Gordonsville (Elwood?) Mine Closed Again

I believe this to be the same mines system as Elwood, it's in REALLY close proximity to each other, and owned by the same company, but I've never actually been to the mine, so I can't say for sure. That seems right though, it's a shame, since stuff was just starting to come out of there again:

[www.tennessean.com]

Yes, you have it right. I have a very nice piece, Galena, Barite and Fluorite, from the lot that Dick Heck & Larry Conklin bought through the mine owners in 1980, from the 1800 ft level under Gore's property. It is a shame to hear that the reopening has now actually fallen through. Likely someone here knows who was slated for specimen recovery with the reopening, perhaps they can provide further details. From my perspective though, the old days of rich, beautiful and VERY reasonably priced pieces from this locality are long gone anyway, reopening or no.

MRH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2008 11:39PM by Mark Heintzelman.

Matthew:

Your article seems to be about a very similar mine nearby to Elmwood, but is not the Elmwood Mine. Bryan Lees and Collector's Edge re-opened Elmwood in April of this year, and were planning to mine it for specimens. He e-mailed me about this project December of last year. His website also mentions nothing about closing Elmwood. From all information out there, Elmwood is still open. I, myself, have several examples of Elmwood fluorite, sphalerite and calcite, and would hate to see it definitely close. I hope this helps.

It looks like I missed your line about Elmwood Mine system, not the Elmwood mine itself. Sorry.

Jim,

Did Collector's Edge reopen it with exclusive intent to recover specimens, or are they simply piggy-backing on the mining of Zinc? If they have exclusive rights to the mines, I'd believe it was still open, but as I understood it, it's to costly to mine for only nice specimens, so when zinc production stops, so does specimen retrieval. Again, I could be completely wrong, but from some other things I read it seemed that Collector's Edge simply worked out an agreement with the mining company to be the exclusive supplier of mineral specimens from there.

Thanks,
Matthew

me too....sorry about this....[www.mindat.org]

joe

Matthew:

I re-read Bryan Lees' e-mail and (as of 2/27/08) he said they were trying to "get a contract" for the Elmwood Mine. He didn't give specifics, but from what you see on their website and what they put out there on the market from several of the mines they've worked, they definitely are mining for quality specimens. I have no other details. Wish I did have more.

Great calcites, Joe.

Yes, Collectors Edge-Brian Lees had a contract with the mine at Elmwood to collect-mine specimens encountered by the company during normal mining operations. They have been working there for the last six months or so if my information is correct. I believe recently they have closed down the effort to collect specimens there. They got some specimens, which we will probably see with them at upcoming shows, but I think that they felt that they were not getting enough to justify staying longer. Housing in the area is tight, and Top Gems, who ran the last collecting operation there had to actually buy a house for their employees to live in while they were running their collecting operation. I suspect that Collectors edge may have had to do the same. I heard that Collectors edge had 4 people working in the mine for specimens, and that plus the cost of housing, food, salaries etc would have required them to get a whole lot of specimens to pay for the operation and I don't think this was happening. Too bad because this is one of the worlds best localities for calcite crystals. Perhaps someone associated with the Collectors edge can provide more and better information about the operation.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

Hello,

I've "heard" that the mines are closed not only to collecting but that mining has ceased as well. I talked with someone this past weekend that has actually collected here quite often and he offered that the mining company made some very poor decisions and couldn't keep costs down, etc. I specifically asked if the mines have closed and got a firm "yes."

Dana

We were down in the district visiting a collector a few weeks ago. While we were there, he received a telephone call from a miner who said that as of the next day, the mine was again closed. The miner was told not to bother coming to work the next day .....

Collector’s Edge Minerals, Inc. has been collecting specimens at the Elmwood and Cumberland mines under an exclusive contract with the mine owners. The mines have temporarily ceased operations, do to economic factors including the current price of zinc and are in a care and maintenance mode. Collector’s Edge Minerals, Inc. collecting activities, which were dependent on the mines being operational, have also ceased as of October 30, 2008.

When the mines reopen Collector’s Edge Minerals, Inc. will likely resume mineral specimen collecting activity.

Release of specimens recently collected from Elmwood and Cumberland by Collector’s Edge Minerals, Inc. will occur at the 2009 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

Tom Gressman
Collector’s Edge Minerals, Inc.

Thank you for the update Tom,

I'm looking forward to seeing the recovered material at Tucson!

Jolyon

Thanks Tom, appreciate the update.

To everyone;

The Elmwood, Gordonsville, Cumberland mining complex did indeed close again but has been sold again so the possibility of reopening is there.
I worked at the mine for 18 years and to answer a few of the questions.
1) The elmwood and Gordonsville mines are connected underground so are really one large mine.
2) The Cumberland mine and Elmwood mine were to be connected underground in the future.
3) Collectors Edge was piggy backing the mining process but exclusive rights to look for specimens underground.

I hope the mine gets back up and going, it is a beautiful mine.
Thanks for your interest in the mine and its minerals.
Gwoods

All of the Tennessee assets of the Strategic Resource Acquisitions Group (SRA) have been purchased by Nyrstar (a major European zinc smelting company). The Mid-Tennessee Zinc mine complex comprises facilities at three sites: Elmwood (established in the 1970s), Gordonsville (established in the 1980s) and Cumberland (established in the 1990s). All are currently on care and maintenance.

Nyrstar owns the Clarksville zinc smelter, and it is with a view to providing feedstock for Clarksville that this acquisition has been made. SRA estimated that the redevelopment of the complex had cost US$131m, but Nyrstar have paid €10M (approximately US$12M) for these assets.

Sounds like a real bargain .....at the right zinc price!

mal