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1046
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MINERAL RESOURCES, 1912.
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of
a pit, about 75 feet long in an east and west direction and 40 feet
wide, and a shaft to the east of the pit. The pit was formed by the
caving in of old shafts and tunnels. The shaft was made by the American
Gem & Pearl Co., of New York, during the last decade and is
reported to be 90 feet deep with a 40-foot drift at the 55-foot level.
At opening No. 2 there is a pond about 50 feet wide and 150 feet long
in an east and west direction, showing the surface area of the old
work. It is reported that the deepest work here was a shaft 150 feet
deep.
Present
exposures of vein and country rock around the vein are I very poor, and
geologic observations are therefore limited. The country rock is
biotite schist and gneiss characterized by the presence of considerable
feldspar. An exposure of a slightly garnetiferous phase of this gneiss
on the hillside between the two openings showed a strike of N. 55° W.
and a dip of 20° NE. The extension of the workings indicates nearly
parallel veins striking about east and west. Fontaine considers
openings No. 1 and No. 2 on the same deposit, but calls attention to
the difference of mineral associations in each. The impression gamed by
the present writer is that the two deposits are not connected, at least
not near the surface.
The
veins are pegmatite of somewhat unusual composition and texture for the
southern Appalachian region. The normal minerals of pegmatite are
present, but they occur in great variety associated with other minerals
of interest as gems or specimens. Quartz occurs both in large and small
irregular masses and in crystals ranging from small ones to those
weighing 8 or 10 pounds. The ordinary quarts is glassy and opaque gray
and the crystals are semitransparent to clear white, colorless, or
smokv brown. The mica is muscovito of fine quality, with a clear
light-brownish color in sheets a millimeter or more thick. Large
quantities of fine stove mica were obtained during mining operations,
and sheets measuring 22 by 24 inches are reported to have been cut from
some of the crystals.
The
variety of feldspars is unusual for a single pegmatite deposit. Potash
feldspar occurs chiefly as miciocline of gray-white, bluish-green, and
green colors. In some of this material the colors are bright and the
mineral is slightly translucent and yields fine grades of amazon stone
for gem and ornamental use. Fontaine states that most of the amazon
stone came from opening No. 2, but the later work of the American Gem
& Pearl Co. for this mineral was at No. 1. Several thousand pounds
of fine grade amazon stone, worth as many thousand dollars, is reported
to have been obtained during this work, as well as considerable mica
and other specimen minerals. Amazon stone of less attractive colors was
found in masses of several pounds weight. In some of these masses
considerable mica was intergrown. The mica plates range up to 2 inches
in diameter. The other feldspars are albite and probably oligoclase.
The albite occurs in clusters of white to colorless tabular crystals as
much as half an inch in thickness and 3 inches in length. These
crystals are grouped at various angles to one another and furnish
beautiful cabinet specimens. Three large fine clusters 'of these albite
crystals are held in the industrial office of the Southern Railway Co.
in Washington, D. C. The largest of these measures probably 18 inches
in length, 14 inches in width, and 12 inches in thickness. It is
somewhat dome-shaped and is composed of beautiful clear and white
interlocking tabular
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