Gold-silver mineralization at the London-Virginia Mine, Buckingham County, Virginia

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMangan, Margaret T.en
dc.contributor.departmentGeologyen
dc.coverage.countryUnited Statesen
dc.coverage.countyBuckingham Countyen
dc.coverage.stateVirginiaen
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-29T19:26:46Zen
dc.date.available2022-06-29T19:26:46Zen
dc.date.issued1983en
dc.description.abstractThe London-Virginia Mine in Buckingham County is one of several abandoned gold mines that are scattered throughout the polydeformed metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Virginia Piedmont. Production began at the London-Virginia in 1853 and continued intermittantly through 1939. Gold mineralization (averaging 1.2 ppm but with localized concentrations of up to 14.1 ppm) occurs within a ferruginous quartzite lens and a muscovitic schist contained in the Cambrian Chopawamsic Formation. The deposit consists of a series of conformable stratigraphic units which include, from bottom to top: 1) a garnetiferous chlorite schist 2) a magnetite schist 3) a quartz-muscovite schist 4) a ferruginous quartzite and 5) a chlorite-biotite schist. These lithologies represent periods of submarine volcanism (units 1 and 5) and volcaniclastic sedimentation (unit 3) with intervening episodes of hydrothermal exhalative activity (units 2 and 4). The mineralogic assemblages characteristic of the exhalative units suggest that the premetamorphic sediments were rich in hydrothermal silica, goethite, amounts of barite, gold. The deposit limonite, and pyrite with minor calcite, base metal sulfides and is believed to have formed as a result of exhalative processes analogous to those currently active in the Atlantis II Deep of the Red Sea. Silica-rich, hypersaline brines discharging through fractures in the sea floor ponded in a local basin. The episodic influx of volcaniclastic debris and extensive deposition of hydrothermal silica diluted the concentration of sulfides and gold to produce a low-grade, siliceous mineralized zone. The local exhalative event was terminated when the basin was capped by a volcanic flow.en
dc.description.degreeM.S.en
dc.format.extentiii, 65 leavesen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/111025en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 09947281en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1983.M363en
dc.subject.lcshGeology -- Virginia -- Buckingham Countyen
dc.subject.lcshGold ores -- Virginia -- Buckingham Countyen
dc.subject.lcshSilver ores -- Virginia -- Buckingham Countyen
dc.titleGold-silver mineralization at the London-Virginia Mine, Buckingham County, Virginiaen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineGeologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameM.S.en

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
LD5655.V855_1983.M363.pdf
Size:
2.56 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Masters Theses