Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Sweetwater Mine | Mine (Active) |
| Ellington | City |
| Reynolds County | County |
| Missouri | State |
| USA | Country |
This page kindly sponsored by Dana Slaughter
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
37° 21' 32'' North , 91° 8' 48'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Mine (Active) - last checked 2022
KΓΆppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bunker | 400 (2017) | 12.1km |
| Centerville | 188 (2017) | 18.7km |
| Ellington | 960 (2017) | 20.4km |
| Eminence | 587 (2017) | 29.7km |
| Viburnum | 662 (2017) | 39.6km |
Mindat Locality ID:
3866
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:3866:2
GUID (UUID V4):
97ba9d1c-fed4-4cc1-b66e-33fd09326c87
Other/historical names associated with this locality:
Milliken Mine; Frank R. Milliken; Blair Creek; Ozark Lead Company Mine; Adair Creek; Logan Creek
A Pb-Zn occurrence/mine located about 12 miles (ca. 19 km) NW of Ellington. Formerly owned & operated by Ozark Lead Company from 1968 to 1986 (although it was not in production from 1983 to 1986 due to low lead prices). Sold to ASARCO in 1986, reopened December 1987. Sold to the Doe Run Company in 1997, and presently in operation.
Reserves in 1988 amounted to 22.6 million tons of ore at an average of 4.84% Pb & 0.59% Zn.
Mining Method: Room and Pillar. Drill+Blast with LHD or mine truck haulage to ore chutes below. After crushing underground, the ore is hauled to a 20-foot diameter x 1,250 foot deep, central 3-compartment hoisting shaft.
Regional Geology: The Viburnum Trend is a 6-mile x 40-mile North-trending deposit discovered in the late 1950s and early 1960s whose Pb-Ag-Zn deposits are exploited by the Brushy Creek, Buick, Fletcher, Magmont, Sweetwater, West Fork, and Viburnum mines Nos. 27, 28, 29, and 35 at depths ranging from 1,000-1,450 feet.
The Viburnum Trend deposits differ from other Mississippi Valley-type lead-zinc ore deposits in that ores are shallower, they include nickel and cobalt minerals, and some copper-iron sulfides. Also, while ores were formed from hot, saline brines, it is generally accepted that for the Viburnum Trend, this was a repetitive precipitation and dissolution process for the sulfides, particularly galena and suggests that the ore-forming base metal constituents were transported with reduced sulfur in the same solutions, with precipitation initiated by a change in pH, dilution, and/or a decrease in temperature. For the Sweetwater ores, the repetitive precipitations comprised decreasing base metal concentrations in the mineralizing fluids.
Most ore minerals are found as sulfides such as galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite. Gangue minerals associated with the economic minerals include pyrite, calcite, dolomite, and quartz.
Sweetwater Geology: There are 8 distinct orebodies distributed at depth within the Bonneterre formation. The Bonneterre itself comprises four facies; fore reef, reef complex, back reef, and shelf. These facies are petrographic units developed in response to sea level fluctuations and the distribution of Precambrian knobs and ridges in a shallow Cambrian sea. Oolitic and digitate stromatolite facies predominate in the mine, and stratigraphic relationships record a prograding sedimentary pattern during lower Bonneterre sedimentation that expresses as an interfingering of the planar stromatolitic burrowed lime mudstone (reef complex) facies with the digitate (back reef) facies.
In contrast to most of the other mines in the Viburnum Trend, much of the Ozark Lead Company orebody lies at right angles to the depositional strike of the sediments. This divergence is due to localization of much of the ore along the flank of a northwest-trending Precambrian high situated on the upthrown side of a high-angle reverse fault.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
23 valid minerals. 1 erroneous literature entry.
