Karbers Ridge Subdistrict

The following mines and prospects were isolated from the larger subdistricts discussed above and are grouped by general areas. Most produced only small amounts of ore, although a number of these outlying ore deposits were rich in barite.

Mines in the Karbers Ridge Subdistrict

Lee Mine

The Lee Mine is one of several small mines clustered about 2 miles east of Karbers Ridge, between the Harris Creek and Hamp Subdistricts. A.B. Thomas opened this mine in 1917 to work a vein of fluorspar 8 feet wide (Bishop 1947b). The Lee Development Company next worked the deposit and recovered 5,000 to 8,000 tons before closing the mine in 1919 (Bishop 1947b). Around 1922, the Illinois Steel Company optioned the Lee property and drilled about 12 boreholes. Information in the Hardin County Independent (1927a) newspaper stated that “Capt. Thomas is preparing to haul his spar from the Lee Mines to the railroad at Eichorn; he will also install some new machinery to his mines shortly” (p. 4). The Lee Mine ore was trucked to Eichorn, offloaded onto trucks, and then hauled to the railroad connection at the Stewart Mine (Hardin County Independent 1927b, p. 3). Finally, the Hillside Fluorspar Mines Company purchased the property in 1935 and produced about 8,250 tons of concentrate from March 1936 through 1938. The ore was reported to be mainly fluorite and calcite (Bishop 1947b), but some galena has been found. Several shafts and an open cut mark the Lee Mine site (sec. 14, T 11 S, R 8 E). The vein follows a normal fault that strikes N 60° E and dips 75° SE, with the southeast side downthrown about 450 feet (Bishop 1947b). The vein was reported to be about 3.5 to 10 feet wide and was traced downward from 20 to 150 feet deep (Bastin 1931; Bishop 1947b; Weller et al. 1952). Bishop (1947b) indicated that the ore northeast of the main shaft was mined along strike for 250 feet from the ground surface to a depth of 125 feet. The ore extending to the southwest of the main shaft was mined for 415 feet along strike. A concrete pad along the top of the hill may be the location of the former mill, which was reported to contain a roller crusher, jig, and log washer (Denny et al. 2010). Between October 1944 and June 1945, the USGS drilled five boreholes to about 300 to 355 feet below the surface to test the Ste. Genevieve Limestone Level on the Lee Vein. They encountered veinlets and stringers of calcite in the boreholes but detected no mineral deposits of any consequence (Bishop 1947b). More Information: 10105533

S. Love and J. Love Prospects

Two open pits 30 to 50 feet deep along a fault splay of the Lee Fault are listed as the Love Fluorspar and Lead Mines (Denny et al. 2010). These mines were operated by McAllister and Phelps (Weller et al. 1952). The mineralized fault trends N 45° E (Weller et al. 1952). The J. Love Prospect is located northeast of the S. Love Prospect, and the S. Love reported a minor amount of production (Weller et al. 1952). More Information: 10082998

Jarrells Prospect
The Jarrells Fluorspar Prospect operated by S. Love was located along the Wolrab Mill Fault Zone, which trends N 27° E (Weller et al. 1952). A 60-foot-deep shaft was sunk, and traces of fluorspar and sphalerite were observed on the mine dumps (Weller et al. 1952). More Information: 10083001

Hall Zinc Prospect
Obrad (2005) based this mine on Wallace Lee’s 1915 Hardin County mine location field notes. These notes are now on file at the ISGS.

Renfro Prospect
Hastie and Barnett worked the Renfro Prospect. The prospect was less than 22 feet deep, and only minor mineralization was reported (Weller et al. 1952). More Information: 10083021

Joyce Mine
Thurmond and Gibbons sank a shaft 48 feet deep and extracted a small amount of fluorspar at this location (Weller et al. 1952). The vein averaged about 6 feet wide and was predominantly calcite. It was aligned N 70° E and dipped to the southeast (Weller et al. 1952). More Information: 10083002

Turner Mine
Thurmond and Gibbons opened the Turner Mine northwest of the Joyce Prospect. The shaft was sunk 40 feet to a vein that was aligned N 45°–55° E. Gravel spar and a small amount of galena were produced (Weller et al. 1952).

Ridge Mine

The Ridge Mine lies about 1 mile west of the Lee Mine along a small northeast-striking fault that is parallel to the Lee Fault. The shaft has been sealed with a concrete cap, and a small open cut is north of the shaft. The geologic maps of Baxter and Desborough (1965) and Denny et al. (2010) indicate that the collar of the shaft was sunk in the upper portion of the Cypress Sandstone. Ozark-Mahoning maps indicate that the operators of the Ridge Mine drove drifts at the 60-, 100-, and 130-foot levels along a vein striking N 30° E and dipping 70°–75° SE. The thickness of the fluorspar ranged from a few inches to about 8 feet wide. Stopes were approximately 35 feet high, and the mine extended 550 feet north of the shaft along the 100-foot level and 200 feet south of the shaft along the 60- and 100-foot levels. No production figures or operational details are available, but the mine was active in 1967 (Bradbury et al. 1968).

References

Bastin, E.S., 1931, The fluorspar deposits of Hardin and Pope Counties, Illinois: Illinois Geological Survey, Bulletin 58, 116 p.

Baxter, J.W., and G.A. Desborough, 1965, Areal geology of the Illinois Fluorspar District: Part 2—Karbers Ridge and Rosiclare Quadrangles: Illinois State Geological Survey, Circular 385, 40 p.

Bishop, O.M., 1947b, Fluorite on the Lee Mine property, Hardin County, Illinois: U.S. Bureau of Mines, Report of Investigations 3996, 10 p.

Bradbury, J.C., G.C. Finger, and R.L. Major, 1968, Fluorspar in Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey, Circular 420, 64 p.

Denny, F.B., B. King, J. Mulvaney-Norris, and D.H. Malone, 2010, Bedrock geology of Karbers Ridge Quadrangle, Hardin, Gallatin, and Saline Counties, Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey, IGQ Karbers Ridge-BG, 2 sheets, 1:24,000; report, 7 p.

Hardin County Independent, 1927a, Karbers Ridge, Aug. 11, p. 4.

Hardin County Independent, 1927b, Sept. 8, p. 3.

Obrad, J.M., 2005, Directory of coal mines in Illinois, 7.5-minute quadrangle series: Karbers Ridge Quadrangle, Gallatin and Hardin Counties: Illinois State Geological Survey, map, 1:24,000; report, 25 p.

Weller, J.M., R.M. Grogan, and F.E. Tippie, 1952, Geology of the fluorspar deposits of Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey, Bulletin 76, 147 p.