Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)
36.1970° N, 85.9343° W · ± 1 km
Calcite, Dolomite, Fluorite, Galena and Sphalerite from Tennessee, United States, with photos of specimens from this locality.
Minerals found here
On the same specimen
1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with fluorite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.
2 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with sphalerite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.
Calcite at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)
Amber to honey-colored twinned scalenohedra of exceptional size, a late generation growing in zinc-mine cavities.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
- Formula
- CaCO₃
- Morphology
- Scalenohedra, often doubly terminated, including large gemmy twinned crystals
- Typical size
- Scalenohedra reaching about 45 cm; photographed cabinet specimen about 14 cm
- Color / luster
- Honey-yellow to amber and orange-brown, glassy
- Associated minerals
- Sphaleritefluoritebarytecelestinequartzgalena
- Twins
- Frequent twins with re-entrant angles; doubly terminated twinned crystals
- Availability
- Scarce
- History
- Three generations of calcite are recognised, the last producing the famous amber twins; commercial mining began in the late 1960s to mid-1970s
Dolomite at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)
Pale drusy dolomite matrix setting off dark sphalerite and purple or colourless fluorite
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
- Formula
- CaMg(CO₃)₂
- Morphology
- Small rhombs, drusy coatings and crystalline crusts
- Typical size
- Individual rhombs millimetric to sub-centimetric
- Color / luster
- White, cream, pale tan, gray to faintly pink; pearly to vitreous
- Associated minerals
- Sphaleritefluoritecalcitequartzbarite
Fluorite at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)
Brilliant violet cubes from a few favorable cavities in a zinc mine, commonly seen perched on brown sphalerite.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
- Formula
- CaF₂
- Morphology
- Cubes with brilliant faces, including intergrown groups with phantom lines
- Typical size
- Cubes can approach about 25 cm along an edge; the photographed specimen is 4 cm
- Color / luster
- Purple to violet or bluish-violet, transparent to translucent; some very light and clear
- Associated minerals
- Sphaleritecalcitebarytecelestine
- Availability
- Scarce
- History
- Mine discovered by drilling in 1967 and in production from the mid-1970s; the large crystals came from a few favorable cavities
Galena at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)
Galena is a minor sulfide here, far less abundant than sphalerite, so good crystals are uncommon
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
- Formula
- PbS
- Morphology
- Step-faced cubes, cross-shaped stepped cubes and clusters of attached crystals
- Typical size
- Cubes of 2 to 4.5 cm on photographed specimens
- Color / luster
- Bright metallic luster
- Surface features
- Stepped faces and etched surfaces on some cubes
- Availability
- Scarce
- History
- Mine closed in 2004, reopened by Nyrstar from 2008 and finally closed on 31 December 2023
Sphalerite at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)
Coarse, dark reddish-brown sphalerite lining vugs in dolomite breccia of the Mississippi Valley-type ore.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
- Formula
- (Zn,Fe)S
- Morphology
- Crystal clusters and vug-lining crystals; also massive coarse-grained ore
- Typical size
- Crystals commonly 1-3 cm; clusters up to several cm
- Color / luster
- Dark reddish brown to dark brown with orange-red internal reflections, resinous to splendent; locally pale yellowish orange
- Availability
- Unknown
- History
- Zinc deposit found by drilling in 1967 and mined from the mid-1970s until closure at the end of 2023.
Geology of the locality
- Setting
- Mississippi Valley-type Zn-Pb deposit in the Central Tennessee district on the northeastern flank of the Nashville Dome; sphalerite fills dissolution and collapse breccias below a paleokarst surface at the top of the Knox Group; fluorite, calcite, baryte and celestine formed in open cavities from warm brines (roughly 90-120 C).
- Type
- Hydrothermal
- Host rock
- Dolostone and limestone (Knox Group, Mascot Formation)
- Region
- Tennessee
- Country
- United States
Near Carthage, Smith County, about 64 km east of Nashville. COORDINATES NOT FILLED: no coordinate source could be opened. Mine closed definitively at the end of 2023. Coordinates: USGS-derived point for Elmwood-Gordonsville Mine (shaft no. 1), Smith County; listed as approximate. Other shafts of the same workings lie up to about 4 km away. Coordinates: USGS-derived point for Elmwood-Gordonsville Mine (shaft no. 1), Smith County; listed as approximate. Other shafts of the same workings lie up to about 4 km away. Coordinates: USGS-derived point for Elmwood-Gordonsville Mine (shaft no. 1), Smith County; listed as approximate. Other shafts of the same workings lie up to about 4 km away.
Sources
- SRC-191 · Website
File:Fluorite-24375.jpg (Wikimedia Commons file page)Lavinsky, R.M. (photographer) · 2010 · Wikimedia Commons - SRC-192 · Website
The minerals of the Elmwood Mine, Tennessee, USALe Comptoir Géologique · Le Comptoir Géologique - SRC-288 · Website
Elmwood-Gordonsville Mine (USGS record 5706), The Diggings - SRC-199 · Website
File:Calcite-223873.jpg (Wikimedia Commons file page)Lavinsky, R.M. (photographer) · 2010 · Wikimedia Commons - SRC-200 · Website
Giant twinned calcite crystal, Elmwood Mine (seller listing)Fossilera (seller) · Fossilera - SRC-184 · Book
Handbook of Mineralogy - CalciteAnthony, J.W.; Bideaux, R.A.; Bladh, K.W.; Nichols, M.C. · Mineralogical Society of America - SRC-505 · Website
File:Dolomite-Fluorite-Sphalerite-elm53a.jpg (Wikimedia Commons)Robert M. Lavinsky · Wikimedia Commons - SRC-496 · Website
Dolomite from Elmwood Mine, USA: Collecting GuideEarthWonders · EarthWonders - SRC-183 · Website
FluoriteWikipedia contributors · Wikipedia - SRC-351 · Website
Wikimedia Commons file pages Galena-283253.jpg, Galena-Fluorite-Sphalerite-231665.jpg, Galena-Sphalerite-231674.jpgRobert M. Lavinsky (photographer); dealer description · Wikimedia Commons - SRC-365 · Article
Anisotropic sphalerite of the Elmwood-Gordonsville deposits, TennesseeSeal, R.R. II; Cooper, B.J.; Craig, J.R. · 1985 · The Canadian Mineralogist 23, 83-88 - SRC-377 · Website
Wikimedia Commons file page Sphalerite-203184.jpgRobert M. Lavinsky · Wikimedia Commons
Draft data from the Provenite workbook. Check entries against the cited sources before relying on them. Photos are open-licence images from Wikimedia Commons; the author and licence are given with each photo.