Detailed Mineral List:
| β Anilite Formula: Cu7S4 References: |
| β Bornite Formula: Cu5FeS4 |
| βͺ Calcite Formula: CaCO3 Habit: Hexagonal prisms with simple rhomb terminations to 7 cm Colour: slight yellowish white Fluorescence: SW- dull orange; MW- magenta-pink; LW- dull orange Description: If only these perched doubly terminated xls were water clear like the Big Rig specimens |
| β Carrollite Formula: CuCo2S4 |
| β Chalcocite Formula: Cu2S References: |
| β Chalcopyrite Formula: CuFeS2 Habit: simple sphenoids and twins to several mm Colour: yellow Fluorescence: none |
| β Chalcopyrite var. Blister Copper Formula: CuFeS2 References: |
| β Covellite Formula: CuS |
| β Dickite Formula: Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
| β Digenite Formula: Cu9S5 |
| βͺ Djurleite Formula: Cu31S16 Description: Crystals to 0.75 inches References: |
| β Dolomite Formula: CaMg(CO3)2 Habit: simple rhombs to several mm Colour: white |
| β Erythrite Formula: Co3(AsO4)2 · 8H2O |
| β Fletcherite Formula: CuNi2S4 References: |
| βͺ Galena Formula: PbS Habit: cubes and cube-octos to several cm Colour: lead grey Fluorescence: none Description: The cube faces are often bright and lustrous, while the octahedral faces are dull References: (1975) Guidebook to the Geology and Ore Deposits of Selected Mines in the Viburnum Trend, Missouri. Report of Investigations 58. Missouri Geological Survey |
| β Formula: Co2+Co3+2S4 Description: Mineralogical Record article indicates that the Linnaeite Group here is siegenite |
| β Malachite Formula: Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| β Marcasite Formula: FeS2 |
| β Millerite Formula: NiS |
| β 'Petroleum var. Bitumen' References: |
| β Polydymite Formula: Ni2+Ni3+2S4 |
| β Pyrite Formula: FeS2 |
| β Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
| βͺ Siegenite Formula: CoNi2S4 Habit: octos and spinel twins to several mm Colour: grey Fluorescence: none |
| β Sphalerite Formula: ZnS |
| β Vaesite Formula: NiS2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| β | Chalcocite | 2.BA.05 | Cu2S |
| β | Djurleite | 2.BA.05 | Cu31S16 |
| β | Anilite | 2.BA.10 | Cu7S4 |
| β | Digenite | 2.BA.10 | Cu9S5 |
| β | Bornite | 2.BA.15 | Cu5FeS4 |
| β | Covellite | 2.CA.05a | CuS |
| β | Sphalerite | 2.CB.05a | ZnS |
| β | Chalcopyrite var. Blister Copper | 2.CB.10a | CuFeS2 |
| β | 2.CB.10a | CuFeS2 | |
| β | Millerite | 2.CC.20 | NiS |
| β | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
| β | Fletcherite | 2.DA.05 | CuNi2S4 |
| β | Linnaeite ? | 2.DA.05 | Co2+Co3+2S4 |
| β | Polydymite | 2.DA.05 | Ni2+Ni3+2S4 |
| β | Siegenite | 2.DA.05 | CoNi2S4 |
| β | Carrollite | 2.DA.05 | CuCo2S4 |
| β | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
| β | Vaesite | 2.EB.05a | NiS2 |
| β | Marcasite | 2.EB.10a | FeS2 |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| β | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
| β | Calcite | 5.AB.05 | CaCO3 |
| β | Dolomite | 5.AB.10 | CaMg(CO3)2 |
| β | Malachite | 5.BA.10 | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| Group 8 - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates | |||
| β | Erythrite | 8.CE.40 | Co3(AsO4)2 Β· 8H2O |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| β | Dickite | 9.ED.05 | Al2(Si2O5)(OH)4 |
| Unclassified | |||
| β | 'Petroleum var. Bitumen' | - | |
List of minerals for each chemical element
Other Databases
| Link to USGS MRDS: | 10293984 |
|---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Shawnee DomainDomain
USA
- Missouri
- Viburnum Trend Mining DistrictMining District
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References
Seeger, Cheryl M. (2008) Chapter 1. History of Mining in the Southeast Missouri Lead District and Description of Mine Processes, Regulatory Controls, Environmental Effects, and Mine Facilities in the Viburnum Trend Subdistrict, in Hydrologic Investigations Concerning Lead Mining Issues in Southeastern Missouri. Scientific Investigations Report, 2008-5140. US Geological Survey. 5-33
Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA