said to have analyzed 45.9 per cent manganese. 

In May, 1918, about 40 tons of good-grade wash ore, mostly of nut 

and pea size, lay on the mine dump, and 20 tons of washed ore was at 

the washer. Late in 1918 the mine was leased by the Max Mining Co., 

of Braemar, Tenn., and a double-log washer was at once installed. 

\
76 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The mine is on a bench 2,200 feet in elevation on a low spur on 

the northwest slope, of Gap Creek Mountain. (See fig. 22.) The 

trough in which the ore was washed is on a small headwater branch 

of Powder Creek, a short distance below the mine.

The deposit occurs in banded residual clay containing round 

cherts, derived from lower beds of the Shady dolomite. Two beds 

of wad and hard ore in dark clay, each 1| feet thick, alternate with

1,000 2.0OO 3,OOO Feet

Approximate scale

NW. SE.

Approximate scale

FIGDKE 22. Sketch map of vicinity of Winter and Patton mines, showing topographic and 

geologic relations, and sketch of the face of Winter mine pit, showing two ore zones 

in yellow clay.

banded yellow to red clay, somewhat streaked with manganese films 

and stains along the foliation planes. These beds strike N. 60° E. and 

dip 80° SE. (See fig. 22.) Purple shale of the Watauga outcrops to 

the northwest on the lower slope of the spur and has the same dip, indicating a steeply overturned monocline. The Erwin quartzite, fragments of which strew the surface of the steep slope above, outcrops 

higher on the mountain.
CARTER COUNTY. 77

The ore consists of psilomelane and manganite, more than 50 per 

cent being crystalline manganite in part lining cavities. It occurs 

in nodules and irregular lumps, some weighing several hundred 

pounds. Its pitted or cellular character is apparently due to the fact 

that fragments of rock have been dissolved out of the ore. Some 

ore stUl firmly incloses fragments of chert.

The deposits are opened chiefly by a 40-foot cut, 16 feet deep at 

the face, and by an inclined shaft 20 feet or more in depth. The 

cut is in clay laminated by dark manganese stain and crossed by a 

zone 4 feet wide which contains nodules and a narrow band of soft 

ore. The shaft is 8 feet to the north of the cut and follows the ore 

zone down the steep dip.

Small pits extend 50 feet or more northeast of the mine toward 

old workings near the crest of the spur, and deposits are probably

distributed over an area of several acres near the mine. Float ore 

is reported to have been traced northeastward along the slope of 

the mountain for more than a mile. Southwestward across a small 

ravine on the steep slope of the interstream bench, some pits reveal 

good nodular ore in characteristic dark-red soil, indicating that this 

terrace also contains similar deposits. Another opening on the 

lower northwestern part of the' same spur is in purple Watauga 

shale and shows only a little manganese ore.

Patton mine. The Patton mine is 6 miles southeast of Johnson 

City, half a mile southwest of the Winter mine, on the same mountain slope. The property is owned by the Taylor heirs. The deposit was first opened in a small way in 1908 by S.i Joberg, who 

shipped a little ore. In 1917 it was operated by the Maxwell Manganese Mining Co., of Elizabethton, which produced 30 tons of ore 

averaging 42.27 per cent manganese, 6.16 per cent iron, and 13.48 

per cent silica. Late in 1918 the mine was leased to the Max Mining 

Co. and was operated in conjunction with the Winter mine.

The mine is opened by a pit at the foot of the steep north bank of 

a narrow gulch at the head of Powder Branch. (See fig. 22.) The 

pit extends below the bottom of the gulch and was flooded with 

water. The 20-foot face of the cut is yellow clay, residual from the 

Shady dolomite, and streaked with layers of wad and crossed by 

red-clay seams. The beds dip 55° S., being probably overturned in 

a steep monocline. The ore-bearing layer of dark waddy clay, 

which extends nearly to the surface, has a width of about 20 feet 

und carries masses of good ore.

The ore is nodular psilomelane with considerable crystalline manganite. Several lumps 2 feet in diameter of good ore were noted 

on the dump. The indications are that the property contains a fair 

reserve of workable ore.
78 , MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Treadway prospect. The Treadway prospect is 6 miles southeast 

of Johnson City and 1£ miles southwest of the Patton and Winter 

mines, already described, in the same belt with them, on the lower 

northwest slope of Gap Creek Mountain. It is in a small ravine 

on the east side of Dry Creek Gap, at an elevation of about 2,100 

feet. The property is owned by George Treadway, of Okolona, and 

was prospected by W. H. Kemler, of Johnson City.

The deposit is in dark residual clay of the Shady dolomite apparently close to the contact of the Erwin quartzite. The structure is belived to be monoclinal, the Watauga shale on the slope ber 

low standing vertical and striking parallel with the mountain. A 

cut 12 feet deep at the face is driven into the north side of the ravine, exposing dark dry powdery clay and sandy wash containing 

a few small nodules of hard psilomelane and irregular bodies of 

wad. Some larger pieces of float ore of good grade occur below the 

cut, samples of which are reported to have analyzed 40 per cent 

manganese. The prospect is unpromising.

Hodge prospect. The Hodge prospect is 6 miles 'southeast of 

Johnson City, on the southwest side of Dry Creek Gap, half a mile 

from the Treadway prospect last described. It is on a low bench on 

the northeast end of Little Mountain. It is owned by Frances 

Hodge, of Okolona, and was prospected by W. H. Kemler, of Johnson City.

The deposit is in residual clay of the Shady dolomite and in overlying sandy wash. A small offset of the mountain front at the gap 

is apparently due to a local syncline in the Shady dolomite and 

underlying quartzite, and the prospect apparently lies in this syncline. Dolomite outcrops at the creek.

The property has been prospected by several pits about 6 feet deep 

which show some siliceous manganese ore in reddish clay, but in the 

fields below large masses of good-grade psilomelane ore were plowed 

up and are reported to have analyzed 40 per cent manganese. 

Although the showing in the pits is poor the high-grade float ore on 

the slope and the apparent synclinal structure are favorable for the 

occurrence of a deposit of workable size, and further prospecting 

on the top of the bench above the present pits is recommended.

UNICOI DISTRICT.

Unicoi district is chiefly in Unicoi County and is described on 

page 81. One of the mines in this district, however, is in Carter 

County and is described below.

T. J. Brummett mine. The T. J. Brummett mine is near the 

southwest county line, 4 miles northeast of Unicoi, on the Carolina, 

Clinchfield & Ohio Railroad. It is on the farm of T. J. Brummett, 

of Unicoi, and was operated by the Southern Manganese Corpora-
CARTEE COUNTY. 79

tion, of Birmingham, Ala. Some prospecting, presumably for iron, 

was done here in early days, but no further work was done until the 

spring of 1918, when the deposits were opened for manganese by 

W. H. Kemler, of Johnson City. By the middle of May an open cut 

20 feet deep and several smaller pits had been dug and 10 tons of 

ore had been placed on the dump. The ore was said to run about 52 

per cent in manganese. In October, 1918, the company is said to 

have shipped from this mine and the neighboring Susan Brummett

ain pit

2,400 -

2,300 -

500 i.O 00 Feet

Approximate scale

FIGURE 23. Sketch map of vicinity of T. J. Brummett mine and geologic section through 

the mine, showing topographic and geologic relations.

and Britt mines 140 tons of manganese ore to the Southern Manganese Corporation, at Anniston, Ala.

The mine is on the north side of a small hill connecting Little 

Mountain and Stone Mountain at the heads of Scioto and Dry 

creeks, Little Mountain being the southwestward continuation of 

Gap Creek Mountain. The mine is on a bench approximately 2,400 

feet in elevation, which accords in height with the stream divide and 

other neighboring valley-floor remnants. The small hill at the 

divide rises 150 feet above the bench. (See fig. 23.)
80 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The deposit occurs in residual clay of the Shady dolomite at its 

contact with the Erwin quartzite, the structure being steeply monoclinal. The Scioto-Dry Creek valley is in general a syncline between 

quartzite mountains, faulted on its northwest side and inclosing 

Watauga shale in the center. Erwin quartzite is brought up on a 

local anticline on the small knob above the mine, and the narrow 

syncline lying southeast of the mine plunges southwestward down 

Scioto Creek and merges with the larger syncline. The Shady dolomite outcrops on the northwest side of the anticlinal hill adjacent 

to the quartzite, striking N. 45° E. and dipping 75° NW. The mine 

is in residual clay derived from this dolomite on the north slope of 

the hill. Watauga shale outcrops at the west foot of the hill.

The ore is chiefly psilomelane and occurs as nodules, lumps, and 

irregular bodies embedded in dark-red clay. Some Jumps 2£ feet in 

diameter were seen, but most of the pieces are less than 3 inches 

across. Some of the ore has a botryoidal and mammillary surface, 

and much of it is cellular. Some is composed of thin, wavy concentric layers. On the east side of the main cut the ore is sandy and 

apparently replaces the Erwin quartzite at the contact. At the west 

side, next to a bed of iron ore, the manganese ore is speckled with 

small flakes of iridescent hematite. The deposit has been exposed by 

prospecting for about 500 feet in length and 150 feet in width, but 

all the material is not minable ore. Its depth has not been determined 

but probably does not average more than 15 feet.

The main cut is 40 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 15 feet deep at the 

face. It runs southwesterly into the hillside, apparently along the 

Erwin-Shady contact. Greenish and red sand on the east side, inclosing white quartzite masses veined with manganese, apparently 

represent the quartzite ledges on top of the hill. Between this and 

the dark-red soil of the Shady dolomite is a vertical layer of red 

hematite and black clay with manganese ore, and another vertical 

layer of manganese and iron ore occurs on the west side of the pit. 

The intervening red clay contains good nodular ore throughout and 

has yielded most of the ore thus far mined. Its lower limit has not 

yet been reached.

Fifteen feet west of the main cut an old shaft 10 feet deep exposes 

some good ore beneath an iron capping. Forty feet farther southwest 

a trench 80 feet long and 15 feet deep in red clay shows considerable 

manganiferous-iron ore from the surface down and a small amount 

of manganese ore in the lower part. Forty feet westward a 7-foot 

pit in red clay shows some ore in its lower part.

About 300 feet southwestward from the main cut and 15 feet higher 

up the slope a- 12-foot cut with a face 5 feet high in dark earthy clay 

shows good psilomelane, pyrolusite, wad, and manganite from the 

surface to the bottom and has yielded considerable wash ore.
MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE. 81

UNICOI COUNTY.

Unicoi County adjoins Carter County on the southwest. It is narrow and mountainous, its southeast boundary, also the line between 

Tennessee and North Carolina, following the crest of Iron, Unaka, 

and Bald mountains and its northwest boundary following the crest 

of Buffalo and other mountains. The long valley between these two 

lines of mountain chains is chiefly tributary to Nolichucky River, 

which crosses the county at its narrowest part, midway of its length. 

The manganese deposits occur chiefly at two 

active mines, the Susan 

Brummett. and Britt 

mines, in the Unicoi 

district, and a few prospects in the Bumpass 

Cove district, in the 

northwestern part of 

the county.

UNICOI DISTRICT.

The Unicoi district 

embraces the area 

around the town of 

Unicoi, in the northeastern part of Unicoi 

County, including the 

valleys of North Indian 

Creek and its tributaries. Mining is restricted to the valley 

of Scioto Creek. (See 

fig. 24.)

Susan Brummetl 

mine. The Susan 

Brummett mine is 3 

miles northeast of Unicoi, on the Carolina. 

Clinchfield & Ohio Railroad, on the farm of Susan Brummett, of Unicoi. It was operated by 

the Southern Manganese Corporation, of Birmingham, Ala., and produced some ore about 1885, and it then lay idle until it was reopened 

in the spring of 1918 by W. H. Kemler, of Johnson City. Later it 

was taken over by the Southern Manganese Corporation. The ore 

produced by this corporation was shipped with that taken from the

3 Miles

EXPLANATION 

K Mine X Prospect

FIGURE 24. Map of Unicoi district, showing location 

of manganese mines and prospects.
82 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

T. J. Brummett mine. The mine was equipped with a double-log 

washer and storage tanks, and as the creek utilized for the washing 

carried but little water it was the company's intention to lay a pipe 

line from North Indian Creek, near Unicoi, to the mine. According 

to Maxwell 26 the plant was later equipped with grizzlies, trommels, 

picking belt, and Harz jigs.

The mine is on the east side of Scioto Creek, at the northwest foot * 

of Stone Mountain, on a terrace about 50 feet above the creek. It is 

in surface wash and dark-red clay which lies between outcrops of 

Watauga shale at Scioto Creek and Erwin quartzite on Stone Mountain and is evidently residual from Shady dolomite in a northwestward-dipping monocline. The surface below the mine is strewn with 

chert from the Shady. Surface indications of ore are reported to 

have been traced for 5 or 6 miles northeast from Unicoi along the 

southeast side of Scioto Valley. Part of this land is included in the 

Unaka National Forest, in which no mining had been done.

The deposit is opened mainly by an open cut running northward 

50 feet into the hill from a small ravine. It is 10 to 20 feet wide 

and 20 feet deep at the face. The ore occurs chiefly at the bottom of 

the surface wash, but a little is found in the underlying dark-red 

residual clay. Most of it is psilomelane, and it includes a little 

manganite and pyrolusite. The ore is of low grade, much of that 

from the surface wash inclosing sand grains, and it is reported to 

analyze 38 per cent manganese. The company intended to wash 

all the dirt handled, as it was said to. run one-third ore.

Britt mine. The Britt mine is in the northeastern part of Unicoi 

County, 1 mile southwest of the Susan Brummett mine and 2 miles 

northeast of Unicoi. It is on the farm of J. L. Britt, of Unicoi, and 

was first opened in 1898 by Colonel Kirk, who shipped a carload of 

ore. It was reopened early in 1918 by W. H. Kemler, of Johnson 

City, and later in the year was taken over by the Southern Manganese Corporation. According to Maxwell 27 a double-log washer 

well equipped with accessories for efficiently treating the ore was 

installed, and the ore produced was shipped with that from the 

T. J. Brummett mine.

The mine is on a bench on the east side of Scioto Creek, about 50 

feet above the creek, at the northwest base of Stone Mountain. The 

deposit is in surface wash which overlies brownish variegated clay of 

the Shady dolomite near its contact with the underlying Erwin 

quartzite.on the southeast, the structure being monoclinal. As no 

rock outcrops were observed the dip was not definitely determined.

28 Maxwell, H. V., Manganese ore in east Tennessee: Bng. and Min. Jour., vol. 107, 

No. 2, p. 149, Jan. 18, 1919. 

27 Op. cit., p. 149.
UNICOI COUNTY. 83

The deposits are opened by about 10 narrow cuts running northwestward into the hill from a small side ravine and spaced over a distance 

of 300 feet. Other prospect pits were reported several hundred yards 

north of the mine but were not visited. The longest cut is 60 feet and 

the deepest is 22 feet at the face. Little ore was seen in the walls 

of most of the cuts. The cut closest to the sandstone contact at the 

southeast, which is also the largest and deepest, shows two layers of 

dark wad carrying psilomelane interbedded with dark slickensided 

clay which incloses sandstone fragments and persists to the bottom of 

the cut.

The ore is of low grade, high in iron and silica, and there is doubt 

whether it can be profitably worked unless all the dirt handled proves, 

to be wash ore. It is chiefly nodular psilomelane, much of which 

incloses grains of quartz, and some pieces have a tiiin coating of red

oxide of iron. Small fragments of crystalline manganite and soft 

black pyrolusite and wad are also present.

About 80 tons of wash dirt, a few tons of coarser red-coated ferruginous manganese ore, and considerable iron ore lay on the dump, 

and several tons of screenings had been washed in a trough by a 

strong current of water in a flume.

Unicoi prospects. Several other prospects or surface showings of 

ore are reported in the vicinity of Unicoi in the national forest. 

Old iron pits and discarded machinery were seen on the slopes of 

the surrounding hills, and manganese indications occur in a roar1 

cut at the south end of Little Mountain. Manganese float is reported on the bench 2,100 to 2,200 feet in elevation all along the 

northwest foot of Little Mountain, and some prospecting had been 

done by Mr. Blevins, of Unicoi. As the geologic and surface conditions are favorable for the occurrence of manganese ore and as it 

is in the same ore zone as the Winter and Patton mines, this bench 

from Unicoi northeast to Dry Creek Gap is a desirable place to 

search for workable deposits.

BUMPASS COVE DISTRICT.

Bumpass Cove lies southwest of Embreeville, partly in Unicoi 

County and partly in Washington County. As most of the opened 

manganese prospects are in Unicoi County, they are all described 

here under the head of Bumpass Cove district. The cove is almost 

entirely inclosed by mountains.

Embree prospect. The Embree prospect is at the northwestern 

border of the county near the head of Bumpass Cove, 3 miles southwest of Embreeville. It is on the private railroad of the Embree 

Iron Co., which is an extension of the Embreeville branch of the 

Southern Railway, running from Johnson City. The deposit extonds northeastward across the county line into Washington County.
84 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The property is owned by the Embree Iron Co., of Chicago, 111. 

Iron ore was mined here by the company for many years, and more 

recently zinc and lead have been chiefly mined on the south side of 

the cove. Manganese has been only recently discovered, and prospecting by the company began in 1918. The manganese deposits 

are on the northwest side of the cove on a bench about 2,070 feet in 

elevation, which is a remnant of an old valley floor. (See fig. 25.)

2 Miles

FIGOBB 25. Sketch geologic map of Bumpasa Cove, showing location of manganese and 

other metalliferous deposits, and geologic section across the cove.

The deposit lies chiefly in dark-reddish and yellowish clay residual 

from the Shady dolomite close to the contact with the underlying 

Erwin quartzite. The structure is monoclinal, the quartzite dipping 

45° SE. Fresh Shady dolomite outcrops almost horizontally near 

the valley road in the bottom of the Bumpass Cove syncline. (See 

fig. 25.) The deposit trends northeast, parallel with the strike of 

the rocks, and is opened interruptedly for a distance of half a mile
UNICOI COUNTY. 85

by pits, shafts, and cuts to depths of about 20 feet. Openings in the 

thick surface wash on the terrace reveal more iron ore than manganese, but larger amounts of manganese probably occur at greater 

depth in the underlying residual clay. Solid bedrock has not been 

struck in the manganese pits on the terrace, but on the south side of 

the valley great pinnacles of it have been exposed in the deep zinc 

workings. (See PL XXI, B, p. 58.)

The ore consists largely of psilomelane in nodules and small lumps 

of irregular size and form, and a considerable part of it is soft black 

pulverulent material consisting of pyrolusite and wad, locally called

Appro

FIQUHB 26. Sketch map of the vicinity of the Embree manganese prospect. 1, Main pit 

exposing clay containing chiefly nodules of psilomelane and some fragments of chert; 

2, shallow pits containing some ore and many fragments of chert: 3, deep trench exposing chiefly iron ore; 4, cut exposing pockets chiefly of high-grade needle ore; 5, old 

iron-ore pit containing many fragments of chert and, at bottom, some good-grade manganese ore; 6, brecciated quartzite cemented and in part replaced by manganese oxide; 

7, shallow pits exposing many fragments of chert; 8, some ore of good grade and many 

fragments of chert in shallow trench; 9, new deep trench in yellow clay, with .needle 

ore in bands and pockets of black wad.

"plumbago," which it resembles. Crystalline manganite in the form 

of "needle" ore is also present in considerable amount. Some nodules 

several inches in diameter are composed of psilomelane and acicular manganite arranged in alternate concentric layers. (See PL 

VII, p. 10.)

The southwesternmost opening, which is just east of the Clarks 

Gap road, about 50 feet above an outcrop of Erwin quartzite (see fig. 

26), is a shallow trench in the surface of the bench that runs northeastward and exposes clay containing chert and sandstone fragments. 

Psilomelane nodules and soft pyrolusite ore are sparingly present. 

An old iron-ore pit scars the east slope of this bench, and at its 

northeast side a deep cut has been recently driven in from a small
86 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

ravine, in the walls of which considerable good-grade ore shows. 

Large nodules of needle ore, such as are illustrated in Plate VI, were 

obtained here. In an old pit in the ravine manganese ore occurs in 

banded clay containing many cherts and probably residual from the 

basal part of the Shady dolomite. On the slope northwest of this 

pit a ledge of brecciated quartzite, which has been cemented and 

partly replaced by manganese ore, has been opened but is too siliceous 

to be a workable ore.

On the bench on the northeast, especially at its northeast side, are 

several openings, two of which are deep cuts exposing considerable 

ore, some of which is good needle ore. Bands 6 to 8 inches thick of 

black wad alternating with yellow buckfat dip northwest at a low 

angle into the bench, suggesting a syncline. A high ledge of brecciated ferruginous quartzite, which lies northeastward across a ravine, 

is apparently Erwin quartzite on the southeast limb of the syncline.

Farther northeast, in Washington County, the bench on the lower 

slope of the mountain was being systematically prospected with a 

Keystone churn drill to a depth of about 200 feet for zinc and lead 

and incidentally for manganese.

Although no manganese ore has been shipped from the property, 

so far as known, several tons of high-grade ore had been hauled to 

the railroad, and enough such ore showed in the walls of the prospect 

to warrant mining on a small scale. The tops of the terraces, which 

have a thick cover of wash, have not been tested to sufficient depth 

to determine the presence of ore in the clay, where the thicker deposits may be expected.

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

Washington County, of which Johnson City is the county seat, 

lies west of Carter and TJnicoi counties and includes a small part of 

the Appalachian Mountains along its southeast border, in which 

manganese ores have been reported. Those in Bumpass Cove have 

already been referred to. A deposit at the head of Dry Creek, between Cherokee and Buffalo mountains, was also reported. According to the geologic map published by the United States Geological 

Survey,28 a small area there is underlain by clay residual from the 

Shady dolomite in a deep syncline faulted on the southeast side and 

is therefore favorably located for the accumulation of ore deposits.

GREENE COUNTY.

Greene County, of which Greeneville is the county seat, lies west 

of Washington County. Its southeast boundary, which is also the 

State boundary, follows the crest of the Bald Mountains. The

a Keith, Arthur, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Roan Mountain folio (No. 151), 1917.
GKEENE COUNTY. 87

county contains several manganese deposits, all of which occur 10 

to 14 miles south of Greeneville, in the intermontane valleys of the 

Appalachian Mountains. The deposits include the Haysville, 

Sylvia, Lamb, and Payne prospects, all in the Haysville district.

HAYSVIIJ^E DISTRICT.

The Haysville district includes the area which surrounds the old 

iron mines and furnace at Haysville and extending thence south to 

the State line,

Haysville prospect. Haysville and the old Haysville furnace are 

10 miles in direct line or about 14 miles by road south of Greeneville. The deposits are half a mile south of the furnace, at the site 

of the old Haysville iron mine. The property is owned by the Unaka 

Development Co., of Greeneville, Tenn., which has recently done 

some exploratory work on it. In 1917 the Virginia Iron, Coal &

NW. . St..

OLD IRON-ORE PIT 

(SOME MANGANE. '

ore)

ruNNEL

FIGURE 27. Sketch geologic section through the Haysville prospects..

Coke Co. dug many tpits and tunnels, exposing iron ore and some 

manganese.

