Silver Mine in Pa. ??? True or Not

[salmonoid]

Being from Pa, I used to hear about some old silver mines, here and there, and thought they were nothing my hooey.

However, moving forward 30 years or so, we had a friend who was a fireman in New Jersey, but had his home in Pa. He did lots and lots of research on the silver front, and found several old, old maps and newspaper articles from across the state that seems to validate the fact that there was silver and Pa, and not just a little, but some that were actually worked by indians AND white men alike.

It does explain some very old silver jewelry found by the parents of a friend of ours years ago. It was definitely indian-made and consisted of silver and polished stones of different varieties (and was verified by an expert).

In fact, if you go into the Wyoming County courthouse in Tunkhannock, they have a very, very old original map which specifically has not only silver workings, but a few gold areas also.

There has also been industrial diamonds found in Pa - which makes sense, considering the hard coal that abounds there.

B

There is a vast difference in the temperature and pressure needed to make diamonds, vs. that needed for anthracite (hard) coal. Diamonds come from the earth's mantle; about the only similarity between anthracite coal and diamonds is they both are made of carbon. There is no other relation between the presence of coal, formed from buried sediments which are heated and compressed, and diamonds, which reach the surface in kimberlites, which are a type of igneous dike, generally with a mantle source, and usually exposed by erosion.

The markings on maps are most likely just speculative plays. Take for instance the Pequea "Silver" mine, which is near where I live. It has a trace of silver in the lead ore (galena) that is there, but that is not abnormal, as silver is a trace ore in galena a lot of times. The only reason it is referred to as a silver mine is some investors salted it awhile back and tried to sell stock in the operation; took the money and ran. It still is listed as a "Silver" mine, but its really not.

 

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[mrs.oroblanco]

I appreciate the explanation about kimberlite and diamonds versus coal (which I don't think I said), but, what I did say, is that there have been industrial diamonds found in Pennsylvania - and there have been.

First - if coal was down about 100 times lower, they could be turned in kimberlite and diamonds.(pressure being the factor)

However, kimberlite (and diamonds) have been found in three places in Pennsylvania. Two of these kimberlites were encountered in coal mines in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, and have not yet been detected on the surface. But the third kimberlite can be seen on the surface near Masontown in Fayette and Greene Counties. These kimberlites have been determined by Dr. Bikerman of the University of Pittsburgh, to have formed about 147 million years during the Late Cretaceous Period.

When Dr. Bikerman determined this, no diamonds on the surface had been found. However, since that time, some low-grade diamonds (industrial) have been. Of course, there are still people looking for more.

As far as silver. Pennsylvania has a lost silver mine story - in Potter County. Also, there is many silver articles made by the native populations that have silver - but from where?

Also, the Wheatley mine (silver from galena), leached from 15-120 ounces of silver.




http://www.mindat.org/loc-16508.html

B

 

[pegleglooker]

bump

 

[Oroblanco]

HOLA amigos,

I don't have a lot to add, just a few points. For one, what kind of mineral deposit makes it commercially viable, is not the same as what it takes to make a one-man or "mom-n-pop" operation a viable operation. The overhead costs alone are a massive difference. The amount of ore needed is another. Even in coal mining, I know of several "mom-n-pop" operations which continue to operate today (or at least four years ago) at a profit, when most of the large anthracite coal mines have long been shut down. So when we find such old references to silver and gold mines as found on the maps mentioned, they were not talking about mineral deposits of such a size and richness as to justify a large mining company to set up and operate.

As a side note, over 50 diamonds have been found in PA, some of gem quality. The opinion of a geologist who examined several of them was that they had been transported to PA by glacial actions and thus deposited, which is hardly encouraging to someone wishing to start a diamond mine, but for the hobbyist prospector it is very encouraging. As for the gold discoveries marked on the county map in Tunkhannock (PA) we field checked several of these and they do indeed indicate it correctly - there IS gold there, certainly not enough to open a large commercial gold mine but on the other hand, very encouraging for a hobbyist prospector - nuggets as large as dimes have been reported found in the Susquehanna river near the same town, also likely brought in by glacial actions but who cares?

