Maps showing mines, prospects, and mineral sites in the Tray Mountain Roadless Area and vicinity, Northern Georgia

The Tray Mountain Roadless Area, a 36,300-acre tract in the Chattahoochee National Forest, northeastern Georgia, lies within the Blue Redge physiographic province.  The roadless area is composed of Precambrian(?)-age metamorphic rocks from two tectonic units, the Hayesville thrust sheet and the "Helen belt" (Nelson, 1982) (fig. 1).  The Hayesville thrust sheet consists mostly of biotite gneiss and schist, fine-grained biotite-feldspar gneiss, metasandstone, quartzite, and amphibolite; ultramafic bodies, some granitic gneiss, and small pegmatites are also present.  The Helen belt contains mostly metagraywacke, metasandstone, quartzite, graphite schist, amphibolite, some ultramafic bodies, and granitic gneiss.

Two "gold belts" and an area of mineralization associated with ultramafic rocks are on lands adjacent to the roadless area.  Mining within the roadless area has not been extensive, and there is no current mineral activity in the surrounding region.