The iron and manganese deposits occur on a terraced hill at the 

northwest foot of a low spur of Bald Mountain. Dolomite is exposed on the lower north slope of the hill, where it dips 80° S., and 

it occurs on the south side of the hill at the crest and lower down. 

Quartzite masses at the crest and quartzite in the dump from the 

shaft suggest that the body of the hill is Hesse quartzite. The structure is complicated but seems to consist of a local sharp anticline 

of Hesse quartzite, faulted on its northwest side and overthrust 

upon the Shady dolomite. A shallow syncline of Shady dolomite 

is inclosed between it and the quartzite monocline of the main mountain. (See fig. 27.) This low hill is covered with old "workings 

for iron, chief of which is a tunnel 750 feet long, running northwest 

into the hill from a small branch of Back Creek and connecting 

with a shaft 180 feet deep sunk from the top of the hill. Several 

large cuts on both th.e north and south slopes of the hill mark the 

extent of the old mining industry. The overburden covering the

105164 23 7
88 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

iron-ore ledges and bedrock is 10 to 30 feet of clay and wash, which 

contain small fragments of iron ore and some manganese ore. Most 

of the iron ore mined is said to have contained about 5 per cent 

manganese.

From an old cut 100 feet wide and 80 feet high at the face, a 

short distance north of and down the slope from the shaft, at an 

elevation of about 1,650 feet, several tons of pyrolusite ore was recently taken out. The ore is partly of fine-shot type and partly 

soft and powdery. Some of the ore was bagged and shipped to New 

York for making paint or stove polish and was reported to have 

assayed more than 50 per cent manganese with but little iron or 

silica. It is, however, too impure for chemical ore. Some harder 

psilomelane and iron balls with soft waddy ore inside are also present. The deposit lies in pockets in residual clay and chert of the 

Shady dolomite, and the ore was mined from short tunnels and pits 

near the bottom of the large cut. In one pit a band of soft waddy 

clay stands vertical, parallel to a 3-inch seam of barren clay, and 

these layers probably represent the original bedding* A ledge of 

weathered buff chert, coated and seamed along joint planes with 

manganese, which is exposed in the upper part of the cut, is also 

nearly vertical, dipping 80° S., and is probably overturned. A 

tunnel recently driven southward into the face of the big cut penetrated a considerable amount of soft clayey and ferruginous wad 

and farther into the hill is reported to have encountered some excellent manganese ore. The ore is not easily accessible because of the 

depth at which it occurs, and much of it, being soft, is expensive to 

mine because of the care required in handling it.

In the southerly pit on the saddle connecting the hill with the 

mountain and close to the Hesse quartzite outcrops a lump of very 

high grade psilomelane was found at a depth of about 30 feet. It 

lies in yellow clay derived from the Shady dolomite, and fresh 

dolomite is encountered in some of the adjacent pits.

Judging from the hundred or more prospect pits that have 

been sunk the Haysville tract is mainly an iron-ore property, even 

though much of the iron ore is manganiferous and good manganese 

ore has been found in several places.

Sylvia prospect. The Sylvia prospect is 11 miles south-southwest 

of Greeneville and 4 miles southwest of Haysville furnace. It was 

operated as an iron mine by the old Haysville Iron Co. prior to 

1874 and has recently been opened for manganese by Leroy Park 

and J. C. Park, of Greeneville, who have acquired the property.

It is on a bench about 2,170 feet in elevation, on the front of a 

spur at the northeast end of Meadow Creek Mountain, a remnant 

of an old valley floor. The mine was reached by a good wagon 

road from Cove Creek, on the w*
GKBENE COUNTY. 89

The deposit occurs in residual clay of the Shady dolomite close 

to the contact with the underlying Hesse quartzite, which forms the 

spur just back of the mine. The geology is complicated by faulting. 

A small knob north of the mine is composed of soft sandstone which 

stands nearly vertical and probably represents a small anticline of 

the underlying quartzite, from which the structure at the mine is 

interpreted to be that of a small local syncline. A shaft and several 

pits not more than 12 feet deep had been dug in the bottom of the 

old iron mine, but they had caved in. A little manganese ore disseminated in yellowish-red clay and fragments of buff chert seamed 

with a white fibrous mineral, wavellite, lay on the dump. The ore is 

psilomelane of good grade in small nodules and irregular fragments. 

Samples are said to have analyzed 52 per cent manganese, but the 

run-of-mine ore will not average so much. Unless further prospecting discloses a better deposit the prospect will not be profitable to 

work.

Lamb prospect. The Lamb prospect is near the south corner of 

the county, about 13 miles south of Greeneville and 2J miles south 

of Limestone Springs, and is on the Scott Lamb farm south of the 

Alien Stand road, in an open field a short distance west of the tenant 

cabin. It is on the lower northwest slope of the mountains just east 

of Cove Creek, at about 1,800 feet elevation, in the saddle of a terraced ridge which is a remnant of an old valley floor.

The deposit occurs in red clay residual from the Shady dolomite 

near the contact with the overlying Watauga shale, the structure 

being monoclinal. It is opened by a shallow shaft sunk many years 

ago, apparently for manganese. The shaft is now caved. A specimen 

of fairly good grade nodular psilomelane was found on the dump. 

It is reported that a series of old manganese prospects extends eastward from the shaft for half a mile or more, some of which look 

encouraging.

Payne prospect. Leroy Park, of Greeneville, has reported that he 

obtained samples of good-grade ore from property owned by Henry 

Payne, on the upper south slope of the Meadow Creek Mountains, 

9 miles from Del Bio, Tenn., and 9 miles from Hot Springs, N. C., 

on the Southern Railway. The prospect was not visited by the 

writers. According to the geologic map published by the United 

States Geological Survey 20 the surface there is underlain by Shady 

dolomite resting on Hesse quartzite and Murray slate, which seems 

to show that the deposit is associated with the Shady dolomite.

COCKE COUNTY.

Coeke County, of which Newport is the county seat, lies southwest 

of Greene County, adjacent to the North Carolina State line. The

=" Keith, Arthur, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Asheville folio (No. 116), 1904.
9.0 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

southeastern part of the county is mountainous, and the manganese, 

deposits occur at the foot of the mountain slopes on or near remnants 

of the old valley floors of French Broad and Pigeon rivers. They 

occur in the Del Rio and Newport districts, but mention is made by 

Harder 30 of manganese ore also near Cosby, west of Denny Mountain.

DEL RIO DISTRICT.

The Del Rio district is in the eastern part of the county, in the 

heart of the mountains around the town of Del Rio, which is on 

French Broad River and on the Morristown-Asheville line of the 

Southern Railway. The more prominent mountains in the district 

are Meadow Creek, Neddy, and Stone mountains on the northwest and the northeastward continuation of the Great Smoky Mountains on the southeast, the crest of which is followed by the State 

line.

Wood mine.31 The Wood mine is 5 miles northeast of Del Rio, 

on the south slope of the Meadow Creek Mountains, and is owned by 

Nick Wood, of Del Rio. It was last worked in 1906 by J. N. Adams 

and associates, of Charleston, Term., and it is reported that some 

ore was then shipped. It is on the steep south slope of the mountains, at an elevation of 2,170 feet, in brownish to chocolate-colored 

clay, apparently residual from dolomite, resting on the Hesse quartzite near its contact with the overlying Shady dolomite and seems 

to be at or near an east-west fault.

The principal opening is a pit 15 feet in diameter and 8 feet deep, 

which formerly was somewhat deeper. Its approach is a 50-foot 

cut which runs N. 60° E. into the hill. Ore is shown more or less 

throughout the walls of the pit and the cut, and about 2 tons of 

shipping ore and 10 ctr 12 tons of wash ore lay on the dump. The 

ore is nearly all of the coarse hard nodular or lump type. It consists 

almost wholly of massive psilomelane with very little concentric 

banding or botryoidal and stalactitic forms. Much of the weathered 

portion is pitted. Pitting is seen also in the croppings at the southwest edge of the pit, where massive coarse ore stands 6 to 8 iifches 

above the surface for a width of 6 feet. The preservation of the 

croppings seems to be due to the presence of quartz. Wavellite is 

more or less plentiful throughout the ore as a secondary mineral, 

forming small irregular stringers and veinlets filling fractures, 

small lenticular bodies, and beads in cavities. On flat surfaces of 

the ore it occurs as fan-shaped aggregates of radiate fibrous crystals

30 Harder, E. C., Manganese deposits of the United States: IT. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

427, p. 76, 1910.

81 Descriptions of the Wood, Adams, Blanchard, and Waddell mines and of the Huff 

and Lamb prospects, the latter in Greene County, are by P. C. Schrader.
COCKE COUNTY. 91

up to half an inch in length. The ore, therefore, contains considerable phosphorus.

The deposit trends a little north of east, parallel with the mountains, and seems to dip to the southeast approximately in accord 

with the country rock, which is exposed in the valley of Laurel 

Branch, to the southwest. Shallow prospect pits and trenches dug 

at intervals for a distance of 400 feet east of the mine show traces 

of ore similar to that at the mine.

The deposit probably contains considerable manganese ore, but 

owing to its high content of phosphorus and the distance to the railroad it can not at present be profitably worked.

Adams mine. The Adams mine is 2 miles northwest of Del Rio, in 

the steep lower slope of the northeast end of Stone Mountain, at an 

elevation of 1,600 feet. It is 400 feet above and about one-third of a 

mile distant from the Southern Railway. It is owned by John N. 

Adams, of Charleston, Tenn. It was last worked in 1908, when it is 

reported to have produced eight carloads of ore, amounting to about 

300 tons, which is probably an overestimate. The ore was shipped to 

Johnson City, Tenn., unwashed in bags and is said to have averaged 

47 per cent manganese.

The deposit occurs in residual clay of the Shady dolomite near 

its contact with the underlying Hesse quartzite, which here seems to 

be a]so a fault contact. Much of the quartzite is deep yellowish 

brown from impregnations of limonite. The clay is mostly light 

brownish but is variegated by large and small chocolate-colored to 

black masses. It contains fragments of partly decomposed quartzite 

and chert resembling fault breccia, seemingly derived from the lower 

part of the Shady dolomite. The deposit dips westward into the 

mountain and is reported to have a thickness of more than 50 feet, 

its lower limit not having been reached in a 40-foot shaft sunk from 

the bottom of a cut 15 feet deep. Croppings and surface debris 

indicate that the deposit probably extends southwestward up the 

mountain slope.

The ore consists chiefly of layers or beds of massive,, soft sooty 

wad and pyrolusite with considerable hard nodular manganite and 

psilomelane. The manganite occurs mainly in radial fibrous acicular 

crystals in concentric bands alternating with hard blue psilomelane. 

Only the soft ore was shipped for the manufacture of stove polish, 

it is said. A ton or two of soft ore and 3 or 4 tons of washed ore 

lay on the dump.

Blanchard mine. The Blanchard mine is about 2 miles northwest 

of Del Rio, half a mile south of the Adams mine and on the. same 

spur of Stone Mountain. It is owned by William Blanchard, of 

Del Rio. It was worked by the Commercial Mining & Milling 

Co., of Del Rio, in 1902, when it is said to have shipped about 200
92 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

*

tons of unwashed ore averaging 47 per cent manganese. It was 

Jater operated by the Barium Lithopone Co., of Philadelphia. Its 

development consists of five or more openings in the steep east slope 

of the mountain at elevations between 1,750 and 1,900 feet.

'The openings are mostly in the Hesse quartzite or perhaps in 

transitional beds at the contact with the Shady dolomite, which seems 

to be also a fault contact. The ore zone appears to be the southward 

continuation of the mineral zone at the Adams mine. The ore is 

principally hard, concretionary, nodular psilomelane but includes 

also some manganiferous iron ore.

At one of the main openings, on the north side of an eastwardsloping spur at 1,850 feet elevation, the deposit seems to consist of 

a 6-foot bed of good-grade nodular psilomelane in soft white sandstone which dips 40° SW. The ore adheres to the walls of the 

sandstone and partly impregnates and replaces it. About 50 tons 

of the ore shipped in 1902 is reported to have come from this opening. 

At an opening on the opposite or south slope of the spur, 1,790 feet 

in elevation, conditions are similar except that the workings are 

more extensively caved and overgrown with vegetation, and the 

quartzite includes fine conglomerate with small white quartz pebbles. 

It is reported that 140 tons of ore from this opening was included 

in the shipment made in 1902. Approximately 4 tons of ore on the 

dump was of good-grade concretionary nodular psilomelane containing crystalline manganite with radial and parallel fibrous acicular 

structure. One lump was 2^ feet in diameter. Some specimens 

show mutually facing comby structure.

In a tunnel a short distance down the ridge toward the southeast 

the deposit consists mainly of a 2^-foot tabular body of ore in red clay 

and sandstone dipping 60° WSW., into the mountain. The walls are 

chiefly altered liver-colored ferruginous siliceous rock, which the ore 

deeply penetrates and replaces. The ore is similar to that just described, except that in places it is slightly waddy and siliceous from 

finely crystalline vitreous quartz lining small irregular cavities. 

Some of it is stalactitic. Some high-grade ore taken from this opening has been shipped, and several tons of concretionary nodular ore 

lay on the dump.

Waddell mine. The Waddell or Pigeon Roost mine is 3 miles 

west of Del Rio and lj miles south of West Myers station, on the 

Southern Railway. It is owned by John B. Waddell, of Springfield, Mo. It was worked in 1892 by Sugars & Oliver, but so far as 

learned no ore was shipped. In the early part of 1918 it was again 

worked by the Southern Manganese Corporation, when 10 tons of 

manganese ore was taken out, which is said to have exhausted the 

deposit.
COCKE COUNTY. 93

The mine is on the south slope of an eastern ridge of Stone Mountain at an elevation of 1,900 feet, on the west side of a gulch that 

drains southward into Big Creek. It is on a newly made mountain 

wagon road from the near-by Dicky kaolin mine to West Myers 

station.

The deposit occurs in dark-reddish ferruginous quartzite, which 

seems to be the Nebo quartzite, and in overlying clay, which is probably residual from Hiwassee slate. It is opened by a pit 25 feet in 

diameter which originally may have been 25 or 30 feet deep but is 

now caved. The ore bed seems to dip to the northeast and to be 8 or 

10 feet thick.

About 20 tons of ore on the dump consists chiefly of hard psilomelane nodules and masses, in which radial and parallel aggregate 

stalactitic structure is dominant. Some fragments are botryoidal on 

a small scale. The ore heavily incrusts joint plans and fracture surfaces of the quartzite and commonly penetrates and replaces it to a 

depth of several inches. At a point several feet northwest of the mine 

specimens of dark wad in clay were exposed in shallow cuts of the 

wagon road.

Long Greek prospect. The Long Creek prospect, on a farm of 

Aleck Huff, of Del Rio, is on the east side of Long Creek, 3 miles 

north-northwest of Del Rio and half a mile northeast of the Del RioNewport wagon road. It is on the side of a low spur at the southwest 

end of Meadow Creek Mountain and is in chert and clay residual 

from the Shady dolomite at its contact with the underlying Hesse 

quartzite. The beds at the prospect seem to be vertical and faulted. 

In the creek near the road fresh Shady dolomite dips 45° SW.

The developments are old caved workings. A tunnel which runs 

north into the hill from a small branch of Long Creek follows a 

ferruginous chert lode which lies at the fault contact of the quartzite 

on the east and dolomite clay on the west. Several slumped trenches 

show only reddish clay, but a little psilomelane is present on the 

dumps. Lumps of iron ore, whch may be somewhat manganiferous, 

some as much as 1| feet in diameter, occur as float.

Huff prospect. The Huff prospect is 4 miles northwest of Del Rio 

on the Newport-Del Rio wagon road. It is in the lowland north of 

Neddy Mountain, on a farm of Aleck Huff, of Del Rio. It was first 

opened for manganese in 1892 by Mr. Icewall, of Atlanta, Ga., who 

excavated the large pit just northwest of the barn, but no ore was 

shipped. The pit is in Watauga shale near its contact with the underlying Shady dolomite. The shale, which outcrops a short distance 

west of the pit, dips 60° E.

In 1918 John N. Adams, of Charleston, Tenn., is reported to have 

dug the 60-foot open cut in the barnyard. This cut has a face 8 feet
94 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

high in red clay, probably derived from the Shady dolomite, containing black or dark-gray angular blocks of the so-called ore, some 

as much as 2 feet in diameter. The so-called ore, many tons of which 

has been used in the stone fences on the property, is a fine-grained 

chert, profusely stained and slightly impregnated with manganese, 

and is composed of 75 to 80 per cent silica and very little manganese 

or iron. Some of the material is finely porous with scattered cavities 

half an inch in diameter, closely resembling slag. Some of the cavities and crevices are thinly coated with crystalline manganite. The 

deposit is too siliceous to be an ore of manganese and has no commercial value.

NEWPORT DISTRICT.

The Newport district includes the area around the town of Newport, on the Morristown-Asheville line, of the Southern Eailway, in 

the western part of the county. The known deposits are on the north 

end of English Mountain.

Newport mine. The Newport mine, formerly called the Yellow 

Springs, Carson Springs, and English Mountain mine, is 4 miles 

west of Newport. The deposit was discovered on the estate of 

John Sant in 1883 by George Francis, who is said to have mined and 

shipped 120 tons of unwashed nodular manganese ore taken from 

a small pit at the mouth of the present working. For some distance 

beyond this rich body ore was found only in sporadic small pockets, 

but the work on these pockets led to the discovery of the deposit 

recently mined by the Newport Manganese Corporation, of Newport. 

The ore shipped by this company is said to have run about 37 per cent 

manganese, 8 per cent iron, and 12 per cent silica, although 120 tons of 

ore that averaged more than 40 per cent manganese was shipped in 

1917.

A carload of high-grade ore shipped in 1918 ran 42.85 per cent 

manganese, 6.25 per cent iron, and 8 per cent silica, and a carload of 

poorer ore ran 34.78 per cent manganese, 0.11 per cent iron, and 12.10 

per cent silica. Analyses of two of these shipments are reported to 

be as follows:

Analyses -of two carloads of ore from the Newport mine.

SiOs....... ..........................................................................

AliOs.. .......................................................................... ...

MgCOs..... ...... ...................................................................

BaO. ...............................................................................

1

5.77

37.57

7.44

9.42

6.51

.37

.40

2.10

69.58

2

4.68

33.89

8.63

13.73

6.55

1.05

2 41

2.63

73.57
COCKE COUNTY. 95

lOOoFeet

Approximate scale

SE.

Late in the autumn of 1918 the mine was reported to be producing 

monthly 50 tons of ore, averaging 30 per cent in manganese, from 

four tunnels. The face of the lowest tunnel is 55 feet below the 

surface. The tunnels apparently follow an irregular bed containing 

masses of high-grade ore, some weighing as much as 300 pounds.

The mine is on the 

northeast terminal 

slope of English 

Mountain, at the 

point where it descends into the valley 

of Pigeon River. It 

is at the edge of a 

bench that stands at

an altitude of 1,680 

to 1,750 feet. (See 

fig. 28.) The floor of 

the main pit of the 

mine is at an altitude 

of 1,680 feet, and several prospect pits, 

some old and some 

recent, which stand at 

about the same elevation, show fair indications of ore that 

extends interruptedly nearly a quarter 

of a mile southwest 

of the mine. Both 

nodular and stalactitic forms of manganese ore are embedded in the clay 

and wash of this 

bench.

The deposit occurs 

in residual clay from 

the basal beds of the

Shady dolomite about 100 feet above the Hesse quartzite. The 

structure at the mine is monoclinal. The quartzite beds of the 

mountain, only 200 feet away, dip 75° N., toward the valley. The 

clays in the mine, which show similar bedding, dip 60° in the same 

direction. The main pit, which trends nearly east and west, is

Appro

FIGDUE 28. Sketch map of vicinity of Newport mine, 

showing topographic and geologic relations, and sketch 

of face of mine pit, showing 6-foot ore zone of banded 

red and white sand and clay with pockets of ore.
96 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

approximately 150 feet long by 50 feet wide and 50 feet deep at the 

face. It is excavated chiefly in reddish and brownish clay derived 

from the Shady dolomite and basal transitional beds, although the 

pit contains also pure-white sand or sandy clay. The clay of the 

south wall the footwali is chiefly white and very siliceous, containing rounded disintegrated fragments of sandstone or quartzite, 

and was probably derived from a sandstone or sandy Jimestone. It 

is firm and compact, so that this wall of the pit stands well. The 

clay of the north wall the hanging wall is sticky and mostly 

yellow and was derived from limestone or dolomite. The ore is 

contained in a layer, about 6 feet wide, of banded and partly mixed 

red, brown, lavender, bluish, and white sandy clay and sticky yellow 

clay, which evidently represents a brecciated layer at the top of basal 

sandy beds in the Shady dolomite. (See fig. 28.) The manganese 

was apparently leached by rising circulating waters from the porous 

sandy beds below, now left white, and redeposited in the beds next 

to the impervious clay roof, which was probably brecciated by caving after partial solution. The ore is sporadically embedded in this 

clay in the form of grains, nodules, and lumps, some as large as 3 

feet in diameter. The overburden, which consists chiefly of red clay 

inclosing quartzite boulders, ranges from 1 to 10 feet in thickness. 

The ore extends nearly to the surface in the north bank of the pit.

As the ore is mined it is shoveled into the head of a steeply inclined flume 875 feet long, to which water is pumped, and is conveyed to a double-log washer 260 feet below the mine. In its passage 

down the flume, or launder, much of the ore is washed free of clay, 

but a considerable percentage of the ore is lost by adhering to barren 

sticky clay which is not separated in handling but is allowed to go 

down with the ore and is rolled into balls. On leaving the trommel, 

after passing through the washer, the ore which does not pass 

through a one-eighth inch mesh screen is conveyed by carrier belt 

to the storage bin and on the way is hand-picked by boys and women. 

About 30 per cent of the washed ore passes through the screen 

and constitutes the "fines." This part is jigged to further free it 

from silica.

Jones & McMahon prospect?2 The Jones & McMahon prospect is 

4 miles southwest of Newport and about half a mile east of the 

Newport mine. It is on a terrace at the foot of the north end of 

the east prong of English Mountain, east of Sinking Creek Gap. 

The property is owned by Jones & McMahon, of Newport. The 

deposit occurs in wash and possibly extends down into the underlying clay, derived from the Shady dolomite. There are no large

1)2 The descriptions of the Jones & McMahon prospect and the Raines mine are taken 

largely from Harder, E. C., op. cit, p. 76.
HAMBLEN COUNTY. 97

openings on the property, but very sandy float ore of irregular and 

stalactitic form is reported.

Koines mine. The old Raines mine is 3 miles southwest of Newport and about 1 mile east of the Newport mine, on the George L. 

Gray farm, which has recently been bought by Barney Hurley, of 

Newport, who expects to redevelop the mine. It is at the northeast 

end of English Mountain, on a wash-covered terrace which is underlain by clay residual from the Shady dolomite. It was opened 

years ago and worked for a short time. The development exposes 

brown sandstone containing small specks and stringers of manganese minerals which have replaced the sandstone and in places are 

concentrated enough to be a low-grade siliceous ore. Irregular 

masses of psilomelane are scattered through the overlying clay.

HAMBLEN COUNTY.

Hamblen County, of which Morristown, near its center, on the 

Southern Railway, is the county seat, lies northwest of Cocke County 

and west of Greene County. Manganese ore occurs at several localities in the vicinity of Morristown, chiefly in the Boatman Ridge district, northwest of the, city.

