Gap Mountain Prospect

Lost City, West Virginia

38.8861°N 78.7475°W

Mine Overview

The Gap Mountain Prospect is near Lost City, West 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 site was first discovered before 1920. The ore mined is composed of manganite, pyrolusite and psilomelane 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^?
Before 1920 Year Discovered^?
Metallic Site Commodity Type^?
Small Mine Size^?

Mine Names

Name^? Status^?
Gap Mountain Prospect Current

Owner Name and Address

U.S. Forest Service

Type: Owner

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

Commodity Type Importance
Manganese Metallic Primary

Deposit

SMALL PLATES OF MANGANESE ORE OCCUR WITH CHERT FRAGMENTS IN THE DUMP AND AT SOME PLACES MANGANESE FILLS MINUTE CRACKS IN THE CHERT FRAGMENTS.

Location Info

Shenandoah , Virginia County / State

Continent Country State County
North America The United States Virginia Shenandoah

Notes

ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF GAP MOUNTAIN. 2. 4 KM (1. 5 MI) NORTHWEST ON STATE ROAD 701 FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROAD 717, TO DELLINGER GAP: FOLLOW DIRT ROAD TO NORTH TO A JEEP TRAIL ALONG THE NORTHWEST FOOT OF GAP MOUNTAIN, ABOUT 0. 16 KM (0. 1 MI) : FOLLOW JEEP TRAIL TO CREEK, ABOUT 0. 5 KM (0. 3 MI) : JUST BEFORE CREEK TURN NORTHEAST ON ANOTHER JEEP TRAIL AND FOLLOW UP THE DRAINAGE FOR ABOUT 0. 64 KM (0. 4 MI) TO WHERE TWO DRAINAGES MEET, PROSPECT IS ABOUT 70 M (230 FEET) SOUTHEAST OF THE DRAINAGE INTERSECTION UP ON THE NORTHWEST SLOPE OF GAP MOUNTAIN.

Land Status

Land status information.

Land Status^? Admin Area^?
National Forest -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

District
Cedar Creek Valley Mining District

Workings

2 TUNNELS WERE REPORTED DRIVEN AT AN ELEVATION OF 1600 FEET IN 1922 ONE WAS CAVED AND THE OTHER WAS STILL OPEN FOR MORE THAN 15 M (50 FEET ). IN 1982, 2 CAVED TUNNELS, 3 PITS, AND DUMPS WERE SEEN. MANGANESE ORE WAS PRESENT ON THE DUMPS.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

Role^? Material^?
Gangue/Waste Chert
Ore Manganite
Ore Psilomelane
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 Clay Residuum; New Scotland Limestone Sedimentary Rock Carbonate Limestone Limestone - - -
Host Rock Unconsolidated Deposit Clay, Mud - - Clay, Mud - - -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

Scale Description
Local Anticline, 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

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

Nearby Places

Lost City (5.55 miles away)
Basye (5.97 miles away)
Mathias (6.40 miles away)
Baker (10.75 miles away)
Edinburg (10.76 miles away)
Mount Jackson (11.22 miles away)
Woodstock (13.00 miles away)
Bergton (13.66 miles away)
Wardensville (15.33 miles away)
Maurertown (15.55 miles away)
New Market (16.96 miles away)
Moorefield (17.03 miles away)
Toms Brook (17.09 miles away)
Timberville (17.13 miles away)
Fulks Run (17.80 miles away)
Broadway (19.06 miles away)
Old Fields (20.32 miles away)
Delray (22.65 miles away)

Nearby Mining Districts

Cedar Creek Valley Mining District (0 miles away)
Wardensville-Halfmoon Mountain Area (1.56 miles away)
Shanandoah Valley Mining District (5.96 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.

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