Acid mine drainage where the ore is a sulfide mineral or is associated with pyrite. In these cases the predominant metal ion may not be iron but rather zinc, copper, or nickel. The most commonly mined ore of copper, chalcopyrite, is itself a copper-iron-sulfide and occurs with a range of other sulfides. Thus, copper mines are often major culprits of acid mine drainage. At some mines, acidic drainage is detected within 2–5 years after mining begins, whereas at other mines, it is not detected for several decades. In addition, acidic drainage may be generated for decades or centuries after it is first detected.
Thicketty Mountain Ore Pits (38CK74) Register of Historic Places in 1987. Thicketty Mountain Ore Pits (38CK74) Thicketty Mountain Ore Pits (38CK74) is a historic archaeological site located near Shady Grove Church, Cherokee County, South Carolina. The site includes iron ore pits associated with the South Carolina Manufacturing Company, a major iron manufacturing company that operated in Spartanburg County between about 1825 and about 1850. The iron ore pits or surface mines cover several forested acres along a gently sloping ridge and are generally depressions about two to three meters deep and about five to ten meters across. The pits were last operational in the 1850s.