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North Carolina - Virginia Coastal Plain - Old Hickory, Brink, Aurelian Springs, Ringwood, Kenly |
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North Carolina, USA |
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Ti Zr
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Super Porphyry Cu and Au
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IOCG Deposits - 70 papers
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All papers now Open Access.
Available as Full Text for direct download or on request. |
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Some 19 deposits of heavy mineral sands have been delineated in the upper coastal plain of North Carolina and Virginia, east coast USA. These resources include the Old Hickory, Brink, Aurelian Springs, Ringwood, Red Oak, Bailey and Kenly deposits which form a linear belt some 150 km in length, just east of the Fall Line in the Coastal Plain.
These deposits are related to a world wide Pliocene transgressive-regressive event that occurred between 3.5 and 3.0 Ma. The deposits are contained within a unit of terrace deposits and upland sediments. The sequence on the plain comprises:
Basement - crystalline rocks, mainly granites, talc-chlorite schist, silicified volcanics and graphitic phyllite.
Unconformity - referred to as the Fall Line.
Lower Unit, 0 to 12.2 m thick, of Pliocene age - basal gravel rich micaceous sands (0-3 m), followed by moderately sorted heavy mineral bearing fine sands (0-4.6 m), and an upper layer of medium to coarse poorly sorted sand with dispersed clay layers (0-9.15 m).
Upper Unit, maximun thickness 17 m - fine, rounded well sorted sand locally with up to 50% heavy minerals and dispersed clay. Above the water table the clay binds the sand, but below it is easily separated and the sand is clean. This upper unit contains the economic resource.
The total belt contains around 22.7 Mt of heavy minerals within a total of 378 Mt of sand which contain an average 6% heavy minerals. The heavy minerals comprise 60% ilmenite, 2.5% rutile, 12.5% zircon, 8.5% staurolite, 0.7% tourmaline, 3.0% kyanite, 1.3% sillimanite and 11.5% others (mainly limonite).
For detail see the reference(s) listed below.
The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 1990.
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.
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Carpenter R H, Carpenter S F 1991 - Heavy mineral deposits in the upper coastal plain of North Carolina and Virginia : in Econ. Geol. v86 1657-1671
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Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge. It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published. While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants: i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.
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