Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 28

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I > Part 28

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BROWN IRON ORES IN FLOYD COUNTY.

As in the case of the Polk county limestone, so the deposits of Floyd county belong to the Knox series. Entering Floyd county from Polk, the belt from Etna continues northeast, and, with many breaks, does it extend across the country among the Knox ridges eastward of Van's valley. This region is more broken than in Polk county, exposing more ore beds; but they are of inferior size. The ore is also frequently seen among the cherty ridges. Of the property lying between Cave Spring and Rome, on which the ore beds occur, that of Dr. Montgomery, north of Cave Spring, on lot 620, where the ore is mined, may be mentioned as a type.

The Little Cedar creek belt enters Floyd county, and extensive deposits in this belt crop out on the properties of Maj. James M. Couper, of Atlanta. Continuing onward, the features of the country are rounded adjacent to Cedar creek, and there is a considerable number of ore banks. Mr. J. W. Asbury's lot, about two miles northeast of Cave Spring, has an extensive bank situated in the valley. Near by, ore occurs on the land of Mr. Wiggins (lot 948), on that of Mr. Simmons (lots 923 and 924), and on other properties. Ore also occurs near the creek, on the farms of Messrs. Roberts and J. R. Scott; but it is here associated with much chert. In the district northeast of Cave Spring, near Six-Mile Station, there is an ore-bearing ridge, on the farm of Mr. Gibson. Again, ore is found in many places near the western Knox ridges; and, in some cases, the deposits are large.

On lot 692 and adjacent properties there is a large development of brown ore. Further south, on the Cave Spring road, a large outcropping of siliceous brown ore occurs, just back of New Prospect church. It also outcrops at the top of the red ridge back of this church. This ore occurs on R. S. Brammon's land (lot 14, twenty-second district); and, near J. A. Howell's bauxite beds, large deposits occur on lot 610, twenty-second district.

Near Seney are several brown ore deposits, of greater or less importance, and the same is the case in the vicinity of Silver Creek postoffice. Between Spring and Silver creeks, large deposits of ore are found on the lands of Dr. Boyd, Messrs. C. Ivens, T. Cochrane, L. Mathews, S. Hoffman and J. B. Alexander. The valley of Spring creek forms another belt of ores. This is a continuation of the Long Station belt in Polk county. Several deposits occur about Chulio, and large deposits east of Rounsaville, passing into Bartow county. On the Blastock and other properties, I-13

194

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

north of the Etowah river, and in the northeastern corner of the county, adjacent to Armstrong mountain, many deposits of the ore occur, forming a continuous belt.

THE BROWN IRON ORES OF BARTOW COUNTY.

In the western part of this county, the brown iron ores of the Knox Dolomite series occur, mostly near the Floyd county line. North of the river, the largest developments are adjacent to, and mostly west of, the Western & Atlantic R. R. The country is broken by ridges; but these are continuations from Polk and Floyd counties. A few miscellaneous ore deposits in the central part of this county cannot be correlated with the other belts, except that they are a part of the Knox Dolomite series. The Spring Creek belt enters Bartow southwest of Rounsaville. Extensive beds are found near Ligon, and the ore is in abundance, the conditions being similar to those at Cedartown. North of the Etowah river, in Tom's creek valley, the ore occurs in an excess of chert. West of Linwood and west of Adairsville, and in the Connesenna valley, ore crops out at many places, at some of these in considerable quantity. Small quantities of the ore occur in the upper part of Cedar creek in the northeast part of the county, and near Roger's station (W. & A. R. R.). In the Petty's creek valley, about five miles north of Cartersville, brown iron ore covers some of the Knox Dolomite ridges. The brown ores are extensive in the eastern part of the county; but they belong to the semi-crystalline rocks, on the border between the Crystalline Belt and the Paleozoic Group. As an instance of the importance of this group of brown ores, it may be stated, that, between Oct. 1, 1890, and Nov. 1, 1891, one company alone shipped 30,000 tons of the ore.

BROWN IRON ORES OF GORDON, MURRAY, WHITFIELD, CATOOSA, CHAT- TOOGA, WALKER AND DADE COUNTIES.

In Gordon, Murray, Whitfield, Catoosa, Chattooga, Walker and Dade counties, brown iron ores of the Knox Dolomite series are found in small quantities; but, as yet, no extensive deposits have been discovered. A peculiar brown ore, which is pseudo-specular, with smooth surface and sub-metallic luster, belonging to the Deaton ore series, occurs in the ferruginous rocks extending from a point east of Varnell to the Tennessee line, and are to be seen at the Catoosa company's property, one and a half miles from Varnell, and near Red Clay, on the land of Mr. W. K. Sheddon.

