762 MINERAL RESOURCES.
It is of course difficult to say whether or not the sapphires could have been caught up by the augite-andesite from schists or other rocks cut through iu coming up, as may be seen in the case of the occurrences in the Eifel Laacher See at Unkel, and in Auvergne (Espailly), Prance.
During 1892 excavating and mining have been actively pushed on the property of the Ruby aud Sapphire Mining Company, under the superintendence of the 'well-known mining engineer, Mr. E. G. Wood, who, it is said, lays considerable stress on the placer gold that he hopes to find in connection with the sapphires. During 1892 none or few gems from this property have been placed on the American market, although they have been publicly shown in England, and several minor gems have been cut and their product placed on the New York market. Up to this time it is impossible to state whether the gem market of the world will accept these "fancy-colored" stones in quantity when the demand in the past has only been for the standard ruby and sapphire. A number of minor deposits have been found and considerable interest has been shown in the property adjoining that of the larger company. Various lots of gems have been sent to New York, but the sale for the year, including those sold by the Helena (Montana) jewelers, does not exceed perhaps $5,000, the sales generally being to tourists who are passing through or visiting Montana.
In October, 1892, the Montana Gold and Gem Mining Company was incorporated by some of the best known men in Helena. The property owned by the new company, comprising about 2,000 acres, is situated partly on Emerald Bar, about 15 miles from Helena, and partly at the mouth of Prickly Pear creek, covering 2 miles on both sides of the creek. The company proposes to mine for gold as well as for gems.
During the past year sapphires have also beeu found in Missoula county, 30 miles west of Phillipsburg, on the west fork of Rock creek, and 70 miles from the Missouri River locality. The sapphires obtained here are of yellow, blue, green, and other colors, associated-with garnets, pyropes, etc., occurring in a gravel bed which is 4 feet in depth down to the bed rock, and is overlaid by 3 feet of loam. The sapphires are all found in this bed, and appear to be exceedingly plentiful, from ten to twenty being found in every pan of the gravel. The colors are steely blue, green, yellow, and a few pink or reddish stones.
SPINEL.
Spinel fine enough to be cut into gems has but rarely been found in the United States. A few specimens of a smoky blue or velvety green, and of a dark-tinted claret color, weighing about 2 carats each, have been found near Hamburgh, Sussex county, New Jersey. Some half dozen from San Luis Obispo, California, of very good quality and of nearly 2 carats each, were brought to the notice of the writer by Mr. James W. Beath, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A locality believed to lie between Monroe and Southfield, in Orange county, New York, was known to only two collectors, both now deceased. They secretly
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