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Oregon Iron Mine

Strasburg, Virginia

38.9403°N 78.3566°W

Mine Overview

The Oregon Iron Mine is near Strasburg, Virginia. Historically the site has been associated with the Little Fort Valley Area which is now part of the George Washington National Forest. The site was first discovered in 1880. The Oregon Iron Mine was closed at the time of data entry with no known plans to re-open. Past operations took place from 1885 to before 1919. Production size when active was considered to be small. The ore mined is composed of limonite, psilomelane and pyrolusite. The ore body is described as having an irregular shape of unknown dimensions. The host rock in this area is sandstone. The Middle Section of the Appalachian Highlands characterize the geomorphology of the surrounding area.

Site identification and general characteristics. Learn about USGS mines.

  • Iron Primary Commodity
  • Manganese Secondary Commodity
  • Site Record Type?
  • Mine Development Status?
  • 1880 Year Discovered?
  • 1885 to Before 1919 Last Year of Production
  • 1885 First Year Of Production?
  • Before 1919 Last Year Of Production?
  • Small Production Size?
  • Metallic Site Commodity Type?
  • Small Mine Size?

Mine Names

  1. Name? Status?
  2. Oregon Mine Current

Owner Name and Address

U.S. Forest Service

Type
Owner

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

  1. Commodity Type Importance
  2. Iron Metallic Primary
  3. Manganese Metallic Tertiary

Deposit

DISCOVERY YEAR: 1880'S

Location Info

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

Notes

MINE WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF STRASBURG RESERVOIR AND 6. 4 KM (4 MI) NORTHEAST OF THE POWELLS FORT MINE.

Land Status

Land status information.

  1. Land Status? Admin Area?
  2. National Forest -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

  1. District
  2. Little Fort Valley Area

Development

MINE WAS WORKED SOMETIME BETWEEN 1880 AND 1919, PROBABLY IN THE 1880'S. APPARENTLY LITTLE ACTUAL MINING BELOW THE SURFACE OCCURRED WHICH IS WHY THE MINE CANNOT BE LOCATED TODAY. IN 1957 HAILLE MINES INC. LEASED ALL THE MANGANESE BEARING AREA IN LITTLE FORT VALLEY, INCLUDING THIS MINE, AND PROSPECTED BY MEANS OF CROSSCUTS UP TO 7. 6 M (25 FEET) DEEP CUT ACROSS THE ORE BEARING FORMATION. APPARENTLY NO PRODUCTION OCCURRED.

Workings

MINE CONSISTED OF A NUMBER OF SHALLOW CUTS, BUT MUCH OF THE ORE WAS TAKEN FROM THE SURFACE WITHOUT MUCH MINING.

Concentration Process

Processes that concentrated or enriched the mineralization of the mine.

  1. Concentration Process
  2. Minerals Were Probably Leached From The Overlying Black Devonian Shales.

Geology

STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS ARE NOT EVIDENT, BUT THE MINE IS ON STRIKE WITH THE POWELLS FORT MINE WHICH IS IN A SYNCLINE CONTAINING THE RIDGELEY SANDSTONE.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

  1. Role? Material?
  2. Ore Limonite
  3. Ore Psilomelane
  4. Ore Pyrolusite

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

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 Ridgeley Sandstone; Alluvium Sedimentary Rock Clastic Sedimentary Rock Sandstone Sandstone - - -
  3. Host Rock Unconsolidated Deposit Alluvium - - Alluvium - - -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

  1. Scale Description
  2. Local Syncline
  3. Regional Northeast-Southwest Trend, Massanutten Synclinorium

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. Bedding Planes And Fractures In The Sandstone

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

  1. Oregon Manganese Mine

    • Manganese commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • Surface And Underground
    • 0.44 miles
    Read More

  2. Green Mountain Mine

    • Iron commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • 1.15 miles
    Read More

  3. Unnamed Iron Mine

    • Iron commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • Surface
    • 1.17 miles
    Read More

  4. Unnamed Iron Mine

    • Iron commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • Surface
    • 1.45 miles
    Read More

  5. Elizabeth Furnace Mines

    • Iron commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • 1.51 miles
    Read More

  6. Mud Hole Gap Property

    • Manganese commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • Surface And Underground
    • 1.64 miles
    Read More

  7. Philadelphia Manganese Mine

    • Manganese commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • Surface And Underground
    • 1.86 miles
    Read More

  8. Unnamed Iron Prospect

    • Iron commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • 1.91 miles
    Read More

  9. Unnamed Iron Mine

    • Iron commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • Surface
    • 2.07 miles
    Read More

  10. Powells Fort Camp Mine

    • Manganese commodity Site type Mine status
    • Shenandoah, Virginia
    • 2.08 miles
    Read More

Nearby Places

Nearby Mining Districts

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

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    Understanding Location Data

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

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