Trail Ridge

Location: Florida, United States (30.236, -82.063 approx.)

Commodities: zirconium; hafnium; titanium; rare earth elements (in heavy minerals); uranium; thorium; niobium; zinc; titanium; beryllium; tin; tantalum; lead; strontium

Deposit model: coastal heavy-mineral sands

Geology

The major heavy-mineral ore body of Trail Ridge occurs east of Starke and north of Keystone Heights. This commercial zone is approximately 17 miles long, from 1 to 2 miles wide, and averages 35 feet in thickness. It extends downward to a maximum depth of about 65 feet below the land surface. The sand of the ore body contains an average of 4 percent heavy minerals (specific gravity greater than 2.9) of which 45 percent are the titanium minerals--ilmenite, leucoxene, and rutile. Other heavy minerals include staurolite, zircon, kyanite, sillimanite, tourmaline, spinel, topaz and corundum. Descriptions and relative percentages of the heavy minerals are given by Spencer (1948). Ilmenite, the blacker and more magnetic titanium mineral, contains 62 to 70 percent TiO2 (Grogan et al., 1964, p. 207). Leucoxene, an alteration product of ilmenite, is lighter colored, less magnetic, and contains from 70 to 95 percent TiO2. Ruffle, TiO•, occurs in relatively small amounts. These titanium minerals and zircon are the principal ore minerals of the deposit. Trail Ridge consists of 3 deposits: Trail Ridge in the south, Highland in the center, and Maxville to the north (Elsner, 1997). (Elsner (1997)) ….before that start of mining in 1949 the Trail Ridge ore body was not only the biggest h.m. deposit of the Atlantic coastal plain….but one of the five biggest h.m. placer deposits in the world (Elsner (1997)) ….before that start of mining in 1949 the Trail Ridge ore body [includes the Maxville Zone] was not only the biggest h.m. deposit of the Atlantic coastal plain….but one of the five biggest h.m. placer deposits in the world (Elsner (1997)) ….before that start of mining in 1949 the Trail Ridge ore body [includes the Highland Zone] was not only the biggest h.m. deposit of the Atlantic coastal plain….but one of the five biggest h.m. placer deposits in the world (Elsner (1997))

Published resource estimates

As compiled by USGS USMIN from the cited studies. Resource classes follow the source; "approximate" flags values USMIN reports as approximations. These are not current company reserve statements.

Exploration and site history

• Active — Produced ilmenite, residue and staurolite, 1949–2017 (Elsner (1997))
• Active — Produced ilmenite, residue, zircon and staurolite, 1993–2017 (Elsner (1997))
• Active — Produced ilmenite, residue, zircon and staurolite, 1955–2017 (Elsner (1997))

Record imported from USGS USMIN ver. 4.0 (June 2019). Developments after that date appear on facility records, not here; see the methodology.