1. Home
  2. Mines
  3. North America
  4. The United States
  5. Virginia
  6. Botetourt
  7. Deposit #USGS10080151

Caldwell Barium Prospect

Fincastle, Virginia

37.4956°N 79.9364°W

Mine Overview

The Caldwell Barium Prospect is near Fincastle, Virginia. Historically the site has been associated with the Roanoke-Botetourt Counties Area which is now part of the Jefferson National Forest. The site was first discovered before 1938. Mine operations consist of surface workings. There is one known shaft. The ore mined is composed of sphalerite and barite with waste material consisting primarily of limestone, shale and dolomite. The ore body is described as having an irregular shape of unknown dimensions. The host rock in this area is limestone. The Middle Section of the Appalachian Highlands characterize the geomorphology of the surrounding area.

Site identification and general characteristics. Learn about USGS mines.

  • Barium-Barite Primary Commodity
  • Zinc Secondary Commodity
  • Site Record Type?
  • Occurrence Development Status?
  • Before 1938 Year Discovered?
  • Non-Metallic Site Commodity Type?
  • Small Mine Size?

Mine Names

  1. Name? Status?
  2. Caldwell Prospect Current

Owner Name and Address

Lena East

Type
Owner

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

  1. Commodity Type Importance
  2. Barium-Barite Non-Metallic Primary
  3. Zinc Metallic Secondary

Deposit

PITS CONTAIN FRACTURED LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE AND ATHENS SHALE OUTCROPS ALL AROUND THE SITE. BARITE IS DARK GRAY TO BLACK IN COLOR, CONTAINS CARBONACEOUS MATTER, AND SMELLS OF H2S WHEN RUBBED BY ANOTHER PIECE. THE PROSPECT OCCURS JUST SOUTH OF A FAULT TRACE.

Location Info

  1. Continent Country State County
  2. North America The United States Virginia Botetourt

Notes

1. 8 KM (1. 1 MI) WEST ON STATE ROAD 600 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 670, SOUTHWEST OF HOWELL MILLS; 290 M (951 FEET) SOUTH OF ROAD ON THE CREST OF A HILL.

Land Status

Land status information.

  1. Land Status? Admin Area?
  2. Private -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

  1. District
  2. Roanoke-Botetourt Counties Area

Development

PROSPECT WAS WORKED BEFORE 1938 AND THE WORKINGS CONSIST OF 8-12 OPEN PITS AND TRENCHES. THE WORKINGS WERE HAND DUG AND THEY STRIKE N 50 DEG E FOR ABOUT 91. 5 M (300 FEET).

Workings

Workings at the site.

Surface Workings #1

  • Type: Surface
  • Surface Length: 83.67 Meters

Workings

8-12 OPEN PITS AND TRENCHES WERE DUG, SIZES VARIED, BUT THE LARGEST TRENCH WAS 6 M (20 FEET) LONG, 3 M (10 FEET) WIDE, AND 2. 4 M (8 FEET) DEEP.

Geology

EDMUNDSON (1938) DESCRIBES THE PROSPECT TO BE IN ATHENS SHALE. MORE RECENT WORK INDICATES THE DEPOSIT OCCURS IN LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE OF THE LINCOLNSHIRE FORMATION AND THE SURROUNDING SHALE (ATHENS) IS PART OF THE EDINBURG FORMATION. THE CONTACT BETWEEN THESE TWO FORMATIONS IS VERY CLOSE TO THE DEPOSIT. FOR A GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE AREA SEE MCGUIRE, O. S ., 1976, GEOLOGY OF THE DALEVILLE QUADRANGLE, VIRGINIA: VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 42.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

  1. Role? Material?
  2. Gangue/Waste Dolomite
  3. Gangue/Waste Limestone
  4. Gangue/Waste Shale
  5. Ore Barite
  6. Ore Sphalerite

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

  • Strike: north 50 degrees east
  • Dip: southeast

Rocks

Geological materials at the site.

  1. Class? 1st Order Name? 2nd Order Name? 3rd Order Name? 4th Order Name? Most Specific Name? Begin Time End Time Description?
  2. Host Rock Clay Residuum; Edinburg Formation; Lincolnshire Formation Sedimentary Rock Carbonate Limestone Limestone - - -
  3. Host Rock Sedimentary Rock Carbonate Dolomite - Dolomite - - -
  4. Host Rock Sedimentary Rock Clastic Sedimentary Rock Shale - Shale - - -
  5. Host Rock Unconsolidated Deposit Clay, Mud - - Clay, Mud - - -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

  1. Scale Description
  2. Local Unnamed Thrust Faults To North, West, And South Of Prospect- Syncline
  3. Regional Northeast-Southwest Trend

Tectonic

Tectonic setting in which the site or deposit is situated.

  1. Setting?
  2. Miogeosyncline

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

  1. Division Province? Section
  2. Appalachian Highlands Valley And Ridge Province Middle Section

Ore Control

Controls on emplacement of ore such as faults or other structural features.

  1. Text?
  2. Vein/shear Zone

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

  1. Gusler-Austin Mine

    • Barium-Barite commodity Site type Mine status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 1.30 miles
    Read More

  2. Unnamed Iron Prospect

    • Iron commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 2.97 miles
    Read More

  3. Maude Hematite Mine

    • Iron commodity Site type Mine status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 3.22 miles
    Read More

  4. Unnamed Manganese Prospect

    • Manganese commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 5.04 miles
    Read More

  5. Unnamed Manganese Prospect

    • Manganese commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 5.15 miles
    Read More

  6. Daleville Opening Iron Prospect

    • Iron commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • Surface
    • 5.45 miles
    Read More

  7. Unnamed Manganese Prospect

    • Manganese commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 5.64 miles
    Read More

  8. Troutville Lead Prospect

    • Lead commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 5.74 miles
    Read More

  9. Troutville Lead Prospect

    • Lead commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • 5.76 miles
    Read More

  10. Unnamed Manganese Prospect

    • Manganese commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Botetourt, Virginia
    • Underground
    • 5.80 miles
    Read More

Nearby Places

Nearby Mining Districts

Nearby Lands

Footnotes

* Mine bounds on map indicate the general area that a mine occupies. For an detailed map, refer to the overseeing BLM field office.

** The mine central point is based on an average of the mine's bounding box(es) and does not necessarily fall on the claim itself.

1 World-class significance is determined by total endowment of the contained commodity. This includes all past production and remaining reserves. Each commodity is considered separately and commodities cannot be combined to arrive at a significant size. The tonnage thresholds are from the mine model grade-tonnage studies. As of June 2008, many entries were classified as significant under less strict rules.

Mining Claim News From The Diggings™

Learn more about the Bureau of Land Management, Public Land Survey System, and mining claims.

  1. Understanding Mine Ownership

    Understanding Claim Ownership

    We receive lots of emails from people who find their name or a relative’s name on our site and want to know if this means they have some right to the land listed under that name.

  2. open range landscape

    Understanding BLM Administrative Areas

    Whether it is filing a mine or researching one, the administering BLM office is going to be the definitive source.

  3. Public Land Survey System map of the United States of America

    Understanding Location Data

    Mine handled by the Bureau of Land Management are not mapped by latitude and longitude, instead, these mines harken back to the Public Land Survey System.

  4. Historic map of the Ohio Western Reserve

    Understanding Townships

    A “township” can refer to two different things. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses.

Browse All Mines
Browse Mines by BLM Administrative Area
Browse By Commodity
Browse Mines by State

Search for owners by first name, last name, company, location, etc.

Browse All Owners
Browse All Help