In the extreme southeastern part of Walker county, sub-carboniferous brown ores occur in large quantities, upon the east side of Horn's mountain, extending into Gordon county, west of Sugar valley. These ores also occur upon the western side of Big Texas valley; and similar ore is seen at many points, where the Fort Payne chert comes to the surface, as at Fox Ridge. "

The following analyses of some of the brown iron ores will be of interest:

CEDARTOWN AND FISH CREEK ORES.

II.

Silica

8.01

15.95

Alumina

13.21

17.0I

Iron Sesquioxide

70.57

57.00

Lime ..

1.27

1.13

Magnesia.

0.42

0.22

Manganese

0.12

0.93

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INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES.

I. II.

Phosphoric acid.

0.58

2.17

Water .

5.01

4.88

Iron, metallic

.49.40

39.90

Manganese .

0.09

0.72

Phosphorus .

0.253

0.949

I. Roasted ore from the Grady Bank. II. Roasted ore from Peek's Bank.

ETNA ORES.

Iron Sesquioxide

81.26

Manganese Sesquioxide

0.43

Alumina

I.12

Lime

6.12

Silica

5.79

Water

11.45

Phosphorus

0.05

Sulphur

0.01

100.23

Metallic iron

56.88

DEATON MINE.

III.

Metallic iron

49.800

Silica

12.030

Phosphorus

0.287

Linie

.Trace

Alumina

9.040

In 1890, of the brown ores from the Knox series, 200,000 tons were shipped outside the state. Besides this quantity, about 60,000 tons were consumed in furnaces in the districts. Many of the deposits are too far from the railway, as yet to be brought into market.

Yellow Ocher .- Yellow Ocher of very good quality occurs at Rockmart and at Cartersville. Ocher works have recently been established at Rockmart for the manufacture of paint from these ferruginous clays, and at Cartersville an estab- lishment has been in operation for some years. It is to be regretted that these deposits have not, as yet, been surveyed, and for this reason fuller data cannot be given.

MAGNETITE.

Magnetite is iron proto-sesquioxide, and has a composition of: Metallic iron, 72.4; Oxygen, 27.6, equalling 100.0. This mineral, which is commonly called magnetic iron ore, is iron-black in color, and has a metallic luster splendent to sub-metallic. Its hardness is from 5.5 to 6.5, and the specific gravity of the crystals is from 5.168 to 5.180. It crystallizes in the Isometric system, and is usually found, when in crystals, as octahedrons. There are six varieties known to mineralogists, only one of which is common. This is what is known as magnetic iron ore, or ordinary magnetite, occurring in massive crystals, and as loose sand. When

196

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

massive, it ranges from very coarse to fine granular, and the sand is what is known as black sand, usually found in the pannings from placer gold mines. It is also found in places where rocks have decomposed, leaving the fine magnetic crystals unchanged. Magnetic iron ore is in great demand for the making of steel, and inany occurrences of it, extensively worked, are to be found in the United States. In Georgia it is found in a number of places in the Crystalline Belt, but principally in two belts extending across the state, one along the west base of the Blue Ridge, from a point where it enters the state from North Carolina, passing through Gilmer, Cherokee and Cobb counties. The other follows the Chattahoochee ridge along its entire length. This ore also occurs, in scattered fragments, over large areas. It is so abundant in some places, where little or no prospecting has been done, as to point to the probable existence of large deposits. There is said to be a large deposit of it near the city of Atlanta.

LEAD.

Lead occurs in Georgia, as galena, in a number of widely separated localities, both in the Crystalline Belt of middle and northeast Georgia, and in the Paleozoic formation of northwest Georgia. Galena, the most common ore of lead, contains : Lead, 86.6; sulphur, 13.4, equalling 100.0. It belongs to the Isometric system, and usually occurs as cubo-octahedrons. It has a highly perfect cubic cleavage, and readily breaks into cubes. Its color is lead-gray, and its luster metallic. Its hardness ranges from 2.5 to 2.75, and its specific gravity is from 7.4 to 7.6. It occurs at the Magruder gold mine, in Lincoln County, Ga., associated with gold, silver and chalcopyrite, and other gold mines in that section of the state. It is also associated with gold near Cartersville, and with silver and chalcopyrite it is found at the west of the Cohutta mountains, in Murray county. It is found in considerable quantity in Wilkes county, disseminated in quartz. In small quantities it occurs in a limestone bluff on the side of the road running from Toccoa to Clarkesville, in Habersham county; also in Union, Fannin, Floyd, Bartow and Catoosa counties. At Graysville, in Catoosa county, a small vein was exposed by a cut in the Western & Atlantic R. R. Again, in this county, five or six miles northeast of Ringgold, it occurs in a sandstone ridge. In Bartow, small quantities have been found associ- ated with barite.

