Catawba County.-In Catawba County the England, Peach Tree, and Shuford mines all produced small outputs of gold and silver during the year. The Catawba Gold Mining Company, operating the Shuford mine, continued trials of machinery preparatory to the erection of a plant for treatment at a low cost of surface ores. method of handling will include cable tramway, clam-shell excavator, trommels, crushers, rolls, riffles, and blankets.

The

Cleveland County.-In Cleveland County there was a small recovery of placer gold by the Carolinas Monazite Company after the concentration of monazite sands.

Davidson County.-In Davidson County both the Silver Valley and the Silver Hill mines were idle in 1908. The latter mine is one of the oldest and deepest in the State, and, with the Silver Valley mine, 5 miles to the northeast, has furnished the chief supply of lead-zinc ores of North Carolina. The ores are gold and silver bearing galena and blende, with smaller quantities of pyrite and chalcopyrite, and the country rock is of schist." The gossan was worked in the early days only for gold. The Emmons and Cid mines, of the Hercules Gold and Copper Company, were also idle in 1908. The former has been a producer of copper ores in recent years, and the company will probably resume operations. The Welborn mine did not produce in 1908.

Davie County.-The Gray mine, near Statesville, in Davie County, was operated for a short time only during the year, and no production was reported. The ore is wholly refractory.

Franklin County. In Franklin County the production from the Portis mine was small, work upon this property having been confined to prospecting and development.

Gaston County.-In Gaston County a small production resulted from the reworking of ore dumps of the old King's Mountain mine and from other surface operations.

Granville County.-The Blue Wing and Copper King mines of the Virgilina district in Granville County were idle during 1908. The Virgilina district, extending for 10 miles from Halifax County in Virginia across the state line into Granville and Person counties, N. C., has been described in detail by Weed' and Watson.

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Guilford County.-In Guilford County the Deep River, Fentress, Oak Hill, Palachian, and Pine Hill mines were also idle, but there was a small output from the Hudson mine, near High Point.

Jackson County.-There was no production reported from any of the gold and copper prospects in Jackson County in 1908, but there was some development work done at the Cullowhee copper mine, and a 30-ton smelter and a 10-ton lixiviation plant were reported in course of erection.

Macon County.-There was no production reported from Macon County. Some prospecting is, however, reported to have been in progress, which showed the presence of both gold and silver ores.

McDowell County.-In McDowell County there was a small output of placer gold.

a Kerr, W. C., and Hanna, George B., Ores of North Carolina: Geology of North Carolina, vol. 2, North Carolina Geol. Survey, 1888, pp. 193-199.

b Weed, W. H., Types of copper deposits in the Southern United States: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 30, 1901, pp. 452-470.

e Watson, T. L., Copper-bearing rocks of Virgilina copper district, Virginia and North Carolina: Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 13, 1902, pp. 353-376.

Mecklenburg County.-There was but little activity among the many old mines and prospects of Mecklenburg County during the year. A considerable amount of prospecting was done by the Southern Placer Mining Company, and there was a small production from the Catawba River dredge, the Yellow Dog mine, and from ores of the St. Catherine-Rudisil group near Charlotte, which were sent to the Haile plant for trial; but the Capps, Frederick, Grier, Johnson, and Surface Hill mines were idle practically throughout the year.

