Trackrock Mine, Trackrock Gap, Union County, Georgia, USAi

Regional Level Types
Trackrock Mine	Mine
Trackrock Gap	Gap
Union County	County
Georgia	State
USA	Country

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The Track Rock corundum mine was among the numerous corundum deposits investigated during the war (WWII) by the Bureau of mines in an effort to develop domestic reserves of that critical mineral.

In the investigation of this property 562 feet of trenches were excavated and a 125-foot adit was reopened for the purpose of locating veins of corundum which had been previously reported to occur in that locality.

Only very minor amounts of corundum were disclosed in both the surface workings and the adit.

LOCATION AND OWNERSHIP: The Track Mine is on the South side of Track Rock Gap in the northeastern corner of Union County, GA. It is reached by going southwest from Young Harris, GA, on U.S. Route 76, 2.1 miles to a dirt road leading to the left, thence 2.3 miles south to Track Rock Gap, thence 730 feet to a point on the road which is approximately over the tunnel whose portal is 90 feet to the south. The mine is in land lot 259 of the 17th district, Union County, GA. The Stone Mine, consisting of a short tunnel caved at the portal, lies a short distance north of Track Rock Gap on the east side of the road.

The property, exclusive of that belonging to Lee Nelson at the gap, is in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION: Track Rock derives its name from the Indian carvings on the soapstone boulders near the gap.

The Track Rock mine was operated a short while around 1893. A mill was constructed below the tunnel portal, and a few tons of corundum were milled and shipped.

The project failed, evidently owing to the very low corundum content of the rock andf difficulty of cleaning the corundum.

R.J. Cook was part owner and foreman at the time of operation. F.P. King reports that the parent company was the New York Corundum & Mining Co.

PHYSICAL FEATURES: Trap Rock Gap is on a ridge extending west from the Blue Ridge Mountains. The altitude of the gap is about 2,250 feet above sea level.

The terrain is mountainous and typical of the Blue Ridge Range. A second growth hardwood covers most of the immediate area.

Several small branches drain the vicinity, the largest of which flows from the tunnel of the Track Rock mine.

DESCRIPTION OF DEPOSIT: The strike of the corundum-bearing formation at Track Rock is approximately N. 30° E. with a prevailing dip of 40° to 50° to the southeast.

Weathering and hydrothermal alteration from the intrusion of numerous acid pegmatites have altered most of the original rock to a saprolitic condition. Residual boulders and a few outcrops of "soapstone," a talc-chlorite-actinolite rock with some olivine are found on the surface and three dikes 4 to 8 feet thick of a hard, dense amphibole peridotite (?) occur in the tunnel paralleling the strike.

A decomposed schistose formation about 15 feet thick containing very small amounts of pink corundum outcrops in the road about 100 feet north of Track Rock Gap. The formation is composed essentially of margarite, chlorite, and narrow white bands of sepiolite. The corundum occurs as small kernels usually from "pea" size down, wrapped in balls of margarite.

A small pocket of corundum in decomposed rock outcrops on the east side of the road 400 feet south of the gap. The corundum is white to gray, with some blue sapphire, and coated with margarite.

Several small pieces of corundum were found in trenching and a few pieces recovered in cleaning out the tunnel.

In cleaning out the tunnel the following material was disclosed:
0 - 18 ft. Hard unweathered feldspar pegmatite.
18 - 30 ft. Soft chlorite schist
30 - 62 ft. Soft, decomposed formation; principally sepiolite, actinolite and margarite.
62 - 73 ft. Hard dark-green amphibole peridotite (?).
73 - 82 ft. Soft, decomposed formation; principally sepiolite, actinolite and margarite.
82 - 90 ft. Amphibole peridotite (?).
90 - 104 ft. Soft decomposed formation; principally kaolin and actinolite.
104 - 109 ft. Hard dark-green amphibole peridotite (?)
109 - 119 ft. Kaolinized feldspar and actinolite.
119 - 125 ft. Kaolinized feldspar and actinolite.

Only a few pieces of corundum were noticed in the tunnel and no sign of the "rich vein" reported by King was found at 90 to 104 feet or at the other places where he mentions considerable corundum exists.

THE ORE: The Track Rock corundum is usually coated with margarite and varies widely in color ranging from white to pink to gray and often blue.

The fracture is generally smooth and the parting is very pronounced. Liberation is incomplete in crushing to larger than 35-mesh. The corundum is not well-suited for a coarse-grained abrasive but apparently can be used for the finer sizes.

Several caved test pits or small shafts and the tunnel include the principal mine workings at the Track Rock mine. A short tunnel caved at the portal and known as the Stone mine is about 400 feet north of Track Rock Gap on the east side of the road.

King reports that the Track Rock tunnel extends 198 feet. The tunnel was reopened by the Bureau of Mines for 125 feet from the present portal or approximately 137 feet from the original portal, since about 12 feet of the tunnel at the portal had caved and eroded.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.

Mineral List

10 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

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