BOATMAN RIDGE DISTRICT. 33

The Boatman Ridge district lies northwest and north of Morristown and includes several parallel northeast-trending chert ridges on 

which manganese ore has been found.

Lotspeich and Noeton prospects. On Boatman Ridge, also called 

River Ridge, 5 miles northwest of Morristown, a prospect has been 

opened by J. N. Lotspeich, of Morristown. Manganese ^and manganiferous iron ores have been exposed on the property at a number of 

places by shallow pits, and it is reported that from one large mass of 

ore taken out several years ago 2 carloads of manganese ore were 

shipped. The ore is in residual clay and brecciated chert of the 

Knox dolomite and is siliceous.

Other prospects are reported on the northeast end of a spur of this 

ridge, south of Noeton Ferry, near the Tate Springs road, where 

similar conditions prevail.

Mays and Ivy prospects. Farther southwest on Boatman Ridge, 

6 miles west of Morristown, two prospects have been opened on the 

adjoining farms of Monroe Mays and G. N. Ivy. The pits are 

shalloAv and at the time of visit were slumped, so that little ore was 

to be seen.

The deposits are in residual chert and clay of the Knox dolomite, 

close to yellow shales and limestones of the underlying Nolichucky

33 The descriptions of prospects in this district are taken largely from notes by Arthur 

t.\ Mcli^irlan, of the Tennessee Geological Survey.
98 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

shale, the rocks dipping 15°-20° SE. The ore is psilomelane in 

chert, which is brecciated and cemented and partly replaced by the 

ore. As the ore is not plentiful and contains considerable associated. 

iron and much silica in the form of chert, from which it can not be 

readily separated, the prospects are not promising.

Curry prospect. The Curry prospect, 7 miles northeast of Morristown, on the Bright Mills road, is also in the chert hills of the 

Knox dolomite, at about the same horizon as the prospects on Boatman Eidge. A small amount of psilomelane and iron ore occurs in 

this pit as a fissure filling and .replacement of chert. The deposit 

apparently is of no commercial value.

Other deposits, according to Penrose,34 occur southeast of Morristown in red clay, but they were not being worked or prospected ,'.ind 

were not visited.

GBAINGER COUNTY.

Grainger County, of which Rutledge, near its center, is the county 

seat, lies west of Hamblen County, Holston River forming the 

boundary line. It is mostly valley land, but its northwestern part 

is crossed by Clinch and Log mountains. Manganese ore occurs at 

several localities in the valley, three of which are in the Rutledge 

district and two in the Washburn district.

RUTUEDGE DISTRICT.

The Rutledge district consists of the area' around Rutledge, in 

the center of the county, on the Knoxville-Morristown line of the 

Southern Railway. The known prospects lie mostly in the hilly 

Richland Knobs country southeast of the town.

Rutledge mine. The Rutledge mine is 2 miles southeast of Rutledge, on the farm of J. H. Lowe, of Rutledge, and was operated 

by J. S. Swann, of Knoxville. No ore had been shipped at the 

time of visit, May 9, 1918, but about 100 tons was on the dump, 

30 tons of which had just been mined. Unwashed ore shipped later 

in the year was reported from analyses to average 28..8G per cent 

manganese and 3.57 per cent iron, and on account of the low grade 

of the ore and its relatively small quantity the mine was closed 

down.

The mine is on the top of a prominent hill 650 feet above the 

railroad at Rutledge. The deposit occurs in residual clay and 

chert of the basal part of the Knox dolomite at or close to its 

contact with the underlying shale, which is presumably Nolichucky. 

The shales dip very gently southeastward, into the hill, the structure 

being apparently monoclinal. However, the presence of pure lightblue fine-grained limestone containing Girvanella and other fossils

34 Penrose, R. A. P., op. clt., p. 416.
GRAINGER COUNTY. 99

in the midst of the shale on the slope below the mine and dips that 

indicate a syncline suggest that the Knox may possibly be overthrust on a shale younger than the Nolichucky. Further study of 

the surrounding region is necessary to determine this point.

The development consists of an open cut along the northwest face 

of the hill, 150 feet long and 20 feet high, chiefly in yellow and 

reddish clay residual from the Knox dolomite. (See fig. 29.) In 

a thin overburden of sandstone and chert wash there is some ore,

2,000 Feet

Approximate scale 

Feet NW.

1,700 

tf>OO 

1,500 

1,400 

1,300 

1,200 

i,IOO

ipoo

SE.

=5_ Sfia/e and thin 

f limestone 

^ limestone 

^''containing Girvanelta

300 ipoo Feet

Approximate scale.

29. Sketch map of the vicinity of the Rutledge mine, showing topographic and 

geologic relations, and section of hill on which the mine is located.

which contains scattered sand grains and more iron than there is 

in the residual clay below, and the, top of the hill is covered with 

chert fragments containing considerable good manganese ore. Several bands of ore are exposed in the face of the cut. The northern 

band is composed largely of botyroidal masses and nodules of black 

psilomelane, more or less dulled by impurities and covered with a 

shell of iron oxide in places half an inch thick, the outer coating 

being generally a brilliant red oxide. These masses are embedded 

in sticky yellow clay. (See PL IV, C, p. 9) A middle band contains a thick body of heavy psilomelane ore inclosed in dense yellow clay. At the south end of the cut yellow clay containing chert
100 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE/

partly replaced by manganese is laminated by manganese-stained 

clay and thin layers of ore which dip 10°-30° NW. and seem 

to follow the original bedding, as do also the vertical bands of 

ore. (See fig. 30.) The discordance of this supposed bedding 

with that of the underlying shale is another indication of faulting.

svv.

Chert and manganese oref/oat

Approximate scale

FIGURE 30. Sketch of face of Rntlcdge mine pit, showing three ore zones separated by 

barren laminated and jointed yellow clay.

As most of the ore is embedded in red and yellow sticky clay which 

fills crevices and indentations in the botryoidal surfaces, it will require thorough washing to prepare it for shipment. As an adequate 

water- supply for this purpose had not been provided, the ore 

marketed was shipped unwashed and consequently ran low in manganese. The ore in the chert of the overburden and scattered over 

the surface will require crushing and hand picking to remove much 

of the silica before it will be suitable to ship.

Harmon prospect. The Harmon prospect, on the farm of Joe 

Harmon, of Rutledge, is 2J miles southeast of Rutledge. It was 

leased by J. S. Swann, of Knoxville. At the time of visit the deposit 

was exposed only in the bed and bank of a small branch of Richland 

Creek. It occurs in yellowish and dark banded clay residual from 

the Nolichucky shale or the overlying Knox dolomite, the rocks dipping 10° SE. A 3-foot bed of banded clay with dark manganiferous 

clay containing a little ore crosses the stream bank diagonally, and 

considerable small psilomelane float lies on the surface. Some of 

the pebbles in the stream gravels of the valley bottom are cemented 

with black manganese ore, and the water of the stream blackens 

pebbles in its bed, showing that the, streams carry manganese in 

solution.

Young and Swann propects. Manganese float ore is reported on 

the farm of B. F. Young, of Knoxville, in the Richland Knobs 6 

miles south of Rutledge and 2 miles south of Doyal post office. It is 

in the Knox dolomite and occurs as small fragments mixed with soil 

and chert. Specimens of manganese float ore have been found
JEFFERSON COUNTY. 101

on several other farms southwest of the Rutledge mine, one of which, 

about 6 miles distant and on the top, of the high front line of knobs, 

similar in location to the Rutledge mine, had been slightly prospected 

and optioned to J. S. Swann and is called the Swann prospect.

WASHBURN DISTRICT.

The Washburn district includes the area around Washburn on the 

Knoxville-Middlesboro line of the Southern Railway, particularly 

the valley country northwest of Clinch Mountain. Indications of 

manganese occur ato several localities.

Written prospect. The Wallen prospect is 4 miles northeast of 

Washburn, on the lower south slope of Copper Ridge, ! £ miles northeast of Puncheon Camp. It is on William Wallen's farm, the mineral 

rights on which were leased by R. B. Bundren, of Washburn, but no 

openings had been made. The prospect consists merely of a few 

large lumps and small fragments of very good grade psilomelane, 

, picked up in the cultivated fields. One lump is said to have weighed 

60 pounds. The ore is solid and massive and contains a little manganite and apparently some braunite. Some iron ore is also present 

in the dark-red clayey soil. The ore occurs on Knox dolomite near 

its contact with the overlying Chickamauga limestone, which dips 

about 40° SE. Although the ore is of high grade the quantity is 

so small that the deposit is not regarded as of commercial value.

Frye prospect. The Frye prospect is 1| miles northwest of Washburn and the same distance southeast of Liberty Hill, both on the 

Knoxville-Middlesboro line of the Southern Railway. It is about 

1,400 feet in elevation, on a small spur on the northwest slope of 

Copper Ridge near Williams Creek. It is owned by Charles Frye, of 

Washburn, and is undeveloped, consisting merely of nodules and 

small fragments of manganese ore and waddy clay in the soil of cultivated fields. Similar indications are reported on neighboring 

farms and on John Dozier's farm, 3 miles to the southwest.

The chert and clay in the soil are derived from basal portions 

of the Knox dolomite, and the underlying Nolichucky shale outcrops in the run near by. Some of the manganese ore has a fine 

shotlike structure. Considerable crystalline manganite is present, 

and the ore is of high grade but apparently too meager for the deposit to be workable.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Jefferson County lies south of Grainger and Hamblen counties 

and like the latter is crossed by many low ridges. Jefferson City, 

on the Southern Railway, is the county seat.
102 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE. 

JEFFERSON CITY DISTRICT.

The Jefferson City district embraces the hills and valley around 

Jefferson City, in the northern part of the county.

Currens prospect. Ore is reported on the property of George 

Currens, of Jefferson City. The exact location was not learned, but 

the ore is believed to be in the chert of the Knox dolomite, which 

composes many of the ridges in the neighborhood and may be expected to contain manganese.

SEVIER COUNTY. ° d

Sevier County lies southwest of Cocke County, along the southeast border of the State. Sevierville, near its center, is the county 

seat. The southern half of the county is mountainous and includes 

part of the northwest slope of the Great Smoky Mountains, the 

summit of which is followed by the State and county boundary 

line. The only manganese deposit known in the county is° at the 

East Fork mine, in the East Fork district.

EAST FORK DISTRICT.

The East Fork district is near the east-central part of the county. 

It embraces an area of rugged hill country on the north flank of 

the Great Smoky Mountains along the East Fork of Little Pigeon 

Kiver, where deposits of manganese have been found.

East Fork mine.35 The East Fork mine is on the East Fork of 

Little Pigeon River near East Fork post office, 10 miles southeast 

of Sevierville, the terminus of the Knoxville, Sevierville & Eastern Railway. It is on land known as the Widow Owen's property, which is now owned by the Tennessee Manganese Co., of 

Knoxville, by which the developments were made.' At the time of 

visit its only output was a test carload of ore, which had been shipped 

by the company.

The mine is on the southeast end of a flat-topped spur of a higher 

ridge, at an elevation of about 1,200 feet. (See fig. 31.) It is southwest of the river and about 200 feet above it. At the time of visit 

it was opened on opposite sides of the spur by two cuts and a tunnel. It is reported that a shaft has since been sunk on the south side 

of the spur. In developing the mine drifts will be run from the 

shaft northeast into the hill and in the opposite direction below the 

ravine. Four other small prospect pits are.situated on neighboring 

spurs at intervals along the lode, covering a length of 4,000 feet.

85 This mine was examined by Arthur Keith and G. W. Stose in the spring of 1917, 

and the description here given is from notes made by them.
SEVIER COUNTY. 103

The deposit lies in a zone of mineralization which has a maximum 

width of 10 feet and trends S. 40° W., following a vertical contact 

of slate and dolomite, the slate lying on the southeast and the dolomite on the northwest. The slate is Hiwassee slate, one of the oldest 

sedimentary rocks in the Appalachian region, and the dolomite is 

apparently interbedded in the slate. The dolomite is about 60 feet 

thick and contains some thin-bedded blue limestone.

The deposits occur, as nearly vertical beds in the dolomite and 

slate. The ore is mostly manganese carbonate, which has been 

altered to oxides near the 

surface. The ore beds are 

somewhat lenticular, as is 

well shown in the main 

workings, and overlap each 

other horizontally and probably also vertically. The 

carbonate ore is apparently 

a chemical mixture of calcium, magnesium, and manganese carbonates forming a 

white crystalline mineral 

which resembles rhodochrosite. The oxidized ore consists chiefly of psilomelane 

and wad.

The lode and wall rock 

contain considerable pyrite, 

much of that in the wall.

rock consisting of coarse o 1,000 2,000 Feet 

pyritohedrons, whereas minute crystal aggregates are 

chiefly scattered through the 

banded ore. Quartz is also 

common in small stringers, some of which inclose bright anthracitic 

carbon. A few small calcite veinlets cut the ore.

The northern or main working, an open cut on the north side of 

the spur, is about 60 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 60 feet deep, with 

stepped face. A tunnel 100 feet long follows the ore bed in at the 

bottom of the cut. (See figs. 31 and 32 and PI. XXIII.) The cut, 

dug partly before the bedrock or carbonate portion of the lode was 

discovered to be manganese ore, exposes manganese-bearing clay to a 

depth of only about 5 feet, where it is succeeded by the unaltered carbonate ore.

The oxide ore occurs in the form of small irregular masses of 

psilomelane in wad and light manganiferous clay. Much of the clay

105164 23 8

Approximate scale

FIOUUB 31. Sketch map of vicinity of East Fork 

mine, showing mine openings and prospects 

along outcrop of carbonate ore zone.
104 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

is the product of weathering of the inclosing manganif erous dolomite. 

About 6 feet from the portal the tunnel passes into solid carbonate 

ore. This ore body is lenticular and pinches out at the face of 

the tunnel, but a bore hole in the southeast wall showed the presence 

of a body of similar ore in that direction. The open cut also shows 

the lenticular character of the ore bodies.

The second working, on the south side of the spur, is also an open 

cut which is 80 feet long, 8 to 10 feet wide, and 40 feet deep, stepped 

in three benches. The carbonate ore is excellently exposed in the two 

lower benches, where is shown an ore body having an average width

NW. SE.

SE. NW.

'-'/c/n/et of 

carbonate ore 

and py rite

10 Feet

Approximate scale

A

O 5 10 Feet 

Approximate, scale

B

FIGURE 32. A, Sketch, of face of north pit of East Fork mine, showing surface workings 

of oxide ore and tunnel into carbonate ore; B, Sketch of south pit of East Fork mine, 

showing upper bench in oxide ore and lower benches in carbonate ore.

of 4 to 5 feet, which contracts and swells and apparently pinches out 

entirely at the face of the lower bench. The upper bench is in oxide 

ore, which is chiefly wad but some of it is psilomelane.

Shallow prospect pits along the lode to the southward expose wad 

and psilomelane mostly in narrow bands; but the northernmost of 

these openings, across the ravine from the second open cut, exposes 

a body of solid carbonate ore beneath the oxide. None of the pits, 

however, are deep enough to determine the size and shape of the 

carbonate ore body.

The carbonate ore is in part crystalline and in part compact and 

banded. (See PI- X, p. 11.) The crystalline ore was evidently deposited first, probably by direct replacement of calcareous rock, either 

dolomite or calcareous slate. Manganese minerals, which were prob-
U. g. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

 A 

EAST FORK MINE WORKINGS, EAST FORK, TEN

A., Main open cut on north side of spur, where oxide ore was mined, and entrance to tunnel; -B, open cu
BLOTJNT COUNTY. 105

ably originally disseminated in the dolomite or slate, were dissolved 

by underground circulating waters, and the manganese was redeposited as a crystalline mixture of carbonate of calcium, magnesium, 

and manganese in the rock adjacent to the solution channels. The 

ore solutions circulated along joints and fissures at the contact of the 

dolomite and slate, where there may also have been some faulting. 

The rhombs of the crystalline mineral show marked zonal structure 

(see PI. X), the inner cloudy portion probably carrying most of the 

manganese. The coarsely crystalline character of this ore indicates 

that it was deposited some distance beneath the surface, below the 

zone of oxidation. The dense banded carbonate, in which thin layers 

of black oxide of manganese are interlaminated, fills spaces between 

the crystalline masses and is undoubtedly a product of enrichment of 

the ore at the lower limit of the zone of oxidation. (See PL X.)

Athough the analysis of a sample that best represents the crystalline type of mineral shows only 9 per cent of manganese, and the 

analysis of a selected sample of the banded material shows but 26 

per cent, one sample of the banded ore gave 40 per cent (see analyses, 

p. 15), so it is reasonable to believe that the run-of-mine ore will 

show a content of manganese between these extremes, possibly more 

nearly the result obtained by the company from its sample, 37 per 

cent, which probably included some black oxide ore.

A partial analysis of a sample of carbonate ore made for the company is reported to show that it contained 37.75 per cent of manganese, 7 per cent of silica, 5.26 per cent of calcium, and 2.30 per cent of 

magnesium.

Should the ore body at the north opening continue to a depth of 

50 feet below the tunnel level with an average width of 4 to 5 feet, 

which it appears to have in the surface exposures, it will be of considerable size and tonnage, but if the high-grade banded ore is due to 

enrichment near the surface, as above suggested, it may not extend to 

such a depth, possibly only a few feet below the surface. The shaft 

and deeper workings now being put down should determine this 

point.

Because of the carbonate nature of the ore, it is believed by the 

company's experts that it can advantageously be mixed with oxide 

ores and save a large amount of limestone flux otherwise needed 

in the reduction of oxide ore. The company has therefore erected an 

electric furnace at Cleveland, Tenn., for smelting the ores from the 

neighboring districts, using electric power from the Tennessee power 

plant.

BLOUNT COUNTY.

Blount County, of which Maryville is the county seat, lies southwest of Sevier County along the southeast border of the State. The
106 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

southwestern part of the county is mountainous, and the State and 

county boundary follow the top of the Great Smoky Mountains, 

 which in places is more than 5,000 feet in altitude. Several deposits 

of manganese ore are reported in the county, in the Tuckaleeche 

Cove, Chilhowee Mountain, Greenback, and Louisville districts.

TUCKALEECHE COVE DISTRICT. 30

Tuckaleeche Cove is a flat-bottomed valley on Little River, in the 

mountain area southeast of Maryville. It is hemmed in on the 

southeast by high, steep mountains and on the northwest by ridges 

through which the river flows in a gorge. Manganese ore is reported 

at only one place in the cove, at the Townsend prospect.

Townsend prospect. The Townsend or Webb prospect is in the 

eastern part of Blount County, half a mile north of Townsend station, on the Little River Railroad. It is on the farm of A. H. Webb, 

across Little River from the railroad. The river is not here bridged. 

On the west slope of a hill just south of the farmhouse there is a large 

amount of float, chiefly in small fragments which are fairly abundant in gullies that trench the surface. The ore is a good grade 

of psilomelane of high specific gravity. Seams of black manganiferous clay, the largest 4 inches wide, are also exposed in the 

gullies. The ore seems to follow a small ridge trending northeast. 

On the adjacent farm of M. A. Webb fragments of psilomelane 

cementing and replacing chert occur with iron ore, which was once 

mined. The surface is strewn with well-rounded stream-worn 

quartzite cobbles, some as much as 6 inches in diameter. The region 

is underlain by Knox dolomite, and the manganese ore is probably 

derived from the weathering of cherty dolomite in that formation.

CHILHOWEE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 36

The Chilhowee Mountain district is in the southern part of Blount 

County and includes the part of Chilhowee Mountain and vicinity 

near Little Tennessee River.

Sellers prospect. The Sellers prospect is on the lower southeast 

slope of Chilhowee Mountain, L| miles northwest of Chilhowee 

station, on the Tennessee & Carolina Southern Railway. It is on 

the farm of William Sellers, and the mineral rights are owned by 

J. M. Green and C. A. Benscoater, of Knoxville. On the dump of 

two old caved openings several small pieces of pyrolusite and manganiferous limonite were found, in one of which manganese minerals 

occur as cement in a fine quartz conglomerate.

39 The descriptions of the prospects In the Tuckaleeche Cove, Chilhowee Mountain, and 

Greenback districts are largely taken from notes by Arthur C. McFarlan, of the Tennessee 

Geological Survey.
BLOUNT COUNTY. 107

The region is underlain by brownish-gray quartzite and conglomerate, presumably the Hesse quartzite, in which the prospect openings 

are made. Overlying the quartzite are blue limestone and slate, 

propably Hiwassee slate, which is older than the quartzite and has 

been overthrust on it from the southeast.

McMurray and Miller prospects. A small amount of float manganese ore was reported on the Sam McMurray farm, a mile west of 

Chilhowee, but no openings were made on the property. Henry E. 

Colton, of Knoxville, is reported to have had an option on a tract 

about a mile from the McMurray farm, where high-grade ore had 

been found some years ago. Ore is also reported 6 miles northeast of Chilhowee, on Rufus Miller's place, southeast of Montvale 

Springs, on the southeast side of Chilhowee Mountain. The relations at both places are probably the same as at the Sellers prospect.

GREENBACK DISTRICT. 30

The Greenback district includes the open-valley country in the 

western part of Blount County, chiefly that Avhich extends for 4 

miles northeast of Greenback, on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.

Williams prospects. A. number of prospects, several of which are 

here described, occur northeast of Greenback. They are in residual 

clay and chert of the Knox dolomite at or near its contact with the 

underlying Nolichucky shale. The structure is monoclinal and overturned, the dolomite dipping 50° SE. The ore is a replacement of 

 chert in the dolomite and occurs largely as nodules and fragments 

mixed with chert in the residual clay and soil.

The Williams prospects are 3 miles northeast of Greenback. They 

are on adjoining farms belonging to T. S. and Mrs. A. J. Williams, 

the mineral rights on which have been leased. Many pieces of goodgrade manganese ore float are found in the road and in a number 

of shallow test pits and trenches on both properties. The ore is 

psilomelane, small nodules of which lie loose in red residual clay. 

,Some of the nodules are concentrically zoned and have botryoidal 

surfaces, and some have an outer shell of brown iron ore. Iron ore 

is more abundant than manganese ore, and the 5 tons of ore on the 

dump consists chiefly of cherty limonite.

Curtis, Aiken, and associated prospects. The Curtis prospect is 

2-i miles northeast of Greenback, on the farm of T. G. Curtis. A 

small amount of float manganese ore is scattered over the farm, and 

it is most plentiful and of highest grade southwest of the Curtis 

barn. It is a replacement of chert in the Knox dolomite, the replacement in most specimens examined being complete.

The Aikeii prospect is on the farm of John R. Aiken, which adjoins the Curtis farm on the southwest, 2£ miles northeast of Green-
108 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

back. Float manganese ore is abundant near the crest of the hill 

just back of the house.

Manganese ore is also reported on the near-by farms of David Crisp, 

M. A. Willis, James H. Eakers, and J. E. Klepper, the mineral rights 

of some of which have been leased for development.

LOUISVILLE DISTRICT.

The Louisville district includes the lowland around Louisville, 

southwest of Knoxville. Manganese ore is reported from several 

of the low hills with deep-red soil in this region, but only one deposit 

has been worked or extensively prospected.

