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By W. F. Wheeler

IN the study of the coals of Illinois now being carried on by the State Geological Survey, an attempt is being made to determine the most satisfactory basis of comparison between different coals. The following discussion is based upon work done for the survey in the laboratories of the State University and under the general direction of Prof. S. W. Parr. " Pure coal " has been defined by Mr. A. Bement1 as ash- and moisture-free coal, and the use of this " pure coal " as a basis for comparing different bituminous coals has lately been much discussed among engineers in the middle West. By some the B.t.u. of the pure coal is being used to check calorimetric results, and to calculate the calorific value of different coal-samples from the same seam, for which purposes it is necessary to assume-first, that the composition and calorific value of pure coal from different parts of the same coal-seam are uniform, and, second, that these values remain constant after the coal is mined, both of which assumptions there are reasons to believe are inconsistent with the facts. Certain variables are included in pure coal, as ordinarily defined, and disregard of them may lead to serious error. In any event, where delicate shades of difference are involved, no sure interpretation of results can be made, unless these variables be eliminated. As a basis of comparison between coals, ash- and moisture-free coal is much to be preferred to " dry coal," and still more is it to be preferred to " moist coal," as ordinarily reported in analyses. There are, however, two constituents other than ash and moisture which are similar in effect to them, and which

Jan 1, 1908

George A. Packard, Boston, Mass. (communication to the Secretary†):—The very interesting results obtained by Prof. Hofman and his assistants came to my attention when I had temporarily assumed charge of the metallurgical department of the Missouri School of Mines, and had found it, pending the completion of a new building, lacking a furnace in which to roast ore preparatory to the customary lead blast-furnace run. An attempt at lime-roasting had been already determined upon, but the use of a charge which would make a slag of definite composition was a new idea. The results following were obtained by Messrs. Aubrey Fellows, J. C. Long, E. R. Wash, and Dr. T. C. Tseung, under my supervision. It is regretted that the data are not more complete; but the work was done simply incidentally to securing the desired ore for the blast-

Jan 1, 1908

Jan 1, 1908

By A. L. Sweetser

EXPERIENCE