Silver occuring as some minor constituent of galena (lead ore) is often not enough to warrant mining the galena for the silver content, however it does occur in high enough concentrations in the galena sometimes. One of the richest silver mines in the Black Hills, the Spokane mine, has galena as the main ore and the silver content was quite rich; likewise in the Carbonate district, galena with high silver contents were fairly common.

In sum, for anyone wishing to hunt for lost silver mines in PA, don't go looking for a lost Comstock lode - the geology is just wrong for any kind of deposit of that size, however the existence of SMALL silver deposits is likely and finding one might just turn out to be a paying proposition for the discoverer!

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

 

[lastleg]

Oroblanco:

This is why I listen when Mr. O speaks. He speaks from actual experience.

lastleg

 

[simonds]

Thank you Oro,
I do have several good leads on where silver and gold has been found around Tioga Co. Pa.

 

[Oroblanco]

Gosh you are going to make me blush! I just noticed we had some misunderstanding here between what many people think of when we say "silver mine" and what actually exists. Anyway there are MANY interesting prospects in the eastern states, and you never know what you will find!

Simonds I am confident you will find gold - try out any stream that flows in a (general) northern direction and be patient, you may not find gold in the first pan or the first dozen, but it IS there. The silver reported found in PA was associated with lead (hence the galena) and I have personally found small bits of galena in Susquehanna county - can't speak for Tioga county but you will recognize that galena right away, it is cubic in form and looks metallic, plus it is heavy so you can find it by panning if you are careful. The next trick is tracing the galena back to the vein it is coming from, which takes a lot of patience and diligence.

Here is an example of what Galena looks like

there are many more photos online, be sure to study them so you will know it on sight, and just "for the record" galena IS found in Pennsylvania, check out this online book

http://books.google.com/books?id=Pw...nepage&q=galena found in pennsylvania&f=false
<Minerals of Pennsylvania By Amos Peaslee Brown, Frederick Ehrenfeld>

and note the listed occurances of galena which were known when the book was published, in particular the Pequen mine in Lancaster county had Argentiferous galena ore, Argent is Latin for SILVER! The argentiferous galenas were found in mines in at least six counties, so your odds are actually pretty good. So when someone tells you there can't be any silver mines in PA, you know better!

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find that gold and SILVER!
your friend in 'Dakota Territory'
Oroblanco

 

[Oroblanco]

PS - just so folks know I am not just blowing smoke, here is a direct quote

"Galena is a lead sulfide mineral commonly found in hydrothermal veins; or as fracture filings, cavity fillings and replacements in limestone. Lesser amounts are found in many igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Galena is the primary ore of lead and is often mined for its silver content (silver substitutes for lead within the galena structure). Its perfect cleavage, silver color and very high specific gravity make it very easy to identify."
http://geology.com/minerals/galena.shtml

"Pennsylvania
The Pequea silver mine near Conestoga in Lancaster County was worked from before the Revolutionary War to 1875. A minor amount of mining was done about 1900. The ore is silver-bearing galena in the Cambrian Vintage Dolomite. Production is unknown.[23]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_mining_in_the_United_States#Pennsylvania

Pequea Silver Mine (Pequea Mine; Pequa Mine), Conestoga, Pequa Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, USA http://www.mindat.org/loc-18332.html

The Pennsylvania Topographic and Geologic Survey featured the mine in their magazine Pennsylvania Geology, Vol. 36 (2006), No. 1 http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/pub/pageolmag/pdfs/v36n1.pdf).

Also check out the Phoenixville mining district, some info at
http://www.mindat.org/loc-16508.html

The Wheatley Mine, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Primarily a lead mine, for economic reasons Wheatley billed the operation as a lead and silver mine. Concentrations of silver in the galena ore were assayed at between 15 and 120 ounces per ton.
Silver medallion made from silver coming from the Wheatley mine, PA

more info at http://www.pennminerals.com/museum.htm

 

[RON (PA)]

Great information. Thanks O.

 

[VonDigger]

I know of some possible sites for silver mines in Economy Boro, in Beaver County. The 5 different mines were used by the Economites during the early 1800. All of them are in Economy Park, and 2 of those shafts have picnic groves next to them.

Erin
"VonDigger"

 

[FinderKeeper]

Were else can a person go and get a PHD on any subject but here. This site is the best.
I ended up with way more info than I ever thought possible. Thank You

 

[pegleglooker]

Hey 007,
You might want to rig up a remote control boat with a camera and see how far you can go in.... Or what you might find as well

PLL

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Silver mine, eh

Yup! There was one literally within 3 miles of my parent's home.
There is a piece written about it in a detailed book of 'their area'.
The book was self published and cannot be purchased from Amazon and such.

I cannot recall how much it yielded.......I'll have to scan the page(s) of the book that gives the history, names (persons, company, etc...) that did the digging/mining.

ALSO within 3mile of my parent's home was quite the unusual - an OIL drill! Again - IIRC , they DID strike oil.......but it was negligible in that it wasn't economically feasible to maintain operations.
The same book DOES have an actual pic (waaaaaay old photo!) of the actual drill tower (well.....all of 20ft or so!). I'll scan that as well as the supporting text.


No.....it isn't anywhere NEAR Titusville.
<grin!> <wink!>

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Oh No!!!

I told you an outright LIE!!!!

I've borroed a copy of the book from my folks. It's been a since I last browsed through the book myself.

Lemme set the record straight:
It wasn't a silver mine.....it was a magnesium mine. They did find magnesium....but "...it was lacking the quality or quantity..." to make it worthwhile and was abandoned.

As for the oil drilling - yep, that happened. I'll scan the pic & post it. Around 1920. About 50ft tall. But the well turned out dry. Undeterred, these local 'ancestors' went on to successfuly mine for natural gas in New York state and later uccess in Wildcat oil drilling in Oklahoma & Arizona.
But oil companies didn't give up on our home town. the dug many 'test wells', put explosives
in he hole and used sounding equipment top 'map out' the underground geography.
In 1978.....a subcontractor for Exxon came to town and did 'hush hush' deep well exploratory studies for uranium!!! They had sophisticated measuring/reading equipment in the back of large unmarked trucks and they lowered measuring equipment deep into the holes (600-1,400ft).

And though it isn't 'my town'....the book goes on to explain the details about how oil WAS successfully drilled in Cresco, Pa. Who'd a thunk it, eh?


So - my original post above wasn't entirely accurate.
NO silver.
YES magnesium.
Attempted oil - dry.
Tested for uranium - results confidential? Prolly nothing though as nothing more ever came of it.


My town ALSO had an actual quasi-military camp/presence in the 1930's. Building foundations still remain.
We also had a few clubs/camps for boys (summer camp-like) with multiple large supporting structores - main hall (dining, meeting, offices) and dorm cabins. There were various sports/recreation fields etc... Again, foundations remain. Date back to the teens.

There is so much neat stuff here - two churches dating back to the 1850's. Three one room school houses two of which still stand today!) also from the mid 1800's. Grist mills & tannery as well
This is why I need a hunting partner. Permission for these locations should be easily obtained through family friendship connections. These places BEG to be MD'd. I just need to get at them!




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[Oroblanco]

Gary in PA wrote

Oh No!!!

I told you an outright LIE!!!!

I respectfully disagree amigo, a lie would be when someone deliberately tells a falsehood he knows is false in my opinion; in this case all you did was remember a detail incorrectly, and to your credit, you immediately posted a correction when you found the error. My respect for you continues to grow!
Oroblanco

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

AHHHHH!!!!

Finally figured out the problem -

Here's the photo/scan of the stage house I was talking about above:

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[gods country girl]

I have a book from the early 1900's "History of Elk Township" that tells of a silver mine in Elk Township,Tioga County,it tells of indians finding large amounts of silver.Very similar to the Lost Silver Mine stories about the Ice Mine area in Coudersport Pa

 

[Oroblanco]

Just my opinion but I would do some more research on that lost silver mine Gods Country Girl, you may get enough info to find it!

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

 

[simonds]

I have heard of a couple areas where the Native Indians used to mine silver from and bring it into some old general stores to trade for goods. One of these places is supposed to be crawling with rattlesnakes. I can point it out from the highway "route 49", but I don't care about crawling into the cave.
Happy Trails

 

[Oroblanco]

Simonds wrote

One of these places is supposed to be crawling with rattlesnakes.

Don't forget about one positive aspect of Pennsylvania winters - all of those snakes will be hibernating, even if you should disturb one it would barely be able to move.