Louisville mine. The Louisville mine is in the northwestern part 

of the county 4 miles southwest of Louisville and less than a mile 

by road from the Louisville & Nashville Kailroad. It is on the 

J. B. Cox farm and is leased by the Unaka Minerals Co., of Knoxville. Mining was begun in June, 1918, and in July, at the time of 

visit, 25 tons of manganese ore had been mined and concentrated in 

the log washer.

The mine is in open lowland country of the Tennessee Valley, 

on the gently sloping north side of a low, flat-topped ridge or bench 

1,050 to 1,100 feet in elevation. The bench is part of an old valley 

floor preserved on the tops of the hills in the vicinity. The deposit 

occurs in residual clay of thin beds of marble in the Chickamauga 

limestone, probably part of the Holston marble.

The ore-bearing clay is about 10 feet thick and consists of dark 

chocolate-colored soil and mottled red and yellow clay, which overlies hard, nodular gray limestone or impure marble of the Chickamauga formation. It is overlain by a cover of reddish earthy soil 

generally a foot thick, which is stripped with plow and scraper before mining. Banding in the ore-bearing clay dips 20° NW., about 

parallel with the surface slope, and is in part due to creep. Some 

of the markings are irregular and suggest fragments in a breccia.

The ore is mostly psilomelane and occurs in rough-surfaced lumps, 

nodules, and grains in dark clay streaks more or less parallel woith 

the inclined structure, the largest lumps being nearly a foot in diameter. Some of the ore is hard and has a botryoidal surface, and some 

is porous, having cavities lined with soft black sooty pyrolusite. 

Much of the ore is of the " bird-shot" type, consisting of innumerable small, round shiny black pellets embedded in red clay, which are 

probably a replacement of pebble structure in the marble. (See PI. 

XV, p. 32.) The pellets are somewhat ferruginous and yield a dark- 

"brown powder when crushed. Three-fifths of the ore consists of 

grains and nodules less than half an inch in diameter, and a jig is 

needed to save the small particles which pass through a 24-mesh
BLOUNT COUNTY. 109

sieve. However, a small washer for screenings, devised by the company as an adjunct to the main washer, is saving most of the fines. 

Some ore from the slope above the pit is full of sand grains and is so 

siliceous that it is not saved.

The ground is worked by a hydraulic sluice-flume system comprising five converging ground sluices. (See fig. 33.) As the wash dirt

Nodular gray

limestone 

Washer/V 

'

 Some manganeseore float 

"00 ___*S

Approximate scale

SE. NW.

Red and yellow clay

containing manyan&se ore.

" ITKin SarrefTyelKvv'cToy ?= := &-: 

 ooft greenish limestone i , '

Nodular gray limestone -=c^

FIGURE 83. Sketch of topographic map of vicinity of Louisville mine and geologic section

through mine pit.

is mined it is shoveled or washed by a strong stream of water from 

a nozzle into a ground sluice and is flumed down the slope through 

ground sluices and portable flumes which converge into a large hop-
110 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF BAST TENNESSEE.

per at the head of the washer. For continuous operation this method 

requires more water than the amount now available 120 gallons a 

minute. The area stripped and being mined at the time of visit was 

semicircular with a radius of 70 feet. The deepest part, which was 

in the middle sluice, was 6 feet deep. All the dirt beneath the overburden, including the yellow clay, is passed through the washer and 

is reported to concentrate 8 into 1, 8 tons of mine dirt yielding 1 ton 

of washed ore, which averages more than 40 per cent manganese.

About a quarter of a mile south of the mine, on the same property, 

the surface of a hill 1,160 feet in altitude is strewn with brown iron 

float ore of good grade, which is seamed with red, translucent radiate 

fibrous goethite in layers from paper thickness up to half an inch 

thick. Some manganese ore occurs with the iron-ore float on the 

northwest upper slope of this hill. Other hills at this elevation 

toward the northeast, covered with deep-red soil and having geologic 

and surface conditions similar to those at the Louisville mine, are 

apparently just as favorable for the occurrence of manganese ore.

Louisville prospect. Manganese ore is reported from the Red 

Hills, southeast of the railroad, 2 miles east of the Louisville mine, 

but the deposit was not visited. It is probably at the contact of 

the Holston marble and the overlying Tellico sandstone, the horizon 

at which high-grade ore is present farther southwest. A manganese 

prospect has also been reported 2 miles southwest of Louisville.

KNOX COUNTY.

Knox County, of which Knoxville is the county seat, is northwest 

of Sevier and Blount counties. It is crossed by several low ridges, 

which trend northeastward, parallel with Tennessee Elver. There 

are a few manganese prospects in the Knoxville district near Knoxville and one in the Copper Ridge district, northwest of Knoxville.

KNOXVILLE DISTRICT.

The Knoxville district includes the area around Knoxville within 

which are the belts of the Red Hills south of the city, two of them extending many miles to the northeast and southwest. It has long 

been known that these hills contain high-grade hematite and some 

very pure manganese ore. Although the indications in the district 

are so far not favorable, further prospecting may well be undertaken in these hills, particularly along the contact of the red Tellico 

sandstone and the underlying Holston marble, at the horizon at 

which rich deposits of ore occur farther southwest.

Fitzgerald prospect. The Fitzgerald prospect is about 6 miles 

southwest of Knoxville and 3 miles south of Bearden station, on the

87 The descriptions of the Fitzgerald and Green prospects are largely taken from notes 

by Arthur C. McFarlan.
ANDEBSON COUNTY. Ill

Southern Railway. It is on the farm of J. H. Giezentanner and was 

worked on shares by Paul Fitzgerald. It was opened to the depth 

of 10 feet, and from the excavation about 15 tons of ore was taken 

out and put on the dump. The ore occurs in a shaly phase of the 

Tellico sandstone which dips generally to the southeast but at many 

places in other directions. It occurs in thin, irregular seams, which 

follow the bedding planes of the rocks. The ore is of medium grade 

and contains considerable clay and some brown iron ore. Near the 

northern boundary of the property considerable sandy float ore 

occurs, and on the adjoining farms of Mrs. W. C. Badgett and L. F. 

Currier large amounts of iron ore are reported.

Green and neighboring prospects.37 On the farm of J. C. Green, 2 

miles southwest of Bearden station, a small amount of manganese 

ore float occurs scattered over the surface of the Red Hills and a pit 

3 feet deep exposes light pyrolusite and wad in small seams in clay. 

The Tellico sandstone on the hills dips 58° SE.

On the adjoining farm to the south, owned by C. S. Morel, a little 

psilomelane and sandy iron-ore float occur, and northeast of the 

Green property a considerable quantity of good-grade hematite occurs on L. D. Tyson's farm, on which have also been found several 

large pieces of high-grade manganese ore.

COPPER RIDGE DISTRICT.

The Copper Ridge district includes the belt of northeastwardtrending chert ridges that lie northwest of Powell. Only one prospect is known in this district.

Haworth prospect. The Haworth prospect is reported to be 8 

miles northwest of Knoxville and 2 miles west of Powell, on the 

Knoxville, Jellico & Fonde division of the Southern Railway. It 

is on a farm owned by W. L. Haworth, of Knoxville, on the top 

of Copper Ridge. The ore consists of psilomelane cementing and 

partly replacing chert from the Knox dolomite and is found as float 

in the fields. Although much of the ore collected is of high grade, 

the quantity is apparently too small to be profitably worked.

ANDERSON /COUNTY.

Anderson County lies northwest of Knox County. Clinton, in its 

eastern part, is the county seat. Its northwestern part is mountainous, being occupied by the Appalachian Plateau, a dissected or 

eroded table-land composed of Carboniferous coal-bearing rocks. 

In the southeastern or valley portion of the county a few prospects 

of manganese ore have been reported, chiefly in the Pine Ridge 

district north of Clinton. '

87 The descriptions of tbo Fitzgerald and Green prospects are largely taken from notes 

by Arthur C. McFarlan.
112 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

PINE RIDGE DISTRICT.

The Pine Ridge district lies northwest of Clinton and extends for 

3 miles along Pine Ridge, a low ridge trending northeastward along 

the foot of Walden Ridge, here the front mountain of the Appalachian 

Plateau. Pine Ridge is composed of shales and sandstones of the 

Rome formation, which in general dips southeastward and is equivalent, in part at least, to the Watauga shale, which occurs farther 

northeast in the Great Valley. According to the geologic map 88 

published by the United States Geological Survey the formation is 

faulted along its northwestern side against Chickamauga limestone. 

The ore apparently is associated with this fault.

Bright & Howell prospect. The Bright & Howell prospect, owned 

by D. M. Bright and D. A. Howell, of Knoxville, is reported to 

be on the northwest side of Pine Ridge, 5 miles north-northwest 

of Clinton, at Cane Creek gap. A shallow pit is said to expose good 

manganese ore. The ore is apparently at the fault contact, replacing 

the Chickamauga limestone.

Manganese ore is also reported to be exposed in the road cut 

through Pine Ridge, 3 miles northwest of Clinton.

Wallace prospect. A prospect reported near Coal Creek, on the 

farm of Hack Wallace, of Clinton, is probably also on Pine Ridge. 

It was opened in 1914, and a ton of ore reported to contain 48 per 

cent manganese, 1.60 per cent iron, and 8 per cent silica was shipped. 

In 1918 it was leased to T. F. Narramore, who is said to have started 

the development of the prospect.

LOUDON COUNTY.

Loudon County adjoins Blount and Knox counties on the west. 

The town of Loudon, on Tennessee River near the center of the 

county, is the county seat. The surface is a broad open valley 

crossed by low hills which trend northeast. Manganese deposits 

occur in the Loudon and Fork Creek Knobs districts.

LOUDON DISTRICT.

The London district includes the area around Loudon, particularly the Red Hills area, south of the town. This area is a direct 

continuation of the ore belt northeast of Sweetwater, where some 

of the highest-grade ore has been mined.

Gates prospect. The Gates prospect is 1| miles south of Loudon. 

It is on the farm of J. K. Gates, of Loudon, and was leased by the 

Lafollette Iron Co., of Lafollette, Tenn. It is on the crest of a low 

spur or bench on the northwest slope of a higher hill which trends

38 Keith, Arthur, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Briceville folio No. 33.
LOUDON COUNTY. 113

northeast. The hill is composed of chert from the Knox dolomite, 

which is apparently overthrust on the Holston marble. The ore lies 

on the Holston marble near the fault and may have been deposited 

by mineral-bearing waters circulating along the fault.

The deposit consists chiefly of brown iron ore too siliceous to be 

of value. Some of it probably carries a little manganese, but no 

manganese ore was observed. The siliceous ore covers the surface 

of the low spur, and about 50 tons of it has been gathered into piles. 

A trench about 15 feet long and 9 feet deep exposes deep-red sandy 

clay soil containing similar ore. As the trench does not reach the 

bottom of the ore-bearing clay, ore richer in manganese may yet be 

found at greater depth. The deposit lies in red clay derivp.d from 

the Holston marble but is not overlain by Tellico sandstone at the 

Cates prospect, as it is in places to the southwest, where it carries 

high-grade manganese and iron ores.

FORK GREEK KNOBS DISTRICT.

The Fork Creek Knobs district embraces the Fork Creek Knobs 

and adjacent Bat Creek Knobs, a Red Hills belt that lies chiefly 

in the northern part of Monroe County but extends across the southeast corner of Loudon County. Manganese and iron ores occur in 

many places on these hills, as at the Galbraith mine, in Loudon 

County, and the geologic formations are similar to those in the 

Sweetwater district, on the west, where other high-grade manganese 

deposits occur.

Galbraith mine. The Galbraith or Henley mine is 8 miles southeast of Loudon ana about the same distance southeast of Lenoir, 

both on the Southern Railway. It is 1 mile southeast of Jackson 

Ferry, on Little Tennessee River, from which point the ore is conveyed by boat downstream to Lenoir. The property is owned by 

P. C. Henley, of Loudon, and the mineral rights are owned by H. 

N. Curd, of Lenoir. The deposit was first opened in 1901 and 

more recently has been leased and operated by Charles Galbraith 

and Judge Webb, of Knoxville. In the summer of 1918 the mine 

was leased and operated by the Southern Manganese Corporation, 

of Birmingham, Ala. In May, 1918, about 100 tons of manganese ore had been mined and washed, one carload of which had 

been shipped, part of it to New York for chemical uses, and another carload was on the way to the railroad.

The mine is on a small knoll, 920 feet in altitude, on the northwest slope of a prominent ridge that forms the northeast continuation of the Fork Creek Knobs. The deposit occurs in Holston 

marble that dips 30° SE., into the knoll, which, has a synclinal 

structure (see fig. 34) and was probably formerly capped with
114 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Tellico sandstone. The ore is embedded in red clay that is residual from the Holston marble and that is covered with a. few 

feet of surface wash, which contains rounded river cobbles and 

pebBles.

The principal opening is a cut in the. northwest slope of the knoll 

100 feet long by 30 feet wide and 12 feet deep at the face. (See 

fig. 34.) The ore begins in the wash close to the surface and extends 

down into the residual clay. The'deeper part of the cut has been

filled in, but the ore was said to 

continue to a depth of 30 feet. 

In test pits dug at the side of 

the cut some good ore was 

found, but the pits were not. 

deep enough to determine the 

lateral extent of the workable 

deposit. Considerable siliceous 

iron ore covers the surface north 

of the mine and was formerly 

mined for iron.

The ore consists chiefly of 

small lumps of psilomelane and 

contains a little soft pyrolusite 

and some manganiferous iron. 

It is conveyed from the mine to 

the washer by a cable tram 

about 200 feet long. A simple 

jig was fodkierly used but has 

been discarded, and the ore is 

washed in a double-log washer 

and then screened. A flume and 

pump were being installed to 

increase the water supply. The 

washed ore ranges from fine 

screenings to lumps 4 inches in 

diameter, but most of it is less than 2 inches in diameter, and much of 

it is screenings. It is clean, is of high grade, and is estimated to average 45 per cent manganese. It is shipped in bags and barrels.

MONBOE COUNTY.

Monroe County, of which Madisonville is the county seat, is one 

of the southeastern border counties of the State. It adjoins Blount 

County on the southwest and Loudon County on the south. The 

southeastern part is mountainous, being occupied by the foothills of 

the Unaka Mountains. The northwestern part is valley or lowland

NTV:

Washer

HOLSTON 

MA RB L£

SE.

e too 200 .300 400 sooFeet 

Approximate scale

FIGURE 34. Sketch map of vicinity of Galbraith mine and geologic section through 

mine pit, showing topographic and geologic relations.
MONROE COUNTY. 115

crossed by many parallel lines of low hills trending northeastward. 

Manganese deposits occur at several localities, which are grouped 

into the Fork Creek Knobs, Sweetwater, Madisonville, and Tellico 

Plains districts. The Fork Creek Knobs district lies partly in 

London County.

FORK CEEEK KNOBS DISTRICT.

Mills prospect. The Mills prospect is in the northern part of the 

county, 8 miles northeast of Sweetwater, on the Southern Railway, 

and 2 miles south-southwest of Eve Mills. It is on the property of 

J. C. Mills, of Sweetwater, on the upper northwest slope of a promiment ridge one of the Fork Creek Knobs. It is at the unconformable contact of the Tellico sandstone on the Holston marble, and 

the structure is monoclinal, the rocks dipping about 30 SE., into 

the ridge. The Holston marble on the steep western slope is overlain by red sandstone of the Tellico, and the crest of the ridge is 

composed of gray sandy marble within the Tellico.

Late in April, 1918, no openings had been made, but on the western 

slope, just below the base of the Tellico sandstone, there were ample 

indications of high-grade red hematite iron ore, with which was a 

little manganese ore float. A lump 1£ feet across of high-grade 

psilomelane ore was found on the east crest of the ridge associated 

with the marble interbedded in the sandstone. As the high character of the ore found at the surface and the generally favorable conditions for the accumulation of ore seemed to warrant prospecting, the 

ground was leased by the Southern Manganese Corporation, of Birmingham, Ala., and was later thoroughly prospected, with the result, 

however, that only 3 tons of ore, containing 41 per cent of manganese, was taken out during the exploration, whereupon the property 

was abandoned.

SWEETWATER DISTRICT.

The Sweetwater district is in the northwestern part of.Monroe 

County, and it includes the ore-bearing belt of the Red Hills and the 

lowland on either side extending from Sweetwater to Philadelphia, 

east of the Southern Railway. The Red Hills are so named from 

their covering of deep-red soil. The geology of the Red Hills area 

is shown on the map, Plate XXIV.

McGuire mine. The MoGuire mine is on J. Frank McGruire's 

farm, 4 miles northeast of Sweetwater, 3 miles south of Philadelphia, and half a mile from Gilman switch, on the Southern Railway. 

It is in the same Red Hills belt of mineralization as the Heiskell mine, 

near Sweetwater, and is similarly situated on the lower northwestern 

slope of the hills, at the frontal edge of a westward-facing terrace 

950 feet in altitude and about 100 feet above the valley bottom. Ore
116 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

was first mined here in the early nineties. The mine is now being 

operated by the Southern Manganese Corporation, of Birmingham, 

Ala.

Late in April, 1918, the main development, which is at the south 

end of the property, was a 40-foot cut, 20 feet deep at the face. 

(See PI. XXV.) It consisted in part of reopened old workings 

from which considerable ore had been taken. The new workings 

had yielded at the time of visit 3 tons of high-grade ore, which lay 

on the dump. A carload of this ore subsequently shipped is reported 

to have run 41.13 per cent manganese.

On the terrace, about 30 feet east of the face of the cut, a shaft 

sunk in residual clay was reported to have passed through a 3-foot 

bed of manganese ore at a depth of 23| feet and another shaft about 

50 feet farther east to have passed through a bed of ore 7 inches thick 

at a depth of 33 feet. The ore in the shafts was believed to be a 

continuation of the ore in the cut, which dips southeast, with the 

bedding, and later development work proved this belief to be correct.

By October, 1918, the mine had been opened by a main inclined 

tunnel 165 feet long driven southeastward from the face of the cut. 

with drifts to both sides 60 to 100 feet long, connected by other 

inclined longitudinal drifts. (See fig. 35.) The workings follow a 

bed of ore more or less continuous near the bottom of the decomposed 

ferruginous Tellico sandstone. The mine was reported to be shipping monthly 40 tons of ore averaging 44 per cent manganese.

The deposit is at the unconformable contact of the Tellico sandstone on the underlying Holston marble. In Plates XXV and XXVI 

the ribbed sandy crystalline limestone (Tellico) is clearly seen filling' 

channels beween reefs of Bryozoa and other organisms in the underlying red marble. The section of the rocks at the mine is given in 

the table on page 21. The structure of the rock is. monoclinal, the 

dip being approximately 25° SE. The Holston marble is banded, 

medium to coarse grained, and fossiliferous, containing abundant remains of crinoid stems, Bryozoa, and a few brachiopod shells. In the 

main workings of the mine the floor, where uhweathered, is apparently Holston marble, but the ore bed in places lies within the decomposed sandy rock of the Tellico. However, the larger bodies 

of ore occur in depressions and solution channels in the upper surface 

of the marble, which are filled with weathered products of the overlying Tellico formation. For instance, the 40-foot cut and the old 

tunnel followed an ore zone in sandy clay which filled a depression 

between rock pinnacles. Its footwall on the northwest side consisted of granular grayish Holston marble capped by pinnacles of 

sandy banded marble of the Tellico, in which only small lenses of 

ore occur. On the southeast or hanging-wall side 10 feet of nearly
U S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXIV

Sealevel SECTION A-A'

SCALE OF MAP AND SECTIONS 

O V, I MILE

Contour interval 10 feet 

Datum is mean sea level

EXPLANATION

ocvid auaic

(Here \11G1V; = Ottosee WIA/o«i^ shale Olldlt; of VA Ulrich) UlU^U/

( Yellow fossiliferous shale; upper part,

A»l nntfifo tfil^ft>tY1!9 marble vnnrhle and nrtlt oolite) nnlito*

"Tellico sandstone"

(Ferruginous sandy marble; contains

hematite and manganese ores near basej

(Gray to pink marble)

Chickamauea limestone

(Here = Lenoir of Safford and Ulrich)

(Blue and gray banded limestone)

Knox dolomite 

< Chiefly chert at surface)

 - Thrust fault

T Overthrust side of fault

Mine 

X Prospect

Strike and dip of strata

GEOLOGIC MAP AND STRUCTURE SECTIONS OF THE RED HILLS AREA

NORTHEAST OF SWEETWATER, MONROE COUNTY, TENN.

Showing the relation of manganese mines and prospects to the geologic formations

By Arthur C. McFarlan 

Geology somewhat revised by G. W. Stose
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXV

A. PIT OF McGUIRE MINE, NEAR SWEETWATEH, TENN. 

Preparatory to driving tunnel in deeply disintegrated material to left of rock mass.

B. UNCONFORMITY AT BASE OF TELLICO SANDSTONE NEAR OPENING 

OF McGUIRE MINE, TENN.

Dark sandy ribbed limestone unconformably overlying lighter-colored reef-bearing 

red calcareous mud rock at the top of the Holston marble. The sandy beds fill a 

channel between prominent white reefs of Bryozoa (r).
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXVI

B

UNCONFORMITY AT BASE OF TELLICO SANDSTONE NEAR OPENING OF 

McGUIRE MINE, TENN.
MONROE COUNTY. 117

barren yellowish-red sandy clay grades downward into 10 feet, of 

reddish-black sandy clay, in which are scattered tabular pieces of 

ore 6 inches thick and rounded boulder-like masses, some as much

Feet

120 -

MO -

100 -

90 -

80 -

70 -

60 -

0 10 2O 3O 40 50 Feet

FIGURE 35. Plan and cross sections of the workings of the McGuire mine. The tunnel 

and drifts, which follow the ore bed, show gentle dip of ore bed to the southeast. 

(From plat of mine workings by Southern Manganese Corporation.)

as 2£ feet in diameter. This residual clay lies in the depressions 

between pinnacles of Holston marble that follow fissures and fractures that have been enlarged into solution channels.
118 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The Tellico sandstone in this part of the terrace is decomposed to 

a depth of 40 feet, being weathered to a soft dirty-brown sand, in 

which, however, the original bedding and rock structure are still well 

preserved. In places where the decomposition and solution have 

penetrated deeper than elsewhere the bedding of the disintegrated 

material is much disturbed, and the material is cut by many steep 

slickensided slip planes, indicating that it has moved and has settled 

into solution channels in the underlying marble. The manganese 

mineral, which is believed to have been originally disseminated in the 

ferruginous Tellico sandstone, was dissolved by the descending percolating waters that decomposed the rock and was concentrated in 

the lowest porous beds through which the waters could percolate. 

Wherever a boss-or pinnacle of undecomposed rock stood the deposit 

was thin or absent, and wherever a solution pocket or channel occurred 

and the overlying decomposed sandy material slumped into it, thicker 

ore deposits were formed and were practically continuous.

Most of the ore is hard, compact shiny steel-blue psilomelane, but 

with it is some sooty black pyrolusite and wad. The compact psilomelane contains a cleavable crystalline steel-blue mineral which resembles braunite and is similar to the mineral at the Heiskell mine. 