Montgomery County.-A small quantity of placer gold, chiefly as nuggets, came from surface mines, but the main production of gold from Montgomery County, and from North Carolina, was derived, as usual, from the Iola mine. This property, the second largest producer of gold in recent years of the Appalachian States, is near Candor, and along the line of strike of the Montgomery and Golconda veins. Although one of the newest mines in the State, having been worked for only about eight years, the production in gold from this mine is already considerably over $300,000, a respectable showing in the Eastern States. The mine has been most recently described by Hafer and Lyon. The development has been mainly by 4 shafts and 5 levels, and the plant for treating the ore has been gradually increased until a 40-stamp mill, with concentrators and a 40-ton cyanide capacity, have been reached. The country rock has been described as a greenstone of slaty character, probably a sheared andesite," by Lyon, and the vein from 2 to 6 feet wide seems to have been quartz at the surface, but a "slaty quartzite ore carrying some lime spar" in depth. The gold has been found free for the greater part in the vein, but the walls are impregnated with pyrites. The ore has been found in shoots and seems to have been particularly profitable near the surface, although Lyon states that in the two lowest levels, 255 and 327 feet deep, north and south from the No. 1 shaft, the richest ore in the mine has been found. The company recently underwent reorganization, but the output reported for 1908 was somewhat higher than in the two preceding years.

Moore County.-The Laufman mine and the properties of the Elise Mining Company, near Hemp, in Moore County, were not operated during 1908, and there was no production reported by the Argo Mining Company from their Nash County mines.

Orange County.-In Orange County, however, the Robertson mine, of the North State Mining Company, made a small output from the 10-stamp concentrating mill. The development work, begun in June, 1908, included a shaft 120 feet deep and 350 feet of drifts. The mill was only started up at the close of the year.

Person and Polk counties.-In Person County little was done in the Durgy and other mines of the Virgilina mining district; and in Polk County the Red Springs and Weatherby mines were idle, the production being confined to a small quantity of placer gold.

Randolph County.-In Randolph County there was no production in 1908 from the Boson, Empire, Redding, or Southern Homestake mines. The latter property, though but slightly developed, was equipped with a 100-ton milling and cyaniding plant only to prove disappointing by reason of low-grade ores and insufficient development of large bodies of them. A shut down followed the failure of the

a Hafer, Claud, op. cit., pp. 332-333.

Lyon, E. W., op. cit., pp. 295–296.

ores to pay for an expensive and apparently too hastily erected mill. The Scarlett copper mine has been practically closed since the fall in price of copper in 1907.

Rowan County.-In Rowan County the Gold Coin mine, of the Southern Mining Company, at Gold Hill, produced a small output of gold from the operation for two weeks of the 10-stamp concentrating mill. The main shaft is 180 feet deep, and about 700 feet of underground work was reported for 1908. The Park mine was shut down, and the well-known Union mines were closed. The Gold Hill mines were worked but a short time, pending reorganization of the company operating them, but produced some gold, silver, and copper. The failure in 1908 of these important copper mines of Gold Hill to make their usual important output greatly curtailed the copper production of the State. The Union copper mines have been recently described by Ledoux and the Gold Hill mines in general by Weed.

In

Rutherford and Stanley counties.-There was a small placer production in Rutherford County, and the Double Branch mine yielded a small output of gold from ore obtained in development work. Stanley County, also, there was but a small placer production in 1908. Swain County-There was no output reported from the Everett mine of the North Carolina Copper Mining Company in Swain County during the year.

Union and other counties.-In Union County production was confined to a small output of gold from prospecting the Davis mine, near Matthews, operated by the Winona Mining Company. The Phifer mine, on the Price tract of the holdings of this company, and the Black, Brewer, Indian Trail, and Union Mining and Milling Company mines, were all idle in 1908. There was also no production reported from any of the mines or prospects in Warren, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yadkin counties during the year.

PENNSYLVANIA.

There have been few deposits of copper, lead, or zinc ores yet proved to be of economical importance in Pennsylvania, and no gold or silver ores are known to occur, although gold was found in small quantities, according to Wherry, in chalcopyrite occurring in the traps. Associated with the "Red Beds" of the Triassic in southeastern Pennsylvania, however, from Reading through parts of Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties to Delaware River, are a number of occurrences of low-grade copper ores, and there have been numerous attempts since colonial times, unsuccessful on the whole, to mine some of them at a profit. These deposits are similar in most respects to those in New Jersey of similar origin and age. These copper deposits have been recently described by Lymand and Wherry. The lead-zinc deposits at Phoenixville, in Chester County, at Audubon, in Montgomery County, and at New Galena, in Bucks

a Ledoux, A. R., The Union Copper Mines, Gold Hill, North Carolina: Eng. & Min. Jour., vol. 69, 1900, pp. 167-170.

b Weed, W. H., Types of copper deposits in the Southern United States; II. The Gold Hill Type: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 30, 1901, pp. 470-479.

e Wherry, E. T., The Newark copper deposits of southeastern Pennsylvania: Econ. Geol., vol. 3, 1908, pp. 732-733.

d Lyman, B. S., Copper traces in Bucks and Montgomery counties: Jour. Franklin Inst., vol. 146, 1898, pp. 416-423. op. cit.

e Wherry, E. T.,

α

County, though appearing in the area of the "Red Beds," are of somewhat different type, being in fissure veins mainly in the underlying gneiss, associated with granitic intrusives and cutting trap dikes, and therefore younger than them, according to Rogers, but being cut by the traps, according to Wherry. The Wheatley mine, near Phoenixville, was extensively worked from 1800 to 1853 and was favorably reported upon by Rogers at the latter date. There has been no production known from it, however, in the last fifty years. Copper is found again in the "Red Beds" of Adams County and in the ancient metamorphic rocks of South Mountain, extending through Adams and Franklin counties into Maryland, and small quantities of the metal were obtained from shallow workings many years ago.

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In Lancaster County, near Landisville, is the old Bamford silverlead-zinc mine, described by Spilsbury as a bedded deposit between white and blue Silurian limestones. This mine was first prospected in 1845 and was extensively worked for zinc oxide and spelter at various times to 1877. Ore-dressing machinery was imported from Wales, and smelting furnaces of the Belgian type were erected. In this county also is the Gap mine, near the town of that name, worked for copper prior to 1744 at various times and by various companies up to 1852, but usually at a loss. In the latter year the presence of nickel ore was discovered by Genth, and fresh attempts were made to work the new ore, but not successfully until in 1862 Joseph Wharton made mines and smelter a success and became the largest producer of nickel in America. The ore is nickeliferous and cupriferous pyrrhotite, found along the contact between a lens of intrusive amphibolite and pre-Cambrian schists. The mine has been abandoned since 1893.

In Lehigh County, near Friedensville, are the old Ueberroth, Hartman, and Saucon zinc mines of the Lehigh Zinc Company, in the magnesian limestone of Chazy age. The ores are sphalerite, and the oxidized products, calamine and smithsonite. These mines were important producers from 1853 to 1876, but have had little production since, although there are occasional statements that they will be reopened. A high grade of spelter was produced.

The only production from Pennsylvania of gold, silver, copper, lead, or zinc, reported in 1908 was that of copper and a small quantity of gold from the reconcentration of tailings resulting from the magnetic dressing of the magnetite ores of the Cornwall mine in Lebanon County. The ores and ore body have been recently described by

a Rogers, H. D., The geology of Pennsylvania, vol. 2, Philadelphia, 1858, pp. 699–705. Wherry, E. T., op. cit., pp. 736-737.

e Frazer, P., Appendix: Second Geol. Survey Pennsylvania, Vol. CCC, 1880, pp. 299-303; also The geology and the copper deposits of Adams County, Pa.: Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 35, 1883, p. 112.

d Henderson, C. H., The copper deposits of South Mountain: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 12, 1884, pp. 85-90.

Bascom, F., The ancient volcanic rocks of South Mountain, Pa.: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 136, 1896, pp. 25-27.

e Spilsbury, E. G., in The geology of Lancaster County, by Persifor Frazer: Second Geol. Survey Pennsylvania, Vol. CCC, 1880, pp. 198-203.

1 Doble, Charles, in The geology of Lancaster County, by Persifor Frazer: Second Geol. Survey of Pennsylvania, Vol. CCC, 1880, pp. 163-168.