COPPER.

Several species of the compounds of this metal are found in Georgia, especially in the counties of Union, Towns, Fannin, Cherokee, Paulding, Harralson, Carroll, Murray, Fulton, Lincoln and Greene. It has been found native with its compounds at the Magruder mine, in Lincoln county. The principal copper mineral occurring in Georgia is chalcopyrite, a double sulphide of iron and copper. As such it occurs in veins in Fannin county, being an extension of the celebrated Ducktown deposits, across the state line in North Carolina. It is said that these deposits in Fannin are equally as rich as those at Ducktown, and would pay well for working. The veins can be traced for several miles. They have also been worked to some extent near the North Carolina border. A copper vein has been opened up on the top of the Blue ridge, in Lumpkin county. This vein can be traced several miles northeast and southwest, following the trend of the mountains. At the Canton mine, in Cherokee county, cantonite and harrisite are found associated with chalcopyrite, which is mined for copper. Chalcopyrite is also mined by the Paulding Copper company, at Dallas, Paulding Co .; by the Tallapoosa Mining company, in Harralson county, and it is found at other localities in Lumpkin,

197

INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES.

Fannin, Towns, Fulton, Carroll, Murray, Greene, Lincoln, Habersham and Rabun counties. In the latter good mineral specimens have been found.

SILVER.

This metal has been found associated with ores of lead, copper and gold in many localities; but not in sufficient quantity for profitable mining, except as a bi-product. It is said to have been found in the form of native silver; but it is usually contained, as a sulphide, in galena. It is exceedingly rare to find galena which does not contain at least a small percentage of silver. The prin- cipal localities for silver are given under the subject, "lead." Many stories of rich deposits of silver in the northern portion of the state have had free circulation; but they have usually been traced to peripatetic self-styled experts, who have come into the state as adventurers, and who have been able to get a sufficient number of people to believe their stories, and thereby create some excitement, from time to time.

GOLD.

Gold has been found in paying quantities in certain belts in the great Crys- talline area, running northeast and southwest. Two of these are continuous · across the state, coming in from North and South Carolina, and continuing into Alabama. It is probable that when field surveys have been made, and sufficient judicious prospecting has been done, other belts will be found to be continuous, though at present they are arranged by irregular patches, usually lying parallel to the large belts referred to. Investigations are now being carried on by the geological survey of the state, which, when finished, will give the proper areas in which gold is found in paying quantities. Of the two large belts referred to, one enters the state in Rabun county, and passes through Habersham, White, Lumpkin, Dawson, Forsyth, Cherokee, Cobb, Paulding and Carroll counties. The other enters Habersham from South Carolina, and passes through Hall, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Milton, DeKalb, Fulton, Campbell, Fayette, Coweta, Meri- wether and Troup counties. In the first of these is located the noted locality lying in and around Dahlonega; also the well-known mines of White county and Cherokee. In the latter is the Franklin mine, which is so well known. Another important but short belt, coming into the state on the line between Columbia and Lincoln counties, runs into McDuffee and Warren. The mines of this belt have produced over $1,000,000. The gold fields north of the Chatta- hoochee river were the first discovered in the state, and they have been the most extensively worked. As indicated above, the other gold belts in the state have been imperfectly prospected; and in extensive areas, where gold may be expected to occur, it has not been looked for at all. Prospecting with the pick, pan and shovel ceased to a great extent at the outset of the California excitement. The mining operations now conducted are on a more extensive scale than they were when the pioneers ceased work; and, when modern improvements in machinery and methods of working are introduced into the state, much better results may be expected. There are very few places in the crystalline area of the state where gold may not be found in more or less quantity. In 1882, according to the report of the director of the United States mint for that year, Georgia produced gold as follows:

Rabun county

$ 10,000

White county . 25,000

Lumpkin county

225,000

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

Dawson county

15,000 Cherokee, Cobb, Paulding, Carroll, Towns, Union, Fannin and Gil-

mer counties 30,000

Hall county 2,500

Miscellaneous

5,000

The reports were not all official, and in some cases the amounts were thought by the director to be overstated, and after careful reviewing the total amount was placed at $254,500, which shows an increase over that of 1881 of $120,500. In 1883 the gold product fell off to $199,000, and the next year to $137,000. In 1885 it was $136,000, and in 1886 $152,500, an increase of over $16,000 over the year before. In 1887 the gold product was $110,000, and in 1888 $104,000, while in 1889 there was a slight increase, the product being $107,000. In 1890 the gold product was $100,000. In 1891 it was $80,000. In 1892 it was $94,734, and in 1893 it was $97,200. Many causes have been assigned as reasons why the gold miners of this state did not receive more encouragement. It is stated that a great deal of disastrous mining was caused by bad management, and a lack of good judgment as to the methods used in mining. In some cases, extravagant plants were put up at a cost, sometimes, of several hundred thousand dollars; and not enough return being made to the stockholders, work would be discontinued, as the property would not prove a paying one for such extravagant investments. If better judgment had been used at the outset, the plants would have been started in an economical way, and, as the output would justify, the amount of money invested would be increased. This plan has paid in working the marbles of the state, and marble plants, which began in a small way, have now increased in size as the output justified. In 1889, according to the statistics of the eleventh census, 173 foremen or overseers, 250 mechanics, and 228 laborers, were employed in Georgia in gold and silver mining above ground, while in underground work, seventeen foremen or overseers, forty-one miners and ninety- three laborers were employed. The average wages paid foremen was $1.60, miners, $1.05, and laborers eighty cents.

The following are the names of some of the principal gold mines in the state: The Cherokee, the Franklin and the McDonald mines, in Cherokee county; the Hand, the Barlow, the Pigeon Roost, the Ivy, the Singleton, the Lockhart, the Chestatee, the Boly Field and the Findlay mines, in Lumpkin county; the Loud and the Calhoun mines, in White county; the Magruder mine, in Lincoln county; the Columbia and the Walker mines, in McDuffie county; and the Glade, the Currahee and the Mammoth mines, in Hall county.

OCHERS.

In composition, the ochers are impure earthy varieties of several mineral species, being soft and pulverulent, instead of forming compact masses. Red ocher is a mixture of earthy hematite and clay in varying proportions. Yellow ocher is a similar mixture of limonite and clay. Bog manganese and iron form an umber, and bog manganese and graphite with clay form black pigments. The red fossil hematite found in northwest Georgia is frequently free from grit, and is easily ground, yielding a very fair red ocher. In many parts of northwest Georgia yellow ocher occurs with the limonite ores. A very fine quality occurs in workable quantities at Stegall station near Cartersville, and was mined a few years ago by the Cherokee Ocher and Barites company. This material occurs with barite on the banks of the Etowah river, near the railroad bridge. A very good deposit of light yellow ocher occurs near Sandersville, in Washington

199

INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES.

county. An earthy ocherous concretion is found in south Georgia in small, round pebbles that have covered the surface of the earth. When free from grit, as it is in some localities, it may be utilized as an umber. Graphite with clay, forming a black pigment, is found in a number of localities in the state, which are men- tioned under the subject of graphite.

BARITE.

Barite is used alone and mixed with white lead, when ground, as a paint; and, owing to its high specific gravity and white color, it is well fitted for such purpose. There are several beds near Cartersville, and one east of Spring Place in Murray county. This mineral occurs both crystallized and massive in these localities, and is associated with yellow ocher.

ASBESTOS.

This is a variety of hornblende, very finely fibrous; it is used for many purposes in the arts. It was used by the ancients, and is still used, for making fireproof cloth. It is used for making all kinds of fireproof material, such as steam-packing, ropes, board, paint, linings for iron safes, etc. Of late years, a very fine silky variety of serpentine, mineralogically known as chrysolite, has been used for asbestos; and it has, to a very large extent, supplanted the true asbestos. This material occurs in large quantities in certain localities in Canada. It is more easily fusible than the true asbestos; but it is better for practical purposes, in that it is much more easily woven into cloth. Asbestos is found in Towns, Rabun, White, Habersham, Hall, Cherokee, Douglas, Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Walton, Heard and Troup counties, in this state.

A very important industry has recently sprung up in Habersham county, where asbestos of short fiber is mined at the top of Sal mountain, ground into pulp, and all the impurities thoroughly washed and leached out of it. It is then put into a compress; and a very fine grade of fire-brick, pipes and other articles are made from it. Near Clarksville, in this county, an asbestos of even better quality is said to have been recently found very convenient to the Blue Ridge & Atlantic railroad. Lately, fine specimens of asbestos have been taken from a locality in Hall county, the fiber being much longer than that in Habersham county.

COAL.

All the coal measures of Georgia are found mostly in Dade, Walker and Chattooga counties, extending over an area of 200 square miles. Five distinct beds of bituminous coal of very good quality are found near the top of Lookout mountain. At Coal City, in Dade county, this coal has been extensively worked by the Coal City Mining company. A narrow-gauge railroad was constructed to the mines, which are 800 or 900 feet above the valley. The fine coal was coked, and the balance was shipped, to be used for steam and grate. Of the two principal beds worked here, the Castle Rock vein yielded the hardest coal, best suited for the grate. Of the five beds known to exist in Lookout mountain, one is below. the surface beds of sandstone and conglomerate, constituting the brow of the mountain. This is the greatest in areal extent; but it is of inferior quality at most of the points where it is exposed. Above this bed, there are found beds exposed in and around Round mountain, a horse-shoe shaped eminence, of a few hundred feet, on the top of Lookout mountain. The beds differ much in thickness, as does each bed of the different localities of its exposure, varying from one to five

200

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

feet. For nearly twenty miles south of Round mountain, the sandstones and shales, which form this eminence, are spread out in a nearly level plain, and probably contain beds of coal, though not exposed. In Chattooga county, some of the beds are exposed near Little river. The coal mining in Georgia is carried on by the Georgia Mining Improvement & Investment company, of which Mr. Julius L. Brown is receiver, and the Chickamauga Coal & Iron company, P. J. Murphy, receiver. In 1893, the Dade Coal company, a division of the Georgia Mining Improvement & Investment company, mined at Coal City, Dade Co., 199,682 short tons of bituminous coal, and manufactured 90,726 short tons of coke. During the same year the Chickamauga Coal & Iron company mined at Chicka- mauga, Ga., 172,509 short tons of coal, the cost of mining which was 64 cents per ton.

Lignite is an inferior coal of brown color, constituting the transition stage between the original wood and bituminous coal. It has been found in small quantities, near the probable limits of the tertiary formations in Georgia.

PYRITE.

This mineral, which is an iron sulphide, has a composition of iron, 46.7; sulphur, 53.3. It is extensively employed in the manufacturing of sulphuric acid and copperas. It is found in large quantities in this state. A large number of veins were opened before the war in different parts of the state by people who were searching for copper. Most of the shafts sunk for this purpose exposed pyrite, with only a small percentage of copper, derived from chalcopyrite associated with the pyrite. Considerable deposits are found in Fannin, Cherokee, Paulding, Harral- son, Carroll, Fulton and Lumpkin counties. It has been worked near Dallas, in Paulding county, and the ore was shipped to Atlanta, for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. It is said that the vein of this mine averages five or six feet, increasing in size and in the quality of the ore, with the increase of depth. It yields from 40 to 42 per cent. of sulphur and 5 per cent. of copper, with some silver and a little gold. A very fine deposit of pyrite in Lumpkin county is now being worked, with the view of bringing the ore to Atlanta for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. A deposit of pyrite in Fulton county, near Atlanta, has been worked; but it is not there in sufficient quantities to be remunerative.

MANGANESE.

This material occurs in northwest Georgia, usually as the minerals pyrolusite and psilomelane, more or less mixed. Some of the most beautiful specimens of the former have been taken from these deposits. Pyrolusite is a maganese dioxide. It is blue-black in color, steel-gray when crystallized, and has a metallic luster. It belongs to the orthorhombic system, and has a hardness of from 2 to 2.5, and specific gravity of from 4.73 to 4.86. It occurs, sometimes, in needles; but usually in Georgia, when crystallized, the crystals are small prisms with rounded pyramidal terminations. The theoretical composition of pyrolusite is manganese, 63.3; oxygen, 36.7.

Psilomelane is a heavy mineral, with hardness ranging from 5 to 6, and specific gravity, from 3.7 to 4.10. It is black or steel-blue in color, and usually occurs in botryoidal, stalactitic or irregular shaped masses, the cavities of which are often lined with the crystals of pyrolusite. In composition, it is a hydrous manganese manganite, in which part of the manganese is often replaced by barium or potassium. According to Laspeyres, its composition is H 4 Mn O5. The barite

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 28

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1294

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294