Most of the ore occurs in a tabular bed which is nearly continuous 

and generally ranges from 6 to 18 inches in thickness. It is mined 

in slabby fragments and masses about 2| feet in maximum length 

and 5 or 6 inches in thickness, which are readily separated from the 

dark dirt and are shipped without washing. Some of the dark dirt 

from which the ore has been hand picked is said to contain 5 per cent 

of manganese and 33 per cent of iron, the rest of it being largely 

quartz.

The north end of the property has been prospected by many deep 

circular pits or shafts. Most of these are on the flat top of the hill 

at an altitude of 950 feet and are sunk in soft residual red sandy clay 

between high sharp pinnacles of marble. The pinnacles were carved 

by subsurface erosion, and many of their walls are vertical or overhanging. One pit follows down a vertical solution wall for 30 feet. 

The rocks dip 22° SE. The sandy beds of the Tellico, which disintegrate into the red sandy clay in which the ore occurs, outcrop at the 

west crest of the hill. Some yellow shale is present in the pits but 

is believed to have come from the overlying Sevier shale that was 

let down into solution pockets and not to have been originally interbedded in the marble. The ore is said to lie on the marble below the 

shale. Although the ore is of fairly high grade, much of it is deeply 

pitted and breaks into small fragments or crumbles to a soft powder, 

so that it will be difficult to save in mining. Several tons of such ore 

was on the dump at the time of visit. Other pits on the western
MONROE COUNTY. 119

slope of the hill, at 920 feet in altitude, are in similar soil-filled 

depressions in the marble, and some high-grade ore was taken out, 

but the quantity is relatively small.

Preston prospect. The Preston prospect is 3| miles northeast of 

Sweetwater, near the Loudon pike. It is on the west slope of a low 

'rounded ridge just west of the McGuire mine, on the, farm of 

J. N. Preston, of Sweetwater, and was prospected under option 

by Joe Corn. The ridge is composed of Chickamauga limestone 

which dips 12° SE., the structure being monoclinal. The ore ismostly float, consisting of nodular pieces of psilomelane scattered 

in considerable quantities along the crest and on the western slope 

of the ridge for more than half a mile. With the manganese ore is 

a large quantity of good-grade hematite float. Some ore replacing 

chert is also found. About: 1^ tons of iron and manganese ore was 

gathered in piles, and several tons of high-grade ore previously gathered had been sold to the Southern Manganese Corporation.

The occurrence of pieces of leached Tellico sandstone in the soil 

suggests that the ore may have been derived by weathering from 

the rocks of the ridge on the east, where the McGuire mine is situated, and transported as hillside wash before the small intervening 

valley was formed. 0

Vida mine. The Vida mine is 3 miles northeast of Sweetwater 

and about half a mile southeast of Oilman siding on the Southern 

Railway. It is owned by C. D. Smith, of Memphis, Tenn. It was 

mined for iron ore more than 20 years ago by W. D. Gilman and 

was prospected for manganese some years later. The iron deposits 

were described by E. F. Burchard in Bulletin 16 of the Tennessee Geological Survey, on the red iron ores of east Tennessee. The 

iron ore was ta"ken from two large pits, half a mile apart, some 

20 to 30 feet deep, in soft, dry dirty-red sandy clay. Much of the 

ore was soft, but many fragments of hard ore are still found in 

the pits. These are mostly blocky to platy fragments of black iron 

ore, somewhat earthy in texture, and apparently contain considerable manganese. Small lumps of good-grade bright psilomelane, 

having smooth rounded shiny surfaces, which average 43 to 46 per/ 

cent manganese, are also fairly plentiful but apparently are not 

present in sufficient quantity to be workable for manganese alone. 

No effort has been made to mine the property for manganese, 

although several prospecting pits have been recently dug.

The deposit lies in red earthy clay containing glassy sand grains, 

apparently derived from disintegration of Tellico sandstone. * At the 

bottom of the pit are bedded yellow clays dipping steeply northwest,

30 Description chiefly from notes by Arthur C. McFarlan. 

105164 23 9
120 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

apparently representing the caved roof of a solution channel in tbo 

underlying Holston marble or Chickamauga (Lenoir) limestone, 

which outcrops with gentle eastward dips just below. (See fig. 36.)

NW. *:----.ca

SE.

V IDA NORTH '?' 

PIT f

2,00.0 Feet

Approximate scale

FIGURE 36. Sketch geologic section through north pit of Vida mine, showing the probable 

origin of the ore deposit in the filling of a caved-in channel.

The ore deposit is therefore in residual Tellico material let down and 

preserved in a caved-in channel in the underlying Holston marble. 

It was derived from rocks similar to the highly ferruginous sandy 

crystalline limestone exposed on the hill east of the pit,-in which thin 

leaves of bright hematite occur along joints and bedding planes. 

Much of the surrounding upland appears to be equally favorable 

for manganese ore, which may be present in sufficient quantity to be 

worked.

Ewing mine, The Ewing mine is half a mile south of the Vida 

mine and about half a mile from Gilman siding, on the Southern 

Railway. It is owned by Robert Ewing and was worked for soft 

iron by J. J. Fitzgerald and H. L. Smith, of Sweetwater, up to 

June, 1918, when it was closed down because of car shortage. It is 

on Holston marble near its contact with the Tellico sandstone 

a similar location to that of the Heiskell mine, just to the south. As 

considerable manganese ore is present it may be workable for manganese,

Heiskell mine.. The Heiskell mine is 1£ miles northeast of Sweetwater. It is owned by Harry Heiskell, of Sweetwater, and was 

being operated on option by H. L. Smith, also of Sweetwater. It is 

credited with a production of more than 100 tons of high-grade manganese ore. At the time of visit (April, 1918) a carload of ore had recently been shipped, and about 40 tons lay on the dump. The deposit 

has been opened by four pits, covering a length of about 1,000 feet. 

The mine is on a hillside which slopes gently northwestward to 

Sweetwater Creek. The hill is about 1,050 feet in altitude and is 

heavily covered with deep-red residual soil and clay produced by 

weathering of the rocks when the top of the hill was part of the old 

valley floor. The mine is at the contact of the Holston marble and 

the unconformably overlying Tellico sandstone. The rocks dip 22°
MONEOE COUNTY. 121

SE., and coarse red sandy granular marble beds of the Tellico sandstone cap the Holston marble at the west crest of the hill. (See 

fig. 37.)

The deposits occur in the residual red sandy soil and clay derived 

from the Tellico sandstone. The ore is unusually pure, solid, compact psilomelane and occurs chiefly in thick, blocky pieces, some a foot 

or more across, embedded in the clay. The blocks have irregular or 

pitted surfaces. The mineral breaks with a conchoidal fracture, 

and a freshly broken or polished surface presents a mottled effect, 

due to cleavage faces of included crystals, seemingly of braunite. 

Associated with the ore in the mine are fragments of high-grade red 

hematite. The ore is all lump ore and is shipped without washing. 

It is said to run 58 per cent in manganese. The inclosing clay is

Approximate scale

FIGUBB 37. Sketch geologic sections at the Heiskell mine. A, Section through north pit; 

B, section through south pit.

dry and pulverulent and is easily removed in handling, so that no 

washing plant is required, and the cost of mining is very low.

Two of the pits are on the hillsides and two in the lowland at the 

foot of the hill. The northern pit, which is on the upper part of the 

hillside at the Holston-Tellico contact, shows best the original relation 

of the ore to the rocks. Here the ore lies in dark-reddish sandy clay, 

which fills deep solution hollows in the upper surface of the marble. 

It is apparent that the manganese and iron oxides had been concentrated into beds and lenses of ore in the disintegrated Tellico 

sandstone by solution and redeposition in the process of weathering 

and had been broken up and finally left as residual masses in the 

residual sandy clay. Some of the ore preserves molds and casts of 

the fossils originally contained in the rock, showing gradual replacement. (See PL XIV, p. 31.) From this small pit, no more than 6 

feet in depth, 33 tons of hand-picked blocky psilomelane ore, esti-
122 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

mated to analyze 58 per cent manganese, had been mined, and from 

an adjacent pit a carload of similar ore had been mined and shipped.

At the south end of the property, on an adjoining low hill close to 

the road, iron ore was formerly mined in a pit at the Tellico-Holston 

contact. The ferruginous pebbly bed just below the deposit is well 

shown here. (See PL XV, #, p. 34.) Good hematite and some manganese ore still showed in the pit, but no ore had been recently taken out.

The pit that was being actively worked at the time of visit lies at 

the south foot of the hill on which the north opening occurs. It was 

18 feet deep, in dull dark-reddish sandy clay largely derived from 

Tellico sandstone, which had moved down the slope by creep and 

wash and accumulated at its foot. Fragments of porous fossiliferous 

Tellico sandstone and of associated ore, derived from the outcrops 

above, were sporadically distributed in the clay, the fragments of ore 

being much smaller than those in the upper pit and more widely scattered. They extended, however, to the bottom of the pit, which was 

apparently all in surficial detritus. The methods employed in mining 

were wasteful, and considerable ore is believed to have been left in 

the ground.

The northeastern pit is also in the lowland at the foot of the hill. 

It is 10 feet deep, in sandy red-clay wash from the hillside. The 

ore is chiefly hematite, but some good-grade manganese ore had been 

taken out, of which about 8 tons lay on the dump.

Manganese ore is reported to have been found on the Red Hills 

northeast of the Heiskell mine, and as the land between the Heiskell 

and McGuire mines is geologically similar to that at the mines and 

therefore favorable for the occurrence of high-grade manganese and 

iron ores, it should be thoroughly prospected. These geologic conditions, however, do not continue southwest of the Heiskell mine.

Dickey prospect. The Dickey prospect is 1| miles north-northwest of Sweetwater, on the farm of J. A. Dickey. It is on the top 

of Black Oak Ridge, a chert ridge in the Knox dolomite. About 

20 years ago George Loring and James Schell, of Sweetwater, opened 

the deposit and according to reports shipped 2 carloads of goodgrade manganese ore. Since that time the property has been idle. 

The general run of ore is probably too siliceous to be profitably 

worked.

McDonald prospect. The McDonald prospect is 4 miles southeast of Sweetwater and about the same distance from the Southern 

Railway. It is on the McDonald farm, in the lowland near the head 

of Fork Creek. It was prospected by the Southern Manganese Corporation, of Birmingham, Ala. It is on the northwest side of a 

low hill, about 50 feet above Fork Creek, in residual clay and chert 

of the Knox dolomite.
MONROE COUNTY. 123

A pit 10 feet across and 15 feet deep exposes about 5 feet of red 

surficial clay and chert fragments overlying yellowish residual 

clay, which contains a little ore, especially at its top, where 1£ feet 

of darker clay carries ore in blackish blotches, streaks, and disseminations. The ore is psilomelane that has partly replaced chert and 

that incloses small angular fragments of chert, which give it the appearance of a breccia. On the dump was about 400 pounds of ore, 

which was said to average 43 per cent manganese, but it was of 

much higher grade than the run of mine will be. The prospect is 

not promising.

.MADISONVILLE DISTRICT.

The Madisonville district includes the limestone valley around 

Madisonville, in which the Knox dolomite is ore bearing in places.

Kiiribrough prospect. The Kimbrough prospect is reported to be 4 

miles northeast of Madisonville and about 2 miles southeast of Fagan 

station, on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Iron ore was mined 

here many years ago, and later the ground was prospected for 

manganese and reported to be worthy of development. More recently the Southern Manganese Corporation leased and opened up 

the property with the expectation of developing it as an iron mine. 

It is reported that this company found very little manganese ore, 

and although the quantity of iron ore was said to be fairly large, the 

development was stopped and the lease abandoned. The deposit is 

apparently in chert and clay residual from Knox dolomite close to 

its contact with the underlying Nolichucky shale.

TELLICO PLAINS DISTRICT.

The Tellico Plains district lies in the southwestern part of Monroe County and embraces the flat valley which extends from Tellico Plains to the Red Knobs on the west and to Starr Mountain 

on the southwest. The Ervin prospect, just within the Red Knobs 

area, is here included under this district for convenience in description.

Ervin prospect. The Ervin prospect is 4| miles northwest of 

Tellico Plains and 1^ miles south of Mount Vernon, on the Tellico 

Plains branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. It is on the 

farm of Carroll Ervin, of Tellico Plains, and has been prospected by 

the Southern Manganese Corporation, of Birmingham, Ala.

The deposit is on a low terrace on the northwest slope of a 

prominent ridge of the Red Knobs, close to Shoal Creek. It occurs 

in buff to red sandstone which resembles the Tellico, inclosed in a
124 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

0 SOOFeet. 

Approximate scale

NW.

syncline. (See fig. 38.) Thin buff to green shale beneath the sandstone dips 30° SE. on the northwest side of the syncline and 75° NW. 

on the southeast side. Beneath the shale on the northwest side is 

fossiliferous blue to gray crystalline limestone, which also dips 30° 

SE. Although the red sandstone resembles the Tellico it is probably 

in the lower part of the Sevier formation, for the associated greenish 

shales and limestones contain fossils that are probably similar to

those found in the Ottosee shale 

of Ulrich.

The principal opening is a 

cut running 75 feet northwestward across the rock structure 

and having a maximum depth 

of 10 feet. The ore is chiefly 

thin shells of siliceous iron, 

only a small amount of psilomelane and manganite being 

present. The iron is largely in 

a solid ledge or crust, and the 

manganese ore is scattered in 

the underlying clay. The surface of the terrace northeast of 

the cut is literally covered with 

siliceous iron-ore crusts.

The iron ore is too siliceous 

to form a workable deposit, and 

the amount of manganese ore 

present is apparently too small 

to be of commercial value.

Cardin prospect*0 A similar deposit occurs on W. J. 

Cardin's property, a short distance southwest of the Ervin 

property. It is on a small hill adjacent to the Eed Knobs and lies in 

sandstone and shale overlying marble, probably in the Sevier formation. It is opened by an old cut formerly mined for iron, and the 

showing of manganese ore is very small.

Groundhog Mountain prospect. The Groundhog Mountain prospect is 3 miles southwest of Tellico Plains, on Groundhog Mountain. 

It is on the farm of J. H. Curd, of Tellico Plains, and was opened 

for manganese several years ago.

Groundhog Mountain, which is a ridge about a mile long, is composed chiefly of scolithus-bearing white quartzite, believed to be Hesse

1,000 Feet

Approximate .scale

FIGURE 38. Sketch topographic map of 

vicinity of Ervin prospect and geologic 

section through the prospect pit. The red 

sandstone and the underlying shale and 

limestone in the section are probably the 

lower part of the Sevier shale.

*° Description is from notes by A. C. McFarlan.
MONEOE COUNTY. 125

quartzite, underlain on the northwest side by coarse dark-gray 

glistening dolomite, probably Shady dolomite, which is brecciated 

and largely changed to chert. On the lower northwest slope shale, 

probably Athens shale, dips southeast into the mountain and overlies 

Chickamauga limestone on the road. (See fig. 39.) The Cambrian 

quartzite and dolomite are apparently overthrust on the Athens shale 

from the southeast, and may be a small outlying remnant of the

NW. SB.

1,000 

Approximate scale

2,000 Feet

FIGURE 39. Sketch map of the vicinity of Groundhog Mountain prospect and geologic 

section,through Curd prospect pit.

great overthrust mass that forms Starr Mountain, .5 miles southwest. The dolomite has been silicified and mineralized by solutions 

that circulated along the fault. The surrounding lowland is strewn 

with fragments of scolithus-bearing white and red sandstone and 

pitted drusy chert derived from these rocks. It is reported that 

during the Civil War iron ore was extensively mined from the 

quartzites on top of Groundhog Mountain.

The principal opening is an old cut, called the Curd pit, in the 

middle of the northwest slope. It is 25 feet long and 15 feet deep
126 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

at the face. The ore in part replaces a dolomite-chert ledge, and 

some nodular ore is embedded in dull-yellowish clay derived from 

the disintegrated dolomite. It is mostly psilomelane and contains 

a little crystalline manganite and soft pyrolusite. Some of it shows 

concentric layers of hard dull psilomelane and soft pyrolusite. The 

replacement of the chert follows fracture planes, from which it 

penetrates into the interior in rounded nodular masses. (See PI. V, C.)

Smaller pits were dug on the slope above and below the main opening. Those below, however, show only a few small pieces of manganese-bearing chert float similar to the ore in the main cut.

The manganese ore is of good grade, but the quantity seems to 

be small. Further prospecting along the line of .outcrop of the 

mineralized zone is necessary to determine the extent of the deposit.

Beaty and KiTby prospects.** The Beaty prospect is southeast of 

Jalapa, about 3^ miles southwest of Tellico Plains and just southwest of Groundhog Mountain, on the land of N. H. Beaty. Here 

on a small knoll underlain by variegated shale, believed to be 

Watauga shale, manganese ore occurs in considerable quantity as 

float in the soil. The ore is hard and of high specific gravity and 

is probably good-grade psilomelane, which is thought to replace the 

shale. It is said that large pieces of manganese ore were obtained 

from a pit on the property.

Other manganese and iron ore prospects are reported along the 

belt of low hills southwest of Groundhog Mountain, at one of which, 

on the Kilby farm, 4 miles from Groundhog Mountain, the manganese indications are said to be especially favorable.

McMINN COTJNTY.

McMinn County, of which Athens, near its center, is the county 

seat, lies directly west of Monroe County. It is largely lowland or 

valley, crossed by many low, straight ridges, which trend northeastward. Manganese deposits are reported at four localities in the 

Sweetwater, McMinn Ridge, Athens, and Charleston districts. The 

Sweetwater district lies chiefly in Monroe County and is described 

under that heading.

SWEETWATER DISTRICT.

Hansard prospect. The Hansard prospect is near the eastern border of the county, 3 miles west of Sweetwater, and is therefore in the 

Sweetwater district. It is on the farm of J. B. Hansard, of Sweetwater. The mineral rights were leased by the Southern Manganese 

Corporation, of Birmingham, Ala., but the deposit was not worked.

The prospect is on the northwest edge of a chert ridge overlooking the valley of Pond Creek near its head. The ore replaces chert

41 Description of the Beaty prospect Is largely taken from notes by Arthur C. McFarlan.
McMINN COUNTY. 127

of the Knox dolomite and is found in scattered pieces on the surface 

and in the soil. The ore mineral cementing and in part replacing 

chert is psilomelane of good grade, said to run 51 per cent manganese. A few masses of such ore 1 foot across, containing much chert, 

were found along the road, and a small quantity of ore embedded in 

yellow clay was recently dug from a well near the barn. The northwestern slope of the ridge was prospected by several shallow pits, 

which at the time of visit showed mostly iron ore. Ifcwas reported 

that from these pits and the surrounding fields about 600 pounds of 

ore averaging 52 per cent manganese had been gathered and shipped. 

The general run of ore, however, will probably not average more 

than 40 per cent manganese, on account of its large content of silica, 

and the deposit therefore has no commercial value.

ATHENS DISTRICT.42

The Athens district embraces the part of the Ked Hills area around 

Athens. The hills lie south, southeast, and northeast of the town.

Gilbert prospect. The Gilbert prospect is a mile southeast of 

Athens, on the farm of I. W. Gilbert, just south of the Etowah pike. 

It consists of showings of soft ore in residual yellow clay soil of the 

Tellico sandstone, which here dips about 30° SE.

A small black streak of soft pyrolusite and wad is exposed in a 

wagon road on the property, and similar material is seen at several 

places, at one of which, in a small creek near by, it is continuously 

exposed for nearly 50 feet and appears to be a seam along the bedding. Some good red hematite occurs on the ridge top.

J. H. Jones prospect. On the J. H. Jones farm, which adjoins the 

Gilbert farm on the east, float manganese ore and considerable iron 

ore occur. The deposit is in shale overlying the Tellico sandstone, 

mapped as Sevier shale in the Cleveland folio of the Geologic Atlas 

of the United States Geological Survey. Some of the ore is of good 

grade and is chiefly pyrolusite. The showing, however, is very poor, 

and does not seem to warrant further prospecting.

M'MINN RIDGE DISTRICT.

The McMinn Ridge district embraces the chert hills in the westcentral border of McMinn County and contains the Pierce, Reed, 

Webb, and other prospects.

Pierce prospect. The Pierce prospect is 8 miles west of Riceville, 

on the Southern Railway, close to the western boundary of the 

county. It is on the farm of G. I. Pierce, of Riceville, 2 miles from 

the wagon road leading to Vigor, and had been prospected by W. M. 

Patton, of Cleveland, who held an option on the mineral rights.

a The descriptions of prospects in the Athens, McMinn Ridge, and Charleston districts 

in McMinn County are largely from notes by Arthur C. McFarlan.
128 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The deposit is in the Knox dolomite, wjiich is weathered to a 

very cherty soil. It is opened by a pit 6 feet deep. Considerable 

ore is present, but more than half of it is brown iron ore. The manganese ore is psilomelane replacing chert and is said to run 52 per 

cent manganese. Probably a select sample of the pure mineral 

will run as high as that, but the chert in the ore can not be removed 

without expensive0 treatment, and the run-of-mine ore will analyze 

much lower.

Several new pits sunk along the trend of the ridge north of the 

old pit are reported to show a better grade of ore and indicate that 

the ore follows a certain horizon in the rocks, but even so the deposit 

has no commercial value.

Reed and ^Webb prospects. Manganese ore replacing chert in the 

Knox dolomite is also found on the same chert ridge on the Henry 

Keed and Webb farms, southwest of the Pierce property. Conditions 

at these places are probably the same as at the Pierce prospect.

CHARLESTON DISTRICT.

The Charleston district embraces chiefly the area of the Red Hills 

lying east of Charleston and Calhoun, partly in McMinn County 

and partly in Bradley County. The hills begin with a small hill at 

Climer, trend northeastward, and expand to a belt 2£ miles wide, 

continuing at this width past Athens.

Bishop and associated prospects. The Bishop prospect is in the 

southwestern part of McMinn County, near Hiwassee River, on the 

farm of J. M. Bishop. The deposit is apparently in the Holston 

marble near the contact of the overlying Tellico sandstone on one 

of the Red Hills. The rocks dip slightly to the southeast. The 

Tellico is here a pronounced sandstone and is not as calcareous as 

it is farther southwest, near Cleveland, where some of the best manganese deposits in this formation occur.

The prospect consists of nodules and fragments of high-grade 

psilomelane lying loose in red sandy clay exposed in the road. The 

nodules are small, the largest being 3 inches in diameter. The ore is 

similar to that being mined in the Cleveland district south of 

Cleveland, and although the showing is small the immediate vicinity 

is well worthy of further prospecting.

A small quantity of manganese and larger quantities of iron ore 

occur on adjoining properties in the Red Hills, particularly on the 

farms of J, B. Liner, J. M. Lawson, and T. M. McKnight. Sandy iron 

ore and sandy psilomelane, which occur generally on all the properties, are partial replacements of the Tellico sandstone.

BRADLEY COUNTY.

Bradley County lies southwest of McMinn County, from which it 

is separated by Hiwassee River. It is the southernmost county of
BRADLEY COUNTY. 129

the manganese belt. Cleveland, its county seat, is near its center. 

The county is crossed from northeast to southwest by many low 

ridges, which give it a hilly appearance. The western boundary 

follows White Oak Mountain, a ridge somewhat higher than the 

others. The county contains a number of successful manganese 

mines and many prospects, most of which have been opened at the 

contact" of the Holston marble and Tellico sandstone, but two of 

them are in Fort Payne chert. The Charleston district extends into 

this county from McMinn County.

