J. T. Means Mine, Barnesville, Lamar County, Georgia, USAi

Regional Level Types
J. T. Means Mine	Mine
Barnesville	Town
Lamar County	County
Georgia	State
USA	Country

The J. T. Means mine is in southeastern Lamar County 7.2 miles S. 40° E. of Barnesville and half a mile southwest of Hainan Church. It is owned by H. S. Worsham, of Forsyth, and was operated in 1918 by J. E. Burleson. Later, until 1929, mining was carried on intermittently by Lambert and Phinazee. The larger, or southeastern, opening, which is 25 ft long, 4 to 8 ft wide, and 12 ft deep, was formed by the merging of two pits. A remnant of the partition between them remains as a pillar. The wall rock is mica gneiss whose foliation strikes east and dips 20° S. The pegmatite dike strikes N. 20° E., dips 75° E., and ranges in thickness from 4 to 8 ft. Its crest, which is exposed 8 ft beneath the rim of the south pit, plunges southwest at a moderate angle.

The pegmatite is an aggregate of unweathered feldspar and quartz in which 1- to 2-ft pods of massive white quartz occur. Small flakes of muscovite are scattered through the quartz-feldspar rock, and black tourmaline and biotite are accessory minerals. Crystals of glassy, bluish-green beryl as much as 2 in. in diameter are associated with the quartz pods. The mica is bright yellowish-olive flat-A material. Most of the larger books are associated with the quartz pods; some are said to have weighed as much as 75 lb. Small, ruled books of clear, light cinnamon brown mica also are present.

The smaller open-cut, which lies 300 ft N. 80° W. of the main cut, is 15 ft long, 8 ft wide, and partly filled with waste. A short drift extends to the south. The pegmatite sill, 3 to 4 ft thick, strikes N. 10° E. and dips 35° W. It contains a 2- to 12-in. smoky quartz rib that is fringed by coarsely crystalline muscovite. The wall zone consists of medium-grained feldspar-quartz pegmatite with accessory biotite and tourmaline. The mica is light yellowish olive and occurs in "A" books as much as 5 in. in diameter.

Fifty feet northeast of the pit is an area rich in muscovite and biotite float.