Kemp, J. F., The nickel mine at Lancaster Gap, Pennsylvania, and the pyrrhotite deposits at Anthonys Nose, on the Hudson: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 24, 1884, pp. 620-630; also Ore deposits of the United States and Canada, 5th ed., N. Y., 1903, pp. 432-434.

Drinker, H. S., The mines and works of the Lehigh Zinc Company: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 1, 1871-1873, pp. 67-75.

Kemp, J. F., Ore deposits of the United States and Canada, 5th ed., N. Y., 1903, pp. 250-251.

Spencer. The Cornwall deposit is a metasomatic replacement of Paleozoic limestones, and lies near the northern edge of the Triassic rocks in close association with intrusive sheets of diabase. This great ore body has yielded more than 21,000,000 tons of iron ore since 1853. The ore is mainly magnetite, with which occur small quantities of pyrite and chalcopyrite, and it is from the concentration of these latter minerals in the tailings that the production of copper was obtained. Analyses show the presence of from 0.005 to 0.599 per cent of metallic copper in the crude ore. Experimental shipments of copper concentrates will probably lead to the regular production of copper as a by-product.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

The production of South Carolina in 1908, as compared with that of 1907, showed a decrease of 50.80 fine ounces in quantity and of $1,050 in value of gold, but an increase of 102 fine ounces in quantity and of $38 in value of silver, and of 1,600 pounds in quantity and of $211 in value of copper. The total production of gold was 2,598.46 fine ounces valued at $53,715; the output of silver was 226 fine ounces valued at $120; and the production of copper was 1,600 pounds valued at $211. The value of the total production for 1908 was $54,046, as compared with a corresponding value of $54,847 for 1907. The production reported for 1908 was from 2 placers and 5 deep mines. During 1907 there were 5 placers and but 1 deep mine reporting production. The total quantity of ore reported from deep mines was 16,795 short tons, of which 16,776 tons were of siliceous gold ore yielding 2,556.28 fine ounces of gold and 65 fine ounces of silver, or an average extraction of $3.15 in value of gold and silver per ton treated; and 19 tons were of copper ores yielding 3 fine ounces of gold, 65 fine ounces of silver, and 1,600 pounds of copper, or an average value of precious metals of $7.53 per ton.

The crystalline rocks of the Appalachian gold belt cover the greater part of the northwestern third of South Carolina, but the producing gold and copper mines of the area are relatively few. Of the gold belts given by Nitze for North Carolina, as mentioned above, the last four cross over into South Carolina, where, however, Graton distinguishes two belts fairly well defined and Sloan indicates 13 mineral "zones.' Of the three belts described by Becker d in the southern Appalachians the South Mountain belt may be considered as extending into Spartanburg County, S. C., and the Carolina belt to include the greater part of the gold mines of the State to the east of this. The rocks mainly containing the ore deposits are considered by Graton as pre-Cambrian and by Becker and Nitze and Hanna as of Algonkian age. The ore deposits are of two general typesfissure veins of quartz, chiefly containing gold and pyrites and less

a Spencer, A. C., Magnetite deposits of the Cornwall type in Berks and Lebanon counties, Pa.: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 315, 1907, pp. 185-189; also, Magnetite deposits of the Cornwall type in Pennsylvania: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 359, 1908.

b Graton, L. C., Reconnaissance of some gold and tin deposits of the southern Appalachians: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 293, 1906, p. 110.

c Sloan, Earle, Catalogue of the mineral localities of South Carolina: South Carolina Geol. Survey, ser. 4, Bull. No. 2, 1908, pp. 409-412.

d Becker, G. F., op. cit., pp. 6-7.

e Graton, L. C., op. cit., p. 31.

f Becker, G. F., op. cit., p. 260.

Nitze, H. B. C., and Hanna, G. B., op. cit.. p. 44.