CHARLESTON DISTRICT.

Underwood mine. The Underwood mine is 3£ miles southsoutheast of Charleston and 1 mile south of Hiwassee River. It is 

on the farm of I. M. McAllister, but deposits are prospected also 

on the adjoining farms of other members of the McAllister family 

and that of' Jack Thompson. The mine was opened by W. B. 

Underwood and was later operated by W. E. Hamilton & Co., of

Feet 

ipoo -,

TELLICO 

SANDSTONE

SE.

200 Feet

Approximate scale 

FIGUBE 40. Sketch geologic section through pit of Underwood mine.

Columbus, Ohio, on a royalty basis. At the time of visit, April, 

1918, about a ton of rather low-grade manganese ore and several 

tons of iron ore lay on the dump. Later in the year about 6 tons 

of psilomelane and iron ore was on the dump.

The prospect is on the slope of a prominent hill of the Red Hills 

belt, about 1,000 feet in elevation. The principal opening is a 70- 

foot cut on the northwest face of the hill 80 feet below the top. It 

runs northward along the hillside and is 12 feet wide and 20 feet 

deep at the face. There are two other small openings on the northwest slope and a shaft pit near,the crest of the hill toward the 

saddle to the south.

The hill is capped by soft red sandstone of the Tellico, which is 

underlain by thin yellow shale, probably also part of the Tellico, 

and this by light-gray marble of the Holston. The beds lie in a 

minor syncline with gentle dips, so that the yellow clay is exposed 

not only in the pits on the upper slopes but in the saddle to the 

south. (See fig. 40.)
130 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

The deposit is of the Tellico-Holston type, but in the processes 

of rock weathering, solution of the underlying limestone, and resulting slide, creep, and slump it has moved somewhat downhill 

and occurs in a mixture of clay and rock debris resembling old 

hillside wash, covering the marble.

The manganese ore is chiefly psilomelane and wad, inclosed in 

dark-red clay irregularly streaked with dark waddy sand. Thepsilomelane occurs as loose fragments and-chunks, the largest weighing several hundred pounds. Good-grade hematite and some brown 

iron ore are also present.

The shaft near the saddle, 20 feet deep, is in nearly barren yellow 

shale and at the bottom penetrates firm gray marble, which contains a few seams and stringers of ore. The amount of ore yielded 

by the workings is small compared with the volume of material 

excavated. However, float ore is reported to occur to the northeast 

along the crest of the hill, where later prospecting is said to have 

been more favorable. As the presence of some good-grade ore is. 

established and the rocks at this horizon are known to be.generally 

ore-bearing in this region, a workable deposit may yet be found.

CLEVELAND DISTRICT.

The Cleveland district is in the southwestern part of Bradley 

County, embracing the vicinity of Cleveland and that part of the 

Red Hills area which extends thence about 12 miles south to the 

State boundary. Plate XXVII is a geologic map of the Red Hills 

mineral belt, in which some of the best deposits of manganese ore 

in the State have been found. Although the ore-bearing red sandstone of this district is here referred to as " Tellico sandstone," following the usage in the Cleveland folio, it contains fossils of the 

same age as those in the Ottosee shale of Ulrich and is apparently a 

thin sandy bed interbedded in the basal part of the Sevier shale.

Hambright mine. The Hambright mine, the most northern mine 

of the group in the Cleveland district, is 8 miles south of Cleveland and 2 miles east-northeast of Marble switch, the nearest station 

on the Southern Railway. It lies in the Red Hills east of the Cleveland-Dalton pike. It is owned by H. F. Hambright, of Cleveland, 

and is operated by Fitzgerald & Lanskey, of Chicago, who acquired 

the lease from Ryan & Thomason. In the first half of 1919 the 

mine shipped 120 tons of unwashed hand-picked ore that averaged 

more than 50 per cent manganese, and about 50 tons of similar highgrade ore lay on the dump. The ore was shipped to the Tennessee 

Coal, Iron & Railroad Co., at Birmingham, Ala., and to the Carnegie 

Steel Co., at Pittsburgh, Pa. Considerable ore has since been mined.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXVII

SECTION A-A'

SUGARLOAF

Sea.lev,l SECTION B-B

,S,.a, level SECTION C-C'

Note. The fault plane on which the Knox dolomite was overthrust 

northwestward was originally nearly horizontal but has since been 

folded, and most of the overthrust mass has been eroded. Only a 

narrow belt of Knox dolomite has been preserved in a downfold of the 

fault plane, which forms the line of chert-covered hills from the State 

line to Sugarloaf Knob and from Sweet Hill to the north limit of the 

area mapped. Between Sweet Hill and Sugarloaf Knob the overthrust 

Knox dolomite has been entirely removed except on one chert-covered 

nill northeast of the marble quarry, where a small remnant still remains

EXPLANATION

(Equivalent in this area to

Ottosee shale of Ulrich)

f Yellow fossiliferou

marble, oolite, and ferruginous sandy beds, Ost I

Telhco sandstone'

(Ferruginous sandy limestone and thill

yellow shales, probably younger than

Telllco, hematite and manaanese ores

(Gray to pink marble}

o

S >

gcr O

Contour interval 10 feet 

Datum is mean sea level.

Chickamauga limestone

(Equivalent in this area to

Lenoir of Safford and Ulrich)

(Blue and gray banded limestone}

Knox dolomite 

(Chiefly chert at surface)

-±L___ Thrust fault

7 Overthrust side of fault

 X: Mine

X Prospect

20°

/ Strike and dip of strata

If Strike of vertical 

strata

\ MILE.

TENNESSEE

GEORGIA

GEOLOGIC MAP AND STRUCTURE SECTIONS OF THE RED HILLS AREA 

SOUTHEAST OF CLEVELAND,BRADLEY COUNTY,TENN.

Showing the relation of manganese mines and prospects to the geologic formations

By Arthur C. McFarlan 

Geology revised and interpreted by G. W. Stose
BRADLEY COUNTY. 131

The mine is in an open field, on a gently rolling rounded hilltop 

that trends northwestward and forms a terrace between the limestone 

valley and a line of higher hills on the east. (See PI. XXVIII.) 

The main opening at the time of visit, in May, 1918, was a pit 500 

feet long, which trends N. 30° E. (See fig. 41 and PL XXIX.) 

It was about 200 feet wide in its broadest part, near the north end, 

and had a maximum depth of 30 feet. The mine was operated by 

a horse-power bucket hoist and wagons, but later it was equipped 

with a steel boom and spherical grab scoop and an engine. Several 

six-wheel scrapers also were added for excavating a new trench which 

cuts across the hill at the north end of the working. This trench 

is 60 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and 300 feet long and was intended 

to aid in developing deeper workings.

The deposit occurs chiefly in the basal part of the so-called " Tellico 

sandstone " at its unconf ormable contact with the underlying Holston 

marble. The structure is monoclinal, the rocks dipping from 25° to 

80° SE. (See section, fig. 41.)

The lower beds of the *' Tellico sandstone " are reddish sandy limestones, containing grains of glassy quartz which are segregated in thin 

layers, so that on weathering the rock first changes to a closely banded 

or ribbed sandy limestone, then to a porous friable red sandstone, and 

finally to loose red sand or sandy clay. That the sandy limestone is 

unconf ormable on the marble is clearly shown in pits of the near-by 

D. A. M. mine, illustrated in Plate XIII (p. 30). ^The iron and 

manganese set free by rock weathering were redeposited in seams or 

certain porous layers in the underlying rocks but were largely concentrated into a definite bed of ore at the base of the weathered zone near 

the contact of the marble. The ore bed in part retains the original 

granular texture of the porous sandstone, and imprints of the fossils 

contained in the rock are still preserved, especially in the iron ore. 

(See PI. XIV, p. 31.) Glassy grains of quartz are still present in 

beds that are transitional from the sandstone to solid psilomelane. 

Where the inclosing rock has weathered away pieces of this ore bed 

became scattered through the slumped residual clay and sand, in 

which they are now found as loose blocky fragments.

In the upper part of the pit the ore occurred as irregular blocky 

or slabby masses and fragments several inches thick, embedded in 

dark-red sandy clay, but in depth the ore took the form of a nearly 

vertical layer a foot or more thick which roughly follows the contact of the marble and sandstone. (See fig. 41.) This nearly vertical bed of ore was exposed at the bottom of the northeast-trending 

pit (see PL XXIX), where red sandy clay, which represents the 

disintegrated "Tellico sandstone," forms the southeast or hanging 

wall and red and yellow blotched clay, which represents the Holston 

marble, forms the'northwest or foot wall. The ore bed apparently
132 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

flattened out toward the top of the excavation and dipped gently 

southeast, in conformity with the bedding of the marble in the footwall. Near the north 

end of the pit the ore 

bed turns sharply 

eastward but is repeated just beyond, 

in the wider part of 

the pit, by either 

sharp folding or 

faulting. In the 

north wall of this 

pit the marble dips 

25°-30° S., under the 

ore bed, and in this, 

the deepest part of the 

excavation, the largest body of ore was 

found. Small masses 

or thin sheets of ore 

that occur in the 

clay west of this bed 

probably represent 

seams of ore deposited within the marble, some of which 

are to be seen in the 

marble of the footwall. Recent movement of the rocks 

along slickensided 

nearly vertical joints 

slightly offset these 

stringers.

The ore consists 

chiefly of hard psilomelane but includes 

also manganite, pyrolusite, and wad. 

The two latter minerals in places completely replace sandstone and constitute a 

friable mass locally

known as " black sand " ore, some of which was mined in the eastern 

part of the deep workings. Associated with the manganese ore is

300 Feet

Approximate scale

NW.

o 10 20 30 40 50 Feet 

Approximate scale

FIGURE 41. Sketch map of the Hambright mine, showing 

relation of ore bed to geologic formations, and geologic 

section across the mine pit, showing the vertical ore bed 

flattening out with the structure to the west.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXVIII

B ;,,..>

HAMBRIGHT MINE, NEAR CLEVELAND, TENN.

A, View from hill lo the east, showing large waste pile from recent excavations; B, view from 

the west, showing wide trench recently excavated through the hill to the deeper workings on 

the east side. The hills in the valley all have about the same elevation and are parts of the 

old valley floor.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXIX

11 . 

HAMBRIGHT MINE WORKINGS, NEAR CLEVELAND, TENN.

A, General view of longitudinal trench, looking north, showing piles of mined high-grade lump 

o-e; B, north end of trench, where the ore bed curves to the right and the deepest workings 

are located, showing vertical bed of solid ore (TO) in bottom of pit.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 737 PLATE XXX

B 

NORTH WALL OF MAIN PIT OF LORD MINE, NEAR CLEVELAND, TENN.

A, Upper part of wall, showing sandy-ribbed limestone of Tellieo in pinnacle (at left), 

grading into disintegrated rock composed of red sandy clay, and manganese ore bed (TO) 

at bottom of exposure; B, lower part of wall, showing 6-inch ore bed (in) at base of 

disintegrated Tellieo sandstone.
BEADLEY COUNTY. 133

very pure hematite in slabby blocks, which preserves impressions of 

fossils and contains round shiny pebbles.

Several hundred feet south of the main opening two cross trenches 

had been dug in search of the ore zone. They were 8 to 10 feet deep 

and exposed only dark-red sandy clay with little or no ore. It seems 

reasonable, however, to expect the ore to continue both northward 

and southward from the present workings, although it may be offset 

by faulting or folding.

On the farm of Bird Hambright, just north of the Hambright 

mine, some good float manganese ore and red hematite have been 

found at several places on the gentle hill slopes, but small prospect 

pits have thus far failed to find an ore body. As the ground is 

somewhat lower than the hilltop at the mine the ore-bearing residual 

clays may be largely removed by erosion.

M. V. Jones prospect. The M. V. Jones prospect is about threefourths of a mile south of the Hambright mine and 2 miles east of 

Marble switch, on the Southern Railway. It is in open fields on the 

upper slope of the low red hill east of the Cleveland-Dalton road. 

It is at the unconformable contact of the " Tellico sandstone " on the 

Holston marble, the relations being similar to those at the Hambright 

mine. The section exposed comprises 40 feet of ferruginous banded 

marble, overlain by 30 feet of soft yellow 'shale, which is capped by 

10 feet of calcareous sandstone. The sandstone is full of Bryozoa 

similar to those in the Ottosee shale of Ulrich and weathers to red 

porous sandstone. The structure is locally synclinal, the beds dipping 

35° SE. on the western slope and lying horizontal on the top of the 

hill.

Within an area about 300 feet in diameter on the top and upper 

western slope of the hill the north end of'the property has been 

prospected by numerous pits and shafts to a maximum depth of 25 

feet. Only small quantities of soft manganese ore and pulverulent 

red iron ore in deep-red clay were found. Near the south end of 

the property, just north of the Rock Quarry Gap road, in the middle 

of the west slope of the hill, six or more pits from 10 to 20 feet deep 

are sunk in red sandy clay lying in solution hollows between steepwalled marble pinnacles. Fragments of high-grade hematite are 

rather abundant, but no manganese ore other than traces of wad 

and pyrolusite was found. The marble is banded with thin layers 

of dark highly ferruginous material and probably contains on the 

average 5 per cent of iron. A yellow shale, which intervenes between 

the marble and the red sandstone, is highly fossiliferous, containing 

chiefly Bryozoa similar to those at Sweetwater.

Similar geologic and surface conditions exist south of the Rock 

Quarry Gap road on the property of J. H. Jones, where some pros-
134 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

pecting has been done, but indications are not favorable for finding a 

workable deposit of manganese ore.

Sloan prospect. The Sloan prospect is about 1 mile south of the 

M. V. Jones prospect, on the same line of the Eed Hills, at the northwest base of the low ridge on which the Lord and D. A. M. mines 

are situated. It is close to Flint Springs, which is 2 miles southeast of Marble switch, on the Southern Railway. It is owned by 

the Sloan heirs, one of whom, W. B. Sloan, farms the property. 

The prospect was developed under option by E. C. Q'Brien for the 

Seaboard Steel & Manganese Corporation.

The rocks penetrated consist of Holston marble overlain by 

calcareous " Tellico sandstone." The structure is monoclinal, the 

rocks dipping 30° SE., into the hill. The deposit is opened by a 

cut which runs into the hill 20 feet and is about 25 feet deep at the 

face. Brown even-grained marble dipping 20° SE. is exposed in 

the face, at the top of which is soft ferruginous red sandstone of 

the " Tellico."

The ore is embedded in red sandy clay, which fills large solution 

pockets in the upper surface of the marble. About 2 tons of highgrade hematite and good-grade manganese ore, most of it in the form 

of slabs half a foot to L| feet across, lay on the dump. This material was probably in part gathered from the adjacent fields, where 

considerable float ore occurs, for little ore shows in the sides of the 

pit. The fields on the hill slopes southeast of the pit have been tested 

only by auger borings and should be thoroughly prospected by pits, 

for it is believed by the writers that the better ground lies on higher 

land in that direction.

D.A.M. mine* The D. A. M. mine is about half a mile south of the 

Sloan prospect and 2 miles southeast of Marble Switch, on the 

Southern Railway. It is on the same low ridge with the Lord mine, 

which adjoins it on the south. It is the oldest mine in the district 

and is reported to have shipped several years ago about 300 tons of 

50 per cent manganese ore and more recently 50 tons that averaged 

53 per cent manganese. It has been operated by Davis, Artz & 

McCrossin, of Cleveland, but was idle when visited in May, 1918. 

It was reported, however, that it had been sold early in 1918, and 

the resumption of operation was expected.

The workings are extensive and lie in a north-northeast-trending 

,belt 200 feet wide, which has been opened for a length of 500 feet. 

They are on the upper part of the southeast slope of the ridge and 

consist mostly of crosscuts at intervals along the contact of the 

" Tellico sandstone " and the Holston marble. They descend with
BRADLEY COUNTY. 135

the dip of the rocks at an angle of about 25° SE. (See fig. 42.) 

Most of them are shallow, but one reaches a depth of 45 feet.

The deposit occurs at the unconformable contact of the " Tellico 

sandstone" on the Holston marble. (See PI. XIII, p. 30.) The

NW.

SE.

FIGURE 42 Sketch Section thrdugh a pit of the D. A. M. mine, which follows down a 

weathered zone In a channel at the contact of the " Tellico sandstone " and the Holston marble and comes out to daylight below.

structure is monoclinal, the marble dipping 25° ESE. at the north 

end and 50° ESE. at the south end of the property. Most of the 

u Tellico sandstone " has weathered to a dark-red residual soil and 

sandy clay from 2 to 8 feet thick but is deepest in solution pockets 

and channels in the upper surface 

of the-marble.

The ore occurs chiefly at the bottom of the disintegrated material 

and is more plentiful in the clay 

that fills solution channels and 

pockets. Some is deposited in crevices along the bedding and joints 

of- the wall rock, of the channels. 

(See PL XIII.) It comprises 

both manganese ore and iron ore. 

The manganese ore is high-grade 

psilomelane containing more than 

50 per cent manganese. The iron 

ore is pure red hematite and preserves impressions of fossils that 

were in the marble.

At the north end of the property 

a pit and shaft follow the vertical 

wall of a weathered zone along a 

solution crevice to a depth of 45 feet. (See fig. 43.) Thin seams 

of hematite and a little manganese ore show in the bedding and fracture planes of the bedrock, and ore is said to have occurred throughout the sandy clay that filled the weathered zone. At a depth of 32

3O eo Feet

Approximate scale

FIGURE 43. Section of pit and shaft'at 

north end of D. A. M. property, which 

follow a weathered zone along a vertical crevice in " Tellico sandstone." 

The southeast wall Is unweathered 

crystalline limestone ribbed with ferruginous sandy bands about 1 Inch 

apart. The pit is in dark manganesestained sandy clay containing slabs of 

ore.

105164 23- -10
136 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

feet the shaft is reported to have passed through an 18-inch bed of solid 

ore, which probably marks the bottom of completely weathered rock.

The ore constituents seem to have been dissolved out of beds in the 

lower part of the " Tellico sandstone " and concentrated at the bottom of the disintegrated rock, mainly in solution channels, by percolating waters. The lower beds of the "Tellico" seem to be the 

most easily percolated, and solution channels are therefore most plentiful at the base of these beds. The more accessible pockets of ore 

probably have been mined out in the present workings, but there is 

reason to believe that workable pockets of high-grade ore still exist 

in the unworked ground between the pits and in solution channels 

along the contact of the " Tellico " and Holston below the present 

workings.

Lord mine. The Lord mine is 11 miles south of Cleveland and If 

miles east of Weatherly switch, on the Southern Railway. It is on the 

Boyd farm, which adjoins the D. A. M. mine on the south. The mineral rights are. owned by the C. H. Lord Corporation, of Chicago, 111., 

and the mine was operated under lease by the Tennessee Manganese 

Co., of Cleveland, Tenn. It is credited with a production in 1917 of 

650 tons and in the first half of 1918 with 1,500 tons of high-grade 

ore, said to have averaged 58 to 60 per cent manganese.

The mine is on the same low broad-topped red hill on which the 

D. A. M. mine is situated, one of the similar hills of this vicinity 

which are remnants of an old valley floor now standing at 950 feet 

altitude. Cobbles of quartzite scattered over the tops of several of 

the hills indicate that some large stream once had its channel on this 

old valley floor. The manganese deposit occurs in the cf Tellico sandstone " at its unconformable contact with underlying Holston marble. (See fig. 44.) The structure is monoclinal, the rocks dipping 

40° SE. The disintegrated sand and clay which carry the ore fill 

pockets and solution channels in the upper surface of the marble, 

some of which follow down the dip of the rocks.

The deposit is opened by an east-west cut 300 feet long by 100 feet 

wide on the west side of the hill. At its face, in the highest part of 

the hill reached, the cut is 50 feet deep. (See PI. XXX.) The 

eastern or deeper part of the cut is for most of its depth in dark-red 

sand which is crossed by clay bands dipping 40° SE. These disintegrated rocks preserve all the features of the sandy marble of the 

" Tellico," including thin yellow calcareous-shale streaks, from which 

they were derived by decomposition and leaching of the calcareous 

matter. The unaltered marble which is exposed at the bottom of 

the cut is ribbed with ferruginous siliceous bands somewhat crossbedded and lenticular and contains thin lenses and stringers of 

hematite running along the bedding and joint planes. At the contact of siliceous banded marble and purer marble is a layer of
BRADLEY COUNTY. 137

 t

nearly pure manganese ore, 6 inches to 2 feet thick, which had been 

followed along a solution channel doAvn the dip some distance below 

the bottom of the cut. It is the main ore body and is the source of 

much of the loose lump ore scattered in the sandy clay in the western 

part of the cut. It seems to be continuous across the cut for about 

40 feet along the strike.

West of the ore bed the red sandy clay in the pit is banded in 

various directions, contains masses of yellow clay resembling coarse 

breccia, and has many slickensided planes coated with bright-red clay.

3Q 60 Feet 

Approximate scale

NW. SE.

right-yellow 

' arren clay

20 Feet

Approximate scale

FIGURE 44. Sketch- section of main cut of Lord mine, showing ore bed at contact of 

" Tellico sandstone " and Holston marble and ore-bearing residual clay resting on the 

uneven solution surface of the marble, and detailed sketch of one of the pinnacles of 

Holston marble in floor of cut, showing relation of overlying ore-bearing clay.

These materials were evidently derived by disintegration from the 

"Tellico sandstone," which formerly covered the marble, and its 

waste was let down on the irregular surface of the Holston marble 

pitted and channeled by solution under cover. Bosses of fresIT marble 5 feet or more high, exposed in the bottom of the pit, are covered 

with a layer 6 to 10 inches thick of dark sandy clay, in which most 

of the loose, ore fragments occur, and this is generally covered with a 

thin layer of bright-yellow barren clay, probably residual from clay 

beds in the lower part of the " Tellico," which separates it from the 

overlying soft dark-reddish sandy clay derived from higher beds in 

the "Tellico sandstone:" (See fig. 44.)
138 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

About 50 feet east of the main cut, on the east slope 15 feet below 

the top of the ridge, a vertical double-compartment shaft was started 

to reach the main ore bed and mine it by drifting. The shaft passed 

through 10 feet of red clay at the surface, next through 32 feet of 

yellow clay, and then into soft black waddy, earthy sand. It was 

later reported to have passed through the ore bed into Holston marble at a depth of 60 feet, and the ore was said to have improved with 

depth.

The ore is chiefly massive hard psilomelane but includes a little 

soft pyrolusite and wad. It is nearly all lump ore and. is shipped 

unwashed. A little barite was observed in some ore. In the clay 

overlying the manganese ore in the western part of the mine there 

is considerable soft, pulverulent red hematite, greasy to the feel.

The mine was formerly equipped with a heavy derrick-like apparatus about 60 feet long with cable and bucket attachment, but it was 

found to be too unwieldy for the work. At the time of visit a dragline scraper was being used, and more recently an automatic loader 

and dumper type of scraper having a bucket capacity of 1£ cubic 

yards was said to be in use.

A prospect tunnel was run into the hill from the valley east of 

the mine some years ago but did not reach the ore. On a small knoll 

across the valley, about 500 feet east of the mine, two prospect 

trenches about 6 feet deep that have been dug in red clay show a 

little wad and hematite but almost no hard manganese ore. These 

openings are on a marble bed associated with yellow Sevier shale at a 

higher horizon than the ore bed at the mine.

Snyder prospect. The Snyder prospect is just south of the Lord 

mine, on the Snyder farm, 1$ miles from Weatherly switch, on the 

Southern Railway. It is undeveloped, but a short-time option is held 

on it by the Tennessee Manganese Co.

Only a small amount of float ore was found on the red hill on 

which the Lord mine is situated. The best showing of ore is on the 

east slope of a red hill of " Tellico sandstone " near its contact with 

Knox dolomite along a thrust fault, on the east side of the property. 

The Knox dolomite, which is represented by a prominent ridge covered with white cherty soil, is thrust westward against red sandstone 

of the " Tellico," which dips steeply southeast, apparently on the east 

limb of an overturned syncline inclosing Sevier shale.

Some good-grade float ore, consisting chiefly of psilomelane similar to that at the Lord mine, occurs at the base of the chert ridge close 

to the fault. The indications are regarded as favorable for finding a 

workable ore deposit.

43 The descriptions of the Snyder, Gee, Brown, and Wolf prospects are largely from notes 

by.Arthur C. McFarlan.
BEADLEY COUNTY. 139

Hamnah prospect. The Hannah prospect is on Mrs. Hannah's 

farm, 1^ miles south of the Lord mine and about 2| miles by road 

from Weatherly switch, on the Southern Railway. It has been 

opened by a trench 10 feet deep by the Tennessee Manganese Co., 

which has a lease on the mineral rights and took out 8 tons of ore.

The prospect is on the west slope of a red hill south of the one 

on which is the Lord mine. It is in residual red sandy clay on the 

"Tellico sandstone" close to the unweathered underlying Holston 

marble, which forms the floor of the pit. The marble is siliceous and 

contains yellow shale bands which dip 45° SE. The overburden 

consists of about 10 feet of the clay. On the slope below the trench 

coarse crystalline marble is underlain by white and blue limestone of 

the Chickamauga.

Gee prospect. The Gee prospect is on the farm of Burley Gee, 

10 miles south-southwest of Cleveland, just west of the ClevelandDalton pike and about a mile south of McDonald, on the Southern 

Railway. It is on the crest of a chert ridge in the Knox dolomite 

and is opened by a small prospect pit.

The ore is psilomelane, which fills fractures and cements and in 

part replaces fragments of chert. It occurs in considerable amount 

scattered over the surface and embedded in the residual clay, but 

sufficient work has not been done to establish the quantity of ore 

present-or its grade. Similar showings are said to occur on the 

neighboring Davis farm.

WHITE OAK MOUNTAIN DISTRICT.

The White Oak Mountain district lies 8 miles northwest of Cleveland in White Oak Mountain, the crest of which forms the western 

boundary of the country. Manganese ore is reported from several 

places in the district.

White Oak Mowitam mine. The White Oak Mountain mine is near 

the west boundary of the county 8 miles northwest of Cleveland. It 

is owned and operated by the White Oak Manganese Corporation, of 

Pittsburgh, Pa. It has produced about 40 tons of manganese ore 

and about 1,000 tons of manganiferous iron ore, which still lay on 

the dump at the time of visit. The mine is on the crest and upper 

east slope of one of the ridges of White Oak Mountain, at elevations 

ranging from 1,100 feet to 1,300 feet. The property covers 998 acres, 

and pending the outcome, of litigation as to the title to a large part 

of the land the mine was shut down.

The deposits are distributed in a wide belt stretching 3 miles along 

the ridge and reaching from its crest to the bench on its eastern 

slope. (See fig. 45.) They are opened by many cuts, pits, and shafts, 

some of which reach a depth of 30 feet. Part of the ore occurs in
140 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

ledges of Fort Payne chert on the crest of the ridge, the structure of 

which is monoclinal, the rocks dipping 10°-15° SE. Other deposits, on the bench on the east slope, are in cherty soil derived from, 

weathered cherty limestone of the Fort Payne chert. The dip of the 

beds flattens eastward, and the beds turn up sharply in a syncline, 

the hard chert and sandstones of the formation making a line of low 

foothill ridges along the eastern base of the mountain. At the south 

the syncline is divided by a low anticline. (See fig. 45.) 

The section exposed on the property is approximately as follows:

Section at White Oak Mountain' nvine, 8 miles northwest of Cleveland, Tenn.

Feet.

Soft greenish to buff clay and white kaolin, containing decomposed crinoidal white to rusty chert__________ 15+ 

White chert full of crinoid segments_____________ 30 

Cherty white sandstone, with nodules and geodes. Manganese stains on joints____________________:__ 10± 

Sandy shale and thin beds of crinoidal chert _______ 90± 

Black shale (Chattanooga); exposed_____________ 40

The largest opening is a trench about 80 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 

15 feet deep, in the north-central part of the property. It is on a 

bench on the east slope of the mountain about 100 feet below the top. 

A tunnel has also been driven into the hill at this place. The cut exposes shaly chert, which dips gently southeast about parallel with the 

surface. Three layers of the chert are impregnated with ore, the 

ore-bearing layers being a foot thick in places. Of the 1,000 tons of 

ore which lay on the dump at the time of visit about 40 tons was 

good-grade psilomelane, containing about 40 per cent manganese. 

The rest of the ore was largely good-grade brown iron ore, in part 

manganiferous. A short distance south of the trench, on the lower 

slope of the hill, a shaft 75 feet deep penetrated 22 feet into black 

shale below the ore-bearing chert. At the time, of visit a 4-inch diamond-drill hole was'being sunk adjacent to the shaft in order to 

pass through the barren shale to ascertain whether or not ore lay 

beneath it.

At the south end of the property an opening on the crest of the 

ridge exposes chert ledges in which manganese ore fills joints and 

fractures and in part replaces the chert, forming tabular masses 

several inches in thickness. Similar openings have been made at 

several places on the crest of the ridge. These unweathered bedrock 

deposits are probably not of commercial value, owing to the expense 

 of mining and of separating the ore from the chert.

At the north end of the property a trench at the back of a bench 

on the upper east slope of the ridge exposes weathered thin-bedded 

chert carrying considerable manganese ore, and a shallow pit on the
BRADLEY COUNTY. 141

bench is in loose chert, likewise with manganese ore. Considerable 

manganese ore was obtained from the pit, but much of it is siliceous 

from the contained chert.

All the deposits seem to have a common origin. The ore was 

probably derived from the Fort Payne chert, in which it was concentrated by circulating waters in crevices, along bedding planes, 

and replacing the chert. These mineralized ledges, which outcrop 

on the crest of the ridge, are too hard and siliceous to be profitably 

mined. On benches on the east slope of the ridge at an elevation of

TAIN

spoof*

FIGURE 45. Sketch map and section of the vicinity of White Oak Mountain mine, showing 

topographic and geologic relations, and outline geologic sections across the ridge.

1. Trench with 15-foot vertical face exposing thin-bedded chert cemented and replaced 

by manganese ore, and a round test pit, 35 feet deep, in loose chert and soil on terrace;

2. trench and tunnel in. shaly chert, partly replaced along three beds and in joints by 

iron and some manganese ore in thin strangers, and a lower pit exposing cherty sandstone and 6-inch bed of wad in chert; 3, two-compartment shaft 75 feet deep, upper 

part in chert, lower 22 feet in black shale (Chattanooga) ; 4, pit and trench, 8 feet 

deep, in brecciated ledge of massive chert containing small quantity of manganese ore, 

which partly cements and replaces the chert; 5, short tunnel, In soft white to greenish 

clay (kaolin) containing some fragments of chert, largely disintegrated. No body of 

ore was struck in shaft. A 4-inch core drill was being put down at the shaft (3) at 

time of visit and had gone 15 feet into chert.

1,150 to 1,200 feet, which mark an old erosion surface or peneplain, 

the rocks are deeply weathered, and the ore has been set free in the 

residual cherty clay soil but is in part redeposited in the form of 

lump ore. It is on these benches, therefore, that the better deposits 

may be expected.

Although the iron and manganese ores in the shaly chert in the 

largest opening are clean lump ore that can be shipped without washing, the deposits in clay and soil must be thoroughly washed to remove the clay and chert. The bedrock deposit also must be crushed 

and concentrated by jigs. The ore must then be hauled by wagon
142 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

or truck 8 miles to the railroad, about, half of the distance over rough, 

hilly roads. Although considerable iron ore and manganiferous 

ore has been developed on the property, the general low grade of 

the ore, the high cost of mining and treating it, and the long haul are 

unfavorable for profitable mining.

Brown and Wolf prospects. The Brown prospect is on the farm 

of Jake M. Brown, on White Oak Mountain, 8 miles west of Cleveland and 4 miles northwest of McDonald station, on the Southern 

Kailway. It is on a hill 200 feet above the valley bottom, underlain 

by Fort Payne chert. The geologic relations are similar to those 

at the White Oak Mountain mine, 6 miles northeast.

Float ore is locally abundant on the surface and in the soil. The 

ore consists of psilomelane cementing and partly replacing fragments 

of chert. At one place a seam of psilomelane not more than 1 inch 

thick, accompanied on either side by about a foot of soft, decomposed 

manganiferous and ferruginous rock, was exposed. The ore is too 

siliceous to be shipped without crushing and removing the chert, and 

the quantity of ore present is too small to be mined profitably.

Another deposit is exposed in a small pit on the crest of White 

Oak Mountain on the farm of James Wolf, 2 miles west of McDonald. It is also in the Fort Payne chert. The ore is chiefly manganiferous iron and of too low a grade to be profitably mined.
LIST OF MINES AND PROSPECTS.

^ )

Manganese mines and prospects in east Tennessee. 

[Arranged geographically by counties, beginning at the northeast corner of the State.]

Mine or prospect.**

JOHNSON COUNTY.

Shady district: 

Reynolds mine.

Sutherland 

prospect.

Hogback mine.

Davismine.... 

M. E. King

prospect.

Osborn prospect.

pect. 

Mountain City district:

mine. 

Silver Lake 

mine. 

Wills mine.....

Silver Lake 

prospect, 

mils prospect .

Newton Cornett 

prospect. 

Mary Cornett 

prospect. 

Wright prospect. 

Nelson King 

prospect. 

Shouns prospect.

Doe Valley

mine.

Butler district: 

Proffit prospect 

(reported).

Wilson Hill 

mine.

Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

J mile northeast of Sutherland; J mile to siding on 

Beaverdam R. R.

J mile to siding on Beaverdam R. R. 

1J miles southwest of Sutherland; 1 mile to siding 

on Beaverdam R. R. 

2J miles south-southwest 

of Sutherland; $ mile to 

siding on Beaverdam 

R. R, 

$ mile northwest of Crandull on Beaverdam R.R.

i mile to Beaverdam 

R.R.

Beaverdam R. R.

Beaverdam R. R. 

1 mile southwest of Shady 

on Beaverdam R. R. 

.....do....................

on Laurel R. R. 

Silver Lake station on 

Laurel R. R.

Laurel R. R. 

1 mile east of Wills on 

Laurel R. R. 

.....do.....................

2 miles east of Wills on 

Laurel R. R. 

2J miles east of Wills on 

Laurel R. R. 

3 miles east of Wills on 

Laurel R. R. 

3 miles northeast of Mountain City on Laurel R. R. 

2$ miles south of Mountain City; 1 mile to 

Shouns on Southern Ry.

tain City; 7 miles to 

Doe on Southern Ry.

5 miles northeast of Butler; 2 miles to Doe on 

Southern Ry. 

1 mile south of Neva on 

Southern Ry.

Owner.

A. D. Reynolds... 

J.A.Neely........

Wiley and J. F. 

Sutherland.

Lehigh Valley 

Manganese Ore 

Co.

W. J. Parker and 

E. N. Martin. 

M.E.King.......

Writrht

Aleck Osborn .....

Wiley Sutherland.

Hc/lor "WlllQ

.....do............. 

.....do.............

Newton Cornett... 

Mary Cornett..... 

Ward Iron Co. .... 

Nelson King......

Virginia Iron, Coal 

& Coke Co. ' 

E.C.Fritz........

Stacy Proffit......

Superior Manganese Corp.

Operator or 

prospector.

Lehigh Valley 

Manganese Ore 

Co. 

George E. Davis

and Laurel Mining Co. 

Wiley and J. F. 

Sutherland.

Lehigh Valley 

Manganese Ore 

Co.

Southern Manganese Corp.

nese Mining Co. 

.....do.............

Aleck Osborn .....

Mining Co. 

Silver Lake Mining Co.

Silver Lake Mining Co. 

Oscar Wills........

Laurel Mining Co. 

.....do............ 

W.C. Wright...... 

(Undeveloped).... 

.....do.............

Mining Co.

(Undeveloped)....

Superior Manganese Corp.

Type of 

deposit.

Shady dolomite.

Do.

Do. 

Do.

Do. 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do. 

Do.

Terraced 

strcamgravel.

mite. 

Do.

Do.

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Watauga shale.

Do.

Erwin quartzite.

Shady dolomite (faulted).

« Locations of prospects marked "reported" were obtained by correspondence or through other personi 

and not by personal visit.

143 ,
144 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Manganese mines and prospects in east Tennessee Continued.

Mine or prospect.

JOHNSON COUNTY 

continued.

Butler dist. Con. 

Wagner prospect.

mine.

Moody prospect

CARTER COUNTY.

Butler district: 

Elk mine. . ....

pect.

pect. 

Cobb Creek

prospect. 

Stony Creek district: 

Blevinsmine...

pect.

pect. 

Blue Spring 

mine. 

Keenburg prospect.

Hampton district: 

Gardens Bluff 

mine.

Teaster & Ray 

prospect (reported).

Cedar Hill

mine.

Valley Forge 

mine.

Jenkins prospect.

E. J. Hyder 

. prospect.

Osc&r Hvdsr

prospect.

prospect.

Treadway prospect.

pect.

Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

4£ miles northeast of Butler on Southern Ry.

Butler on Southern Ry.

ler on Southern Ry.

ler on Southern Ry. 

.....do....................

2£ miles south of Butler on

Southern Ry.

ler on Southern Ry.

ler on Southern Ry.

1J miles northeast of Colesville on branch of Southern Ry.

branch of Southern Ry. 

.....do....................

4 miles east of Hunter on 

Southern Ry. 

1 mile east of Keenburg on 

Southern Ry.

4 mile southwest of Cardens Bluff on Southern 

Ry. 

1£ miles northeast of 

Hampton on East Tennessee & Western 

North Carolina R. R.

on East Tennessee & 

Western North Carolina R. R. 

I mile southeast of Valley 

Forge on East Tennessee & Western North 

Carolina R. R. 

2 miles southwest of Valley Forge on East Tennessee & Western North 

Carolina R. R. 

2-\ miles southwest of Val- 

"ley Forge on East Tennessee & Western 

North Carolina R. R. 

.....do.....................

ley Forge on East Tennessee & Western 

North Carolina R. R.

son City; 4 miles to Watauga Point on East 

Tennessee & Western 

North Carolina R. R. 

.....do.....................

6 miles southeast of Johnson City; 3 miles to Carolina. Clinchneld & Ohio 

R. R. 

.....do.....................

Owner.

D. A. Wagner.....

W. R. Moody..... 

Hately & Lunsford.

S. S. Younce......

C. S. Morley...'...

Mrs. Isaac Bleviris.

G. L. Grindstaff...

Carrigan heirs.....

Southern Minerals 

' Corp.

Reynolds & McQueen.

M. G. Teaster and 

T. J. Ray.

Stiles heirs........

Valley Forge 

Mining Co.

Abe Jenkins heirs. 

Eliza Jane Hyder. .

.....do.............

Geo. Tread way. . . 

Frances Hodge. . . .

Operator or 

prospector.

A. H. and J. L.

McQueen.

W. C. Goss Manganese Co. 

C. H. White......

McQueen Manganese Co. 

J.E.Reece.......

.....do............

Capt. Robinson....

G. L. Grindstaff..

Walker & McKenna, 

Southern Minerals 

Corp.

Reynolds & McQueen.

M. G. Teaster and 

T. J. Ray.

Maxwell Manganese Mining Co.

Valley Forge 

Mining Co.

J. N. Koch and 

associates.

.....do............ 

.....do.............

.....do.............

.....do.............

W. H. Kemler.... 

.....do.............

Type of 

deposit.

Shady dolomite. 

Do.

Do.

Shady dolomite. 

Do.

Watauga shale.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Shady dolomite.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Shady dolomite and Erwin quartzite.

Shady dolomite.

Wash from 

Shady dolomite.

Shady dolomite. 

Do.

Do. 

Do. 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do. 

Do.

1 ^
LIST OF MINES AND PBOSPECTS, 145 

Manganese mines and prospects in east T-ennessee Continued.

Mine or prospect.

CARTER COUNTY^-

continued.

Unicoi district: 

T. J. Brummett mine.

UNICOI COUNTY.

Unicoi district: 

Susan Brummett mine.

Britt mine.....

pects. 

Bumpass Cove district: 

Embree prospect.

GREENE COUNTY.

Uaysville district: 

Ha y s.v ille 

prospect.

(reported).

COCKE COUNTY.

Del Rio district:

Adams mine. ..

Blanc hard 

mine.

prospect. 

Huff prospect . .

Newport district:

Mahon prospect. 

Rabies mine. . .

HAMBLEN COUNTY.

.Boatman Ridge 

district: 

Curry prospect.

pect.

Lotspeich prospect. 

Mays prospect. .

Ivy prospect...

Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

4 miles northeast of Unicoi 

on Carolina, Clinchfleld

3 miles northeast of Unicoi 

on Carolina. Clinchfleld 

& Ohio R. R. 

.....do....................

ClinchfieldA OhioR. R.

3 miles southwest of Embreeville on Embreeville branch of Southern Ry.

12 miles south of Greeneville on Southern Ry.

ville on Southern Ry.

ville on Southern Ry.

Greeneville; 9 miles to 

Del Rio on Southern 

Ry.

Rio on Southern Ry. 

2 miles northwest of Del 

Rio on Southern Ry. 

2 miles northwest of Del 

Rio; 1 mile to Southern 

Ry.

miles to West Myers on 

Southern Ry.

Rio on Southern Ry. 

4 miles northwest of Del 

Rio on Southern Ry.

on Southern Ry.

port on Southern Ry.

3 miles southwest of Newport on Southern Ry.

7 miles northeast of Morris- 

. town on Southern Ry.

Morristown on Southern 

Ry. 

5 miles northwest of Morristown on Southern Ry. 

6 miles vest of Morristown; 3 miles to Asapa 

on Southern Ry. 

....do. ....................

Owner.

T. J. Brummett...

Mrs. Susan Brummett.

J.L. Britt........

Forest. 

Embree Iron Co...

Unaka Development Co.

Nick Wood.. '.....

John N. Adams..

William Blanchard.

JohnB. Waddell..

....do.............

Barney Hurley. . . . 

 Curry ......

Monroe Mays...... 

G. N.Ivy.........

Operator or 

prospector.

Southern Manganese Corp.

......do............ 

.....do............

Embree Iron Co...

Unaka Development Co. 

Leroy & J. C.

Park.

.....do............

.....do.............

Barium Lithopone 

Co. (inactive).

.....do.............

....do.............

Newport Manganese Corp.

....do............

(Undeveloped).... 

....do.............

J. N. Lotspeich. . . 

(Undeveloped)....

....do............

Type of 

deposit.

Shady dolomite.

Do.

Do. 

Do.

Do.

D 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do. 

Do.

mite. 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Knox d ol o - 

mite. 

Do.

Do. 

Do.

Do.
146 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Manganese mines and prospects in east Tennessee-^Continued.

Mine or prospect.

GRAINGER COUNTY.

Rutledge district:

Harmon prospect. 

Young prospect

(reported). 

Swarm prospect (reported). 

Washburn district:

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Jefferson City district: 

Currens prospect (reported).

SEV1ER COUNTY.

East Fork district: 

East Fork mine

BLOUNT COUNTY.

Tuckaleeche Cove 

district:

prospect. 

Chilhowee Mountain district:

Sellers prospect.

McMurray 

prospect.

Greenback district:

pect. 

A. J. Williams 

prospect.

T. S. Williams

prospect. 

Louisville district: 

Louisville mine.

pect (reported).

Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

ledge on Southern Ry. 

2J miles southeast of Rutledge on Southern Ry. 

6 miles south of Rutledge

on Southern Ry. 

7 miles southwest of Rutledge on Southern Ry.

burn on Southern Ry.

Washburn on Southern 

Ry.

Near Jefferson City, on 

Southern Ry.

10 miles southeast of Sevierville, on Knoxville, 

Sevierville & Eastern 

Ry.

on Little River R. R.

howeo on Tennessee & 

Carolina Southern division of Southern Ry. 

1$ miles northwest of Chilhowee on Tennessee & 

Carolina Southern division of Southern Ry. 

1 mile west of Chilhowee 

on Tennessee & Carolina Southern division 

of Southern Ry.

Greenback on Louisville 

& Nashville R. R.

Greenback on Louisville 

& Nashville R. R. 

.....do.....................

.....do.....................

3 miles northeast of Greenback on Louisville & 

Nashville R. R. 

.....do.....................

4 miles southwest of Louisville; 1 mile to Louisville 

& Nashville R. R.

ville; 1 mile to Louisville 

& Nashville R. R.

Owner.

B. F. Young.....

Wm. Wallen.....

Chas. Frye. .......

George Currens....

Tennessee Manganese Co.

A. H. Webb.......

William Sellers.... 

Sam McMurray. .. .

Mrs. A. J. Williams 

T. S.Williams. ...

J. B.Cox..........

Operator or 

prospector.

.....do...........

.....do............

.....do............

Tennessee Manganese Co.

....do............

H. E. Colton (deceased).

(Undeveloped). . . . 

....do.............

....do.............

....do.............

....do.............

....do.............

....do.............

Unaka Minerals 

Co.

Type of 

deposit.

mite. 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Carbonate ore 

in older dolomite.

mite. 

Hesse quartzite. 

Do.

Do.

mite. 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do. 

Do.

Holston marble.

contact.
LIST OF MINES AND PROSPECTS. 147 

Manganese mines and prospects in east Tennessee Continued.

Mine or prospect.

KNOX COUNTY.

Knoxville district: 

Fitzgerald prospect. 

Green prospect.

Copper Ridge district: 

Haworth prospect (reported).

ANDERSON COUNTY.

Pine Eidge district: 

Bright &Howell

prospect (reported). Wallace prospect (reported).

LOUDON COUNTY.

Loudon district: 

Gates prospect .

Fork Creek Knobs 

district: 

Galbraith mine.

MONROE COUNTY.

Fork Creek Knobs 

district: 

Mills prospect. .

Sweet water district: 

McGuiremine..

Preston prospect. 

Vida mine. ....

E wing mine.... 

Heiskellmino..

pect (reported).

pect. 

Madisonville district:

prospect (reported).

. Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

3 miles south of Bearden 

on Southern Ey. 

2 miles southwest of Bearden station on Southern 

Ey.

2 miles west of Powell on 

Knoxville. Jellico & 

Fonde division of Southern Ey.

5 miles north of Clinton on

Louisville & Nashville 

R.E. 

7 miles northwest of Clinton on Louisville & 

Nashville E. E.

on Southern Ey.

8 miles southeast of Loudon: 12 miles by water 

to Lenoir on Southern 

Ey.

8 miles east-northeast of

. Sweetwater on Southern 

Ey.

4 miles.north-northeast of

Sweetwater; * mile to 

Oilman siding on South^ 

ern Ey. 

3* miles northeast of Sweet^

"water; £ mile to Oilman 

siding on Southern Ey. 

3 miles north-northeast of

Sweetwater; J mile to 

Vida switch on Southern Ey. 

2J miles north-northeast of 

Sweetwater; J mile to 

Oilman siding on Southern Ey. 

1J miles northeast of Sweetwater on Southern Ey.

Sweetwater on Southern 

Ey.

water on Southern Ey.

sonville; 2 miles to 

Louisville & Nashville 

E. E.

Owner.

J. H. Giezentanner 

J. C. Green........

W. L. Haworth... 

.D. M. Bright and

D. A. Howell. 

Hack Wallace. ....

J.K. Gates........

Charles Galbraith 

andJudgeWebb.

J.G. Mills........

J. Frank- McGiiireJ. N. Preston.. ...

C. D. Smith.......

Eobert Ewing. . .. 

Harry HeiskcL....

Operator or 

prospector.

Paul Fitzgerald... 

J. C. Green........

(Undeveloped). . . .

T. F. Narramore..

Southern Manganese Corp.

.....do............

.....do............

Vida Iron Co. ....

J. J. Fitzgerald 

and H. L. Smith.

H. L. .Smith......

nese Corp. 

.....do............

Type of 

deposit.

Holston-Tellico contact 

Do.

Knox d o 1 omite.

limestone 

(faulted?). 

Do.

ble (faulted?).

Holston-Tellico 

contact.

Do.

Do.

Holston-Tellico

wash? 

Holston-Tcllico

contact. 

Do.

Do.

mite. 

Do.

Do.
148 MANGANESE DEPOSITS OF EAST TENNESSEE.

Manganese mines and prospects in east Tennessee Continued.

Mine or prospect.

MONROE COUNTY 

continued.

Tellico Plains district: 

Ervin prospect

Cardin prospect 

Groundhog

Mountain 

prospect.

Beaty prospect 

Kilby prosoect

(reported").

M'MINN COUNTY.

Sweetwater district 

Hansard prospect. 

Athens district: 

Gilbert prospect. 

J. H. Jones 

prospect. 

McMinn Ridge district:

Charleston district:

pect. 

Liner, I/awson, 

and M cKnight prospects.

BRADLEY COUNTY.

Charleston district: 

Underwood 

mine.

Cleveland district: 

Hambright 

mine.

M. V. Jones 

prospect.

D. A.M. mine.. 

Lord mine .....

pect.

Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

non on Athens and Tellico Plains division of 

Louisville & Nashville 

R.R. 

2 miles southwest of 

Mount Vernon. 

3 miles southwest of Tellico Plains on Athens 

and Tellico Plains division of Louisville & 

Nashville R. R. 

3i miles southwest of Tellico Plains on Athens 

and Tellico Plains division of Louisville & 

Nashville R.R.

Tellico Plains on Athens 

and Tellico Plains division of Louisville & 

Nashville R.R.

3 miles west of Sweetwater on Southern Ry.

on Southern Ry. 

.....do.....................

Southern Ry.

....do.....................

on Southern Ry. 

3 miles (by road 4 miles) 

cast of Southern Ry.

3J miles southeast of 

Charleston on Southern Ry- .

8 miles south of Cleveland : 

2 miles to Marble 

switch on Southern Ry. 

9 miles south of Cleveland: 

2 miles to Marble switch 

on Southern Rv.

land; 3 miles to Marble 

switch on Southern Ry . 

10i miles soitth of Cleveland; 2 miles to Weatherly switch on Southern 

Ry. 

11 miles south of Cleveland; 1£ miles to Weatherly switch on Southern 

Ry.

land; 1J miles to Woatherly switch on Southern 

Ry.

Owner.

W. J. Cardin..... 

J H. Curd........

N. H. Beaty...... 

 Kilby......

J. B. Hansard..... 

I. W. Gilbert......

J H.Jones........

 Webb. .....

J. B. Liner, J. M. 

Lawson, and T. 

M. Me Knight.

I. M.McAllister...

H.F. Hambright,. 

M. V. Jones....... 

W. B.Sloan.......

Davis, Artz & McCroissin.

C. H. Lord Corporation.

Operator or 

prospector.

nese Corp. 

(Undeveloped)....

nese Corp. 

N.H. Beaty......

(Undeveloped).... 

.....do.............

.....do.............

W. M. Patton.....

.....do.............

.....do.............

W. E. Hamilton 

&Co.

Fit/.eerald & Lanskey.

M. V- Jones....... 

E. C. O'Brien.....

Davis, Art/. <fe McCrossin.

Tennessee Manganese Co.

.....do.............

Type of 

deposit.

Do.

mite (faulted)

W a t a u g a. 

shale (?).

K n o x d o 1 omite.

Tellico sandstone. 

Sevier shale.

mite. 

Do.

Do.

Holston-Tellico contact. 

Do.

Do.

Do. 

Do. 

Do.

Do. 

Do.

stone (faulted).
LIST OF MINES AND PROSPECTS. « 149 

Manganese mim.es and prospects in east Tennessee Continued.

Mine or prospect.

BRADLEY COUNTY 

continued.

Cleveland dist. 

Continued. 

Hannah prospect. 

Gee prospect...

White Oak Mountain district: 

White Oak 

Mountain 

mine. 

Brown prospect.

Wolf prospect.

Location and distance to 

nearest shipping point.

13 miles south of Cleveland; 2J miles to Weatherlv switch on Southern 

Ry.

of Cleveland; 1 mile to 

McDonald on Southern Ry.

8 miles northwest of 

Cleveland on Southern 

Ry. 

8 miles west of Cleveland: 

4 miles to McDonald on 

Southern Ry.

on Southern Railway.

Owner .

White Oak Manganese Corp.

Jake M. Brown....

Operator or 

prospector.

ganese Co.

White Oak Manganese Corp.

Jake M. Brown...

Type of 

deposit.

Holston-Tellico

contact.

mite.

Fort Payne 

chert.

DO. 

Do.

INDEX.

A. Page.

Acknowledgments for aid 1-2 

Adams mine, description of 91 

Aiken prospect, location of 107-108 

Analyses of manganese ores. 14,15,94,105 

Anderson County, prospects in 111-112 

Appalachian Mountains, divisions of_ 8-6 

Athens district, prospects in 127

B. 

Badgett, Mrs. W. C., iron ore on farm

of _ HI 

Bald Mountains, location of 4 

Bat Creek Knobs, ore in 113 

Beaty prospect, description of 126 

Beaverdam Creek, deposits in valley

of_____________ 27

" Birdshot " ore in clay, plate showing____________ 34 

Bishop prospect, description of 128 

" Black iron ore," use of name__ 8 

Blanchard mine, description of 91-92 

Blevins mine, description of __-_ 66-67 

Blount County, mines and prospects in _______ 105-110 

Blue Spring mine, description of 68-69 

Boatman Ridge district, prospects

in_____________ 97-98 

Bradley County, mines and prospects

in ___________ 128-142 

Braunite, nature of and ways of distinguishing _______ 11-12 

Bright & Howell prospect, description of__________ 112 

Britt mine, description of ___ 82-83 

Brown prospect, description of-_ 142 

Brummett, Susan, mine, description

of ____________ 81-82 

Brummett, T. J., mine, description

of-'___'________ 78-80 

" Buck fat," use of name- _ _ 15 

Bumpass Cove district, prospects in_ 83-86 

Butler district, mines and prospects

in ______ 28,55-63, 64-66

C.

Cable prospect, description of ____ 62

Cambrian dolomite, manganese carbonate ores in _ ___ 22-24 

" Cannon " ore, occurrence of ____ 68 

Carbonate ore, manganese, occurrence of_________ 22-24 

photomicrograph of _ ___ 11 

polished specimen of, plate

showing--- ____ 11 

Gardens Bluff mine, description of_ 70-71 

Cardin prospect, description of___ 124 

Carson Springs mine, description of_ 94-96 

Carter County, mines and prospects

in ____________ 64-80 

Gates prospect, description of _ 112-113 

Cedar Hill mine, description of __ 72-73 

Charleston district, prospects in__ 128-130 

Chlckamauga Creek, course of __ 7 

Cbickamauga limestone, nature and

stratigraphic place of _ 18, 

20,21

105164 23 11

Page.

Chilhowee Mountain, location .of 6 

Chilhowee Mountain district, prospects in ____ __ 106-107 

Cleveland district, mines and prospects in _ _ 130-139 

Clinch River, course and tributaries

of____________ 7 

Cobb Creek prospect, description of- 66 

Cocfke County, mines and prospects

in ____________ 89-97 

Copper Ridge district, prospect in__ 111 

Cornett prospects, description of 50-51 

Crandull mine, description of- 39-42 

Crisp, David, ore on farm of 108 

Crystalline rocks, occurrence of - 17 

Currens prospect, description of 102 

Curry prospect, description of 98 

Curtis prospect, description of _- 107

D.

D. A. M. mine, description of___ 134-136 

Davis mine, description of_ __ 39-42 

Del Rio district, mines and prospects In _ __ 90-94 

Deposits, manganese ore, types of_ 21-22 

Dickey prospect, description of__- 122 

Doe Valley, deposits in_ _ 28, 29 

remnants of old floor of, plate

showing __ ___ 48 

Doe Valley mine, description of-- 51-55 

Dozier, John, ore on farm of____ 101 

Drainage of the region ____ 6-7 

Dry Run mine, description of_ 59-62 

open workings of, plate showing __ _ __ 58 

Debault prospect, description of-__ 65

E.

Eakers, James H., ore on farm of__ 108 

East Fork mine, description of_ 102-105 

workings of, plate showing____ 104 

Elk mine, description of-______ 64-65 

Ernbree prospect, description of 83-86 

English Mountain mine, description

of _____________ 94-96

Ervin prospect, description of_ _ 123-124

Erwin quartzite, ores in _ 24

stratigraphic place of_-____ 17, 20

Ewing mine, description of_-____ 120

F.

Fault planes, deposits along-____ 31-32 

Ferromanganese, composition and

use of __ 16 

Ferruginous manganese ore, nature

and uses of-_-__ 13-14

plate showing-- _ ____ _ 10

Fitzgerald prospect, description of-110-111

" Float," use of term_________ 8

Fork Creek Knobs district, mines

in________ 113-114,115 

Fort Payne chert, ores in ' 31 

stratigraphic place of______ 19, 20 

Fossils, casts and molds of, in iron

ore, plate showing_ 31 

French Broad River, course and tributaries of ' 6-7

151
152 INDEX.

Pag*.

Fritz mine, description of_______ 51-55 

Frye prospect, description of ____ 101

G.

Galbralth mine^ description of-__ 113-114 

Gee prospect, description of_ __ 139 

Geography of the region ______ 3-7 

Gilbert prospect, description of___ 127 

Goss mine, description of_______ 63 

Grainger County, prospects in__ 98-101 

" Grape ore," plate showing_____ 8 

use of name- _________ 8 

Gravels, stream, ores in_______ 32 

Great Smoky Mountains, location of- 4-6 

Great Valley, features of_______ 3 

Green prospect, description of____ 111 

Greenback district, prospects in_ 107-108 

Greene County, mines and prospects

in ____________ 86-891 

Grindstaff prospect, description of 67 

Groundhog Mountain prospect, description of_____ 124-126

H,

Hamblen County, prospects in___ 97-98 

Hambright mine, description of_ 130-133 

workings of, plates showing_ 132 

Hampton district, mines and prospects in_________ 70-78 

Hannah prospect, description of- 139 

Hansard prospect, description of_ 126-127 

Harmon prospect, description of 100 

Hatcher prospect, description of__ 67 

Hausmannite, nature and mode of

occurrence of_____ 11 

Haworth prospect, description of- 111 

Hayes, 0. W., acknowledgments to_ 2 

Haysvillc district, prospects in___ 87-89 

Haysville prospect, description of 87-88 

Heiskell mine, description of___ 120-122 

Henley mine, description of__ 113-114 

Hesse quartzite, stratigraphic place

of ______________ 17, 20

Hewett, D. P., acknowledgment to_ 2 

Hiwassee River, course of_____ 7 

Hodge prospect, description of_ _ 78 

Hogback mine, description of _ 39 

Holston marble, ferruginous pebble

bed in, plate showing- 34 

nature and stratigraphic place

of __________ 18, 20, 21 

ores in_________ __ 29-31

psilonielane in, plate showing 30 

solution cavities in, plate showing._____________ 30

See also Tellico sandstone. 

Holston Mountain, location of 4 

Holston River, course and tributaries of__ _ 6 

Hopper prospect, description of_- 44 

Huff-prospect, description of 93-94 

Hyder prospects, location of 75

I. 

Xron Mountain, east of Stony Creek,

location of . 4 

south of Doe River, location of_ 4

Page.

Iron oxide, streak test for_____ 8-9 

Ivy prospect, description of__-_ 97-98

J.

Jefferson County, prospect in__ 101-102 

Jenkins prospect, description of _ 75 

Johnson County, mines and prospects in___ ____ 36-63 

Jones, J. H., prospect, description of- 127 

Jones, M. V., prospect, description

of___.._______ 133-134 

Jones & McMahon prospect, description of_________ 96-97

K.

Keenburg prospect, description of 69-70 

Keith, Arthur, acknowledgments to_ 2 

" Kidney " ore, use of term______ 8 

Kilby prospect, description of____ 126 

Kimbrough prospect, description of- 42 

King, M. E., prospect, description of- 42 

King, Nelson, prospect, description

of____________ 51 

Klepper, J. E., ore on farm of _- 108 

Knox dolomite, nature and stratigraphic place of 18, 20, 21 

ores in________________ 29

residual clay of, containing 

manganese oxide, plate 

showing_________ 30

Knoxville district, prospects in 110-111

L.

Lamb prospect, description of . 89 

Lawson, J. M., ore on farm of 128 

Lead, mining of _ 84 

Liner, J. B,, ore on farm of 128 

Little River, course of 7 

Little Tennessee Rive.r, course of 7 

Long Creek prospect, description of- 93 

Lord mine, description of____ 136-138 

north wall of main pit of, plate

showing 132 

Lotspeich prospect, description of_ 97 

Loudon County, mines in ____ 112-114 

Louisville mine, description of 108-110 

Louisville prospect, description of 110 

" Lump" ore, use of name____ 8

M.

McDonald prospect, description

of __________ 122-123

McGuire mine, description of 115-119 

pit of, plate showing_ 116 

McKnight, T. M., ore on farm of 128 

McMinn County, prospects in__ 126-128 

McMurray prospect, location of 107 

Madisonville district, prospect in__ 123 

Manganese oxide, phantoms of, in 

chalcedony, plates 

showing 58 

Manganiferous iron ores, nature and

uses of _ __ 13-14 

Manganite, concentrically laminated 

with psilomelane, plate 

showing 10 

crystalline, plates showing 10
INDEX. 153

Page.

Manganite, nature and mode of occurrence of__ __ 12 

plumose nodules of, with pyrolusite in crystalline 

quartz, plate showing- 49 

radiate, called " needle ore,"

plate showing. 10 

:Map, geologic, of east Tennessee, 

showing location of 

mines and prospects 34 

relief, of east Tennessee and 

adjacent part of North 

Carolina . 8 

"Matney, mine at _ _ 44-47 

Maxwell, H. V., acknowledgment to_ 2 

Maxwell mine, description of____ 42-43 

Mays prospect, description of 97-98 

Miller prospect, location of_ 107 

Mills prospect, description of 115 

:Mineralized beds in Watauga shale 

followed by irregular 

pit, plate showing- 59 

Minerals, manganese, association of_ 15-16 

manganese, descriptions of__ 8-16 

mined in the region__ __ 33 

"Mines and prospects, list of, by

counties________ 143-149 

Mines, map showing location of__ 34 

Mining, method followed_______ '32-33 

Monroe County, mines and prospects

in_____________ 114-126 

.Moody prospect, description of___ 63 

Morel, C. S., iron and manganese

ores on farm of- _ 111 

Mountain City, deposits near __ 28, 32 

.Mountain City district, mines and

prospects in _ ___ 44-55 

.Mountain ranges, names and locations of______ __ 4-6

N.

" Needle ore," use of name_ 25 

plate showing-_____ _ 12 

Neely mine, description of______ 38-39 

.Newport district, mines and prospects in__________ 94-97 

Newport mine, description of __ 94 96 

Nodules, plumose, deposition of_ 58 

Noeton prospects, description of__ 97 

" Nut " ore, use of name_______ 8

0.

Ore, botryoidal form of, plates showing:. _________ 8 

manganese oxide, streak test for 8-9 

modes of occurrence of_____ 8 

modes of deposition of_ _ 21-22 

rodlike forms of, plates showing 8 

siliceous, grade of________ 25-26 

Osborn prospect, description of___ 44

P.

Parker mine, description of____ 39-42 

Patton mine, description of _ 77 

tPayne prospect, description of 80

iPagt.

Pebble o're, plate showing___ 34 

Phantoms of manganese oxide in 

chalcedony, plates showing __.__ __ 58 

Phosphorus in ore, occurrence of- 90-91 

Pierce prospect, description of;__ 127-128 

Pigeon Boost mine, description of_ 92-93 

Pine Ridge district, prospects in 112 

Pinnacles, limestone, residual from 

subsurface erosion, plate 

showing___ ____ 58 

Preston prospect, description of 119 

Prices for manganese ore fixed in

1918, schedule of___ 35-36 

Production, statistics of_____ 34-35 

Profflt prospect, description of_-_ 55 

Psilomelane, botryoidal form of,

plates showing 8 

cellular, plate showing_____ 58 

concentrically banded with manganese, plates showing- 10 

nature and mode of occurrence

of______________ 9-11 

nodular, origin of- 25 

plates showing- ____ 8, 9,10 

partly replacing sandstone,

plate showing ___ _ 80 

rodlike forms of, plate showing- 8 

Publications, previous_______ 2-3 

Pyrolusite, bladed crystals of, plate

showing__________ 10 

in plumose nodules of inanganite, plate showing _ 49 

nature and mode of occurrence

of____________ 12-13 

plumose form of, plate showing- 10

B.

Raines mine, description of____ 97

Bed Hills area northeast of Sweetwater, geologic map 

and structure sections 

of____________ 116 

Red Hills area southeast of Cleveland, geologic map and 

.structure sections of 130 

Reece, I. H., property, mine on 44-47 

Reed prospect, location of 128 

Relief of the region 3-6 

Reynolds mine, description of- 87-88 

Rhodochrosite, nature and mode of

occurrence of _: 14-16 

Roan Mountain, location of 4 

Rocks of the region 16-21 

Rutledge district, prospects in 98-101 

Rutledge mine, description of 98

Sandstone partly replaced by psilomelane, plate showing- 30 

Scope of the report 1 

Sellers prospect, description of_ 106-107 

Sevier County, mine in _ 102-105 

Sevier shale, nature and stratigraphic place of 19, 20, 21
154 INDEX.

Page

Shady dolomite, ores in ____°_ 25-28

residual clay of, banded with 

thin layers of manganese oxide, plate showIng 30 

stratigraphic place of__ _ 18, 20 

transition beds at base of 25 

Shady Valley, deposits in _ 27 

Shady Valley district, mines and

prospects in 37-44 

Shouns prospect, description of___ 51 

Shrinkage cracks in psilomelane,

plate showing__ __ 10 

Silver Lake mine, description of 47-49 

pit of, plate showing- ____ 48 

Silver Lake prospect, description of_ 50 

Sloan prospect, description of_ 134 

Snyder prospect, description of 138 

Southern Manganese Corporation,

acknowledgment to 1-2 

Spiegeleisen, composition and use of- 16 

" Steel ore," use of name_ _ ____ 8

Steiger, George, analyses by 14,15 

Stone Mountain, deposits near___ 28 

location of 4 

Stony Creek, deposits in valley of 27-28 

Stony Creek district, iron mines in_ 67-68 

mines and prospects in_____ 66-70 

Superior mine, description of 55-59 

Surface forms of the region_____ 3-6 

Sutherland prospect, description of_ 39 

Swann, Theodore, acknowledgment

to ____________ 1-2 

Swann prospect, location of____ 100-101

Sweetwater, deposits near _ 30-31 

Sweetwater district, mines and prospects in__115-123,126-127 

Sylvia prospect, description of 88-89

T.

Taylor mine, description of 75-77 

Taylor Valley mine, description of 44-47 

Teaster & Eay prospect,' description of__________ 71 

Tellico Plains district, prospects

in ____________ 123-126 

Tellico sandstone, nature and reJ'.-

tions of _______ 18, 19, 21 

ores in__________ , _ 29-31

unconformable contact of, with 

underlying H o 1 s t o n 

marble, plates showing. 30, 

116, 117

ore deposit at __ 116-118, 

136-137, 139 

Tennessee marble, stratigraphic

place of_ ______ 18

Tennessee River, course and tributaries of___ __ _ 6-7 

Toncray mine, description of ___ 73-75 

Townsend prospect, description of_ 106 

Treadway prospect, description, of_ 78 

Tuckaleeche Cove district, prospect

in____________ 106 

Types of ore deposits_________ 21-22

Tyson, L. D., iron and manganese Pag*. 

ores on farm of - 111 

U.

Unaka Mountain, location of ' 4 

Unaka Mountains, location of_ 6 

Underwood mine, description of_ 129-130 

Unicoi County, mines and prospects

in ____________ 81-86 

Unicoi district, mines and prospects

in ________ 78-80, 81-83 

Uses of manganese . 16

V.

Valley Forge mine, description of 73-75 

Vida mine, description of_ 119-12O

W.

Wad, earthy compact, traversed by

a band having rodlike

comb structure, plate

showing___ _ 14

nature and mode of occurrence

of____________ 13

Waddell mine, description of _ 92-93

Wagner prospect, description of_ 59

Wallace prospect, opening of _ 112

Wallen prospect, description of____ 101

" Wash " ore, use of name ____ 8

Washburn district, prospects in_ 101

Washing ore, process of _ _ 33

Washington County, ore deposits in_ 86

Watauga River mine, description of_ 62

Watauga shale, hills of, carved

from old floor of Doe

Valley, plate showing- 48

irregular pit in, plates showing. 59

oxide ores in__ 28-29

sandstone in, partly replaced by

psilomelane, plate showing 30 

stratigraphic place of_ ___ 18, 20 

Webb prospect, Blount County, de-

.scription of 106 

Webb prospect, HcMinn County, location of________ 128 

White Oak Mountain mines, description of________ 139-142 

Williams prospects, description of_ 107 

Willis, M.'A., ore on farm of____ 108 

Wills mine, description of______ 49-50 

Wills prospect, description of____ 50 

Wilson Hill mine, description of__ 55-59 

Winter mine, description of_____ 75-77 

Wolf prospect, description of____ 142 

Wood mine, description of______ 90-91 

Wright mine, description of____ 43-44 

Wright prospect, location of ___ 51

Y.

Yellow Springs mine, description of- 94-96 

Younce prospect, description of__ 65-66 

Young prospect, location of_______ 100

Z.

Zinc, mining of- 84

O