The rocks that make up the Shady represent sediment deposition on and around an ancient carbonate platform.

[9][10][11] The initial carbonate sedimentation of the Shady began on the southern shelf of Laurentia and formed on top of the siliciclastic sequence that now make up the rocks of the Chilhowee Group.

[10][11] Lead and zinc ore bodies of the Austinville-Ivanhoe District occur in the Shady Dolomite in the vicinity of Austinville, Virginia.

Formation of the ore deposits likely occurred when warm and saline groundwater moved through the Shady in the Late Paleozoic during the Alleghanian orogeny.

[15] During the American Civil War, lead from these mines was used to make ammunition for the Confederate States of America.