Mike Kaas on the Silver Hill Mine
Sorry for the late notice... this is for today at lunchtime.
Abstract: The Silver Hill Mine in Davidson County, North Carolina was the first important underground silver mine in America. Discovered in 1838, it produced significant quantities of silver and lead into the mid-1840's. As the oxidized ores were depleted, abundant, rich, lead-zinc sulfide ores were encountered. These complex primary ores presented the mine operators with difficult metallurgical problems. Mine development and production slowed. Nearly a decade passed as the owners experimented with new processing and smelting technologies. These efforts were largely unsuccessful and the mine closed in the early 1850's. The Civil War created an urgent need for lead to supply Southern troops. The Confederate government operated the Silver Hill Mine to provide an alternate source of lead in case the mines at Austinville, Virginia should fall into Northern hands. Lead concentrates with high silver values were shipped from Silver Hill to the newly constructed Confederate smelter in Petersburg, Virginia. After the War, the mine continued to operate for several years but the problems of the refractory sulfide ores were not solved and the mine closed again. For more than a century after production stopped, the Silver Hill Mine was the repeated target of both mining companies and stock promoters.
Where: Pier 7 Restaurant, 650 Water Street, SW, Washington, DC (within walking distance of the Waterfront Metro on the Green Line) Free parking with validation from Pier 7 Restaurant.
11:30 - Social 12:00 - Lunch 12:30 - Speaker
Meeting cost: $20.00 for Washington, DC Section SME members $25.00 for non-members
Contact Steve Stokowski with questions
The Sliver Hill mine:
America's First Silver Mine and Supplier of Lead to the Confederacy
L. Michael Kaas
Abstract: The Silver Hill Mine in Davidson County, North Carolina was the first important underground silver mine in America. Discovered in 1838, it produced significant quantities of silver and lead into the mid-1840's. As the oxidized ores were depleted, abundant, rich, lead-zinc sulfide ores were encountered. These complex primary ores presented the mine operators with difficult metallurgical problems. Mine development and production slowed. Nearly a decade passed as the owners experimented with new processing and smelting technologies. These efforts were largely unsuccessful and the mine closed in the early 1850's. The Civil War created an urgent need for lead to supply Southern troops. The Confederate government operated the Silver Hill Mine to provide an alternate source of lead in case the mines at Austinville, Virginia should fall into Northern hands. Lead concentrates with high silver values were shipped from Silver Hill to the newly constructed Confederate smelter in Petersburg, Virginia. After the War, the mine continued to operate for several years but the problems of the refractory sulfide ores were not solved and the mine closed again. For more than a century after production stopped, the Silver Hill Mine was the repeated target of both mining companies and stock promoters.
Where: Pier 7 Restaurant, 650 Water Street, SW, Washington, DC (within walking distance of the Waterfront Metro on the Green Line) Free parking with validation from Pier 7 Restaurant.
11:30 - Social 12:00 - Lunch 12:30 - Speaker
Meeting cost: $20.00 for Washington, DC Section SME members $25.00 for non-members
Contact Steve Stokowski with questions
Labels: dc, history, meetings, minerals, mining, north carolina
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