Copyright May 2014, Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg, NJ
SterlingHillMiningMuseum.org
Mineral, Rock, and Sediment
Resources of New Jersey
Despite its small size–the 4th-smallest state in the union—New Jersey is quite rich in mineral
resources and until the latter half of the 20th century had a vigorous mining industry, centered
mostly on iron and zinc. Iron from mines in Sussex and Morris Counties was used to make
cannonballs for George Washington’s army during our nation’s battle for independence. By an
act of Congress, zinc from the mine at Franklin was used in 1936 to make brass for the first set
of national standards for length, mass, and capacity. Local zinc was also important to the Allies
during World War II, when the mines at Franklin and Sterling Hill operated around the clock to
produce zinc to make brass for shell casings. Meanwhile, a vigorous glass industry was once
centered around deposits of pure sand in southern New Jersey, and extensive deposits of clay
along New Jersey’s eastern shore were home to a large number of brick and pottery works. The
lists below barely hint at the storied legacy of more than three centuries of mining in our state.
Mineral resources
Barite (one mine only, near Hopewell)
Copper (several dozen mines)
Feldspar (never mined, but a fine ceramic-grade deposit exists in Franklin)
Graphite (about 14 mines)
Iron (> 400 mines, but most old, and none currently in production)
Lead (old mine on maps of Stokes State Forest, but no sign of lead minerals at locality, and no
info on production, even though area was in fact mined)
Manganese (one mine)
Mica (four mines, one in Warren County)
Ochre (for paint)
Rare earth minerals (Bemco mines, Cranberry Lake area)
Silver (one mine reported in Stokes State Forest, but unlikely any silver ever produced)
Zinc (two large and famous mines, at Franklin and Sterling Hill)
Uranium (prospects only)
Rock resources
Conglomerate (Green Pond conglomerate)
Gneiss (construction aggregate)
Ironstone (construction stone in Pine Barrens area)
Limestone (for cement, dimension stone, and facing stone)
Marble (soil amendment for acidic soils; decorative garden rock; putty)
Sandstone (“brownstone”) (used as building stone)
Slate (roofing shingles, blackboards, pool tables, paving stone, washtubs, gravestones)
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Copyright May 2014, Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg, NJ
SterlingHillMiningMuseum.org
Serpentine (Klein quarry near Phillipsburg, Warren County; Gordon quarry near Montville,
Morris County; Sanders quarry near Mendham; decorative facing stone)
Traprock (basalt, diabase) (used as construction aggregate, e.g. roadbeds, railroad ballast)
Sediment resources
Baseball rubbing mud (a New Jersey exclusive)
“Black sands” (titanium resource)
Clay (pottery, bricks)
Cobbles (minor, but locally used as building stone in cobblestone houses)
Foundry sand
Glass sand
Greensand
Lignite (present, but probably never mined)
Peat (mined at Lafayette Meadows) and black soil (Pequest River valley in Warren County;
Wallkill River valley in Sussex County, NJ and Orange County, NY)
Sand and gravel (for concrete and fill)
Other
Agricultural soils (“Garden State”; loess; also discuss Drowned Lands)
Groundwater (greatest resource of all)
Collectible minerals (Franklin-Sterling Hill minerals, Paterson area zeolites)
Fossils (inc. amber; also mastodon, dinosaurs, petrified wood, belemnites, etc.)
Gemstones (carnelian, willemite, zincite, agate, amber)
Comment: In contrast to the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, there is no coal or oil in New
Jersey; we are missing strata of the appropriate age.
Note: At beginning of presentation, explain difference between renewable and nonrenewable
resources. Nearly everything on the above list falls into the latter category.
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