Mary Orndorff Prospect

Maurertown, Virginia

38.9881°N 78.5341°W

Mine Overview

The Mary Orndorff Prospect is near Maurertown, Virginia. Historically the site has been associated with the Cedar Creek Valley Mining District which is now part of the George Washington National Forest. The ore mined is composed of pyrolusite with waste material consisting primarily of chert. 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.

Manganese Primary Commodity
Site Record Type^?
Occurrence Development Status^?
C M Clay Discovered By^?
Metallic Site Commodity Type^?
Small Mine Size^?

Mine Names

Name^? Status^?
Mary Orndorff Prospect Current

Owner Name and Address

C. M. Clay

Type: Operator

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

Commodity Type Importance
Manganese Metallic Primary

Deposit

WORKINGS EXPOSED CHERT AND SANDY CLAY WHICH YIELDED A SMALL QUANTITY OF MANGANESE OXIDE IN WHICH THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE SAND. THE MANGANESE OCCURS MOSTLY AS A CEMENT AND STAIN IN THE SANDSTONE.

Location Info

Shenandoah , Virginia County / State

Continent Country State County
North America The United States Virginia Shenandoah

Notes

2. 4 KM (1. 5 MI) SOUTHWEST ON STATE ROAD 713 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 600, PROSPECT IS 170 M (558 FEET) SOUTHEAST OF 713 ALONG THE CREST OF THE RIDGE. ADDITIONAL WORKING AT UTM N 4317985, E 713390, ZONE +17.

Land Status

Land status information.

Land Status^? Admin Area^?
Private -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

District
Cedar Creek Valley Mining District

Workings

A 5 M (16 FEET) SHAFT WAS SUNK ON THE UPPER NORTHWEST SLOPE OF THE RIDGE AND A NEARBY OPEN CUT WAS DUG ON THE CREST OF THE RIDGE. THE SHAFT WAS SUNK IN THE NEW SCOTLAND LIMESTONE AND THE OPEN CUT IS IN THE RIDGELEY SANDSTONE. IN 1982, A CAVED PIT (SHAFT ), ABOUT 3M (10 FEET) IN DIAMETER, ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE CREST AND A SMALL TRENCH, 3 M (10 FEET) LONG, 1 M (3 FEET) WIDE, AND 0. 6 M (2 FEET) DEEP, ALSO ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE CREST, WERE EVIDENT. AN OLD FARM ROAD CROSSES THE CREST A SHORT DISTANCE BELOW THE PIT AND IT MAY PASS THROUGH THE OLD OPEN CUT.

Geology

FOR GEOLOGY SEE YOUNG AND RADAR (1974).

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

Role^? Material^?
Gangue/Waste Chert
Ore Pyrolusite

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

Rocks

Geological materials at the site.

Class^? 1st Order Name^? 2nd Order Name^? 3rd Order Name^? 4th Order Name^? Most Specific Name^? Begin Time End Time Description^?
Host Rock New Scotland Limestone; Ridgeley Sandstone Sedimentary Rock Carbonate Limestone Limestone - - -
Host Rock Sedimentary Rock Clastic Sedimentary Rock Sandstone - Sandstone Upper Devonian Upper Devonian -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

Scale Description
Local Mt- Pleasant Syncline, Unnamed Syncline
Regional Northeast-Southwest Trend

Tectonic

Tectonic setting in which the site or deposit is situated.

Setting^?
Miogeosyncline

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

Division Province^? Section
Appalachian Highlands Valley And Ridge Province Middle Section

Ore Control

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

Text^?
Fractures And Solution Openings

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

Nearby Places

Maurertown (5.52 miles away)
Toms Brook (5.85 miles away)
Wardensville (6.91 miles away)
Woodstock (7.50 miles away)
Strasburg (9.42 miles away)
Lebanon Church (10.04 miles away)
Edinburg (11.67 miles away)
Baker (11.89 miles away)
Middletown (13.88 miles away)
Delray (14.75 miles away)
Bentonville (15.92 miles away)
Lost City (16.61 miles away)
Rileyville (17.29 miles away)
Shawneeland (17.62 miles away)
Mount Jackson (17.71 miles away)
Stephens City (18.19 miles away)
Riverton (18.20 miles away)
Basye (18.68 miles away)
Front Royal (18.88 miles away)
Mathias (19.39 miles away)
Gore (21.92 miles away)
Augusta (21.94 miles away)
Capon Bridge (22.05 miles away)
Luray (22.65 miles away)

Nearby Mining Districts

Cedar Creek Valley Mining District (0 miles away)
Wardensville-Halfmoon Mountain Area (3.30 miles away)
Little Fort Valley Area (5.39 miles away)

Nearby Lands

George Washington National Forest (0 miles away)

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.

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.
Understanding BLM Administrative Areas

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

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