THE FRANKLIN MINING DISTRICT

General features

Geology

History

 

Mines and mineral localities

 

The ore deposits

Average composition of the ore

utilization of the ore

 

Paragenesis of the minerals

 

Minerals of the pegmatite bodies

 

Minerals of the magnetite bodies

 

Minerals of the Franklin limestone

 

Minerals of the Kittatinny limestone

 

Minerals in the Zinc Ores

 

Genetic classification

 

Primary minerals

 

Minerals in the pegmatite contact zones

 

General features

 

Skarn and recrystallization products

 

Pneumatolytic products

 

Minerals of the hydrothermal veins

 

Minerals resulting from surface oxidation and other alteration

 

Origin of the zinc ore deposits

 

Igneous-injection hypothesis

 

Sedimentary- deposition hypothesis

 

Contact- metamorphism hypothesis

 

Hypothesis of replacement from magmatic solutions

 

Metasomatic- emplacement

 

 

The Ore Deposits

Average composition of the ore

The average mineral and chemical composition of the ore of the Franklin district, as established by many hundred mill and assay tests, is approximately as follows:


Average mineral and chemical
composition of the ore of the Franklin district

Mineral Composition

percent

franklinite

43

zincite

1

willemite

26

other silicates, such as garnet and rhodonite

5

calcite

25

 

100

Chemical Composition

percent

ZnO

31

FeO

25

MnO

10

SiO2

9

CaCO3

25

 

100

The data in the first column were kindly supplied by the New Jersey Zinc Company, with permission to publish them. The chemical composition was computed from them and is not exact, as some of the iron and manganese should be stated as sesquioxide.

In contrast to the rather simple mineral composition of the ore bodies as a whole are the number and variety of the minerals they contain in very minor amount. Of the more than 140 minerals found in the district, at least 120 are found in the zinc-ore deposits, and nearly 100 are found only in those deposits. (See list, below.) In the following sections the association of the minerals in groups according to their geologic occurrence is described, with special reference to the further grouping of the minerals in the zinc ores according to their genetic relations. In order to concentrate attention on the problem of the origin of the zinc ores, the minor mineral associations will be described first.

Alphabetic list of the minerals of the Franklin district, showing their geologic occurrence
(Occurrence in the zinc ores is indicated by A, in the pegmatite bodies by B, in the magnetite ores by C, in the Franklin limestone D, in the Kittatinny limestone by E. Minerals seen only as essential constituents of the rocks of the district are not included)

Actinolite – A, B, C, D.
Albite – A, D, E.
Allactite – A.
Allanite – B, C.
Andradite – A, B, C, D.
Anglesite A.
Anhydrite – A.
Anorthite – D.
Apatite – A, B, C, D
Apophyllite – A.
Aragonite – A.
Arseniosiderite – A.
Arsenopyrite – A, C, D, E.
Aurichalcite – A.
Azurite – A.
Barite – A.
Barylite – A.
Barysilite – A.
Bementite – A.
Beryllium vesuvianite – A.
Bornite – A.
Bustamite – A.
Cahnite – A.
Calamine – A.
Calciothomsonite – A.
Calcite – A, D, E.
Calcium larsenite – A.
Celestite – A.
Cerusite – B.
Chalcocite – A.
Chalcophanite – A.
Chalcopyrite – A, B, D.
Chloanthite – A.
Chlorite – A.
Chlorophoenicite – A.
Chondrodite – D.
Clinohedrite – A.
Copper – A.
Corundum – D.
Crocidolite – A.
Cuprite – A.
Cuspidine – A.
Cyprine – A.
Datolite– A.
Desaulesite – A.
Descloizite – A.
Diopside – A.
Dolomite – A, D.
Edenite – D.
Epidote – A, B, C.
Ferroaxinite – C.
Ferroschallerite – A.
Fluoborite – A.
Fluorite – A, B, D, E.
Fowlerite – A, B.
Franklinite – A.
Friedelite – A.
Gageite – A.
Gahnite – A, D.
Galena – A, B, D, E.
Ganophyllite – A.
Glaucochroite – A.
Goethite – A.
Graphite – D.
Greenockite – A.
Gypsum – A.
Halloysite – A.
Hancockite – A.
Hardystonite – A.
Hastingsite – A.
Hedyphane – A.
Hematite – A, D.
Hetaerolite – A.
Heulandite – A.
Hodgkinsonite – A, D.
Holdenite – A.
Hyalophane – A.
Hydrohetaerolite – A.
Hydrozincite – A.
Ilmenite – D.
Jeffersonite – A, B.
Kentrolite – A.
Larsenite – A.
Lead – A.
Leucaugite – A, C, D.
Leucophoenicite – A.
Limonite – A.
Lollingite – A.
Loseyite – A.
Magnesium chlorophoenicite – A.
Magnetite – A, B, C, D.
Malachite – A.
Manganbrucite – A.
Manganite – A.
Manganoaxinite – A.
Manganophyllite – A, C.
Manganosite – A.
Marcasite – D.
Margarosanite – A.
Mcgovernite – A.
Microcline – B, C.
Millerite – A.
Molybdenite – C, D.
Mooreite – A.
Muscovite – B, D.
Nasonite – A.
Neotocite – A.
Niccolite – A.
Norbergite – D.
Pargasite – A.
Pectolite – A.
Phlogopite – C, D.
Prehnite – A.
Psilomelane – A.
Pyrite – A, C, D.
Pyrochroite – A.
Pyrrhotite – D, E.
Quartz – A, B, D, E.
Rhodochrosite – A.
Roeblingite – A.
Roepperite – A, D.
Rutile – C, D.
Scapolite – C, D.
Schallerite – A.
Schefferite – A.
Serpentine – A.
Siderite – A.
Silver – A.
Smithsonite – A.
Sphalerite – A, B, E.
Spinel – B, C, D.
Stilbite – A, B.
Sussexite – A.
Svabite – A.
Talc – A, D.
Tennantite – A.
Tephroite – A.
Thorite – B.
Titanite – B, C, D.
Tourmaline – D.
Tremolite – A, D.
Willemite – A.
Xonotlite – A.
Zincite – A.
Zinc cummingtonite – A.
Zinc schefferite – A.
Zircon – B, C.
Zoisite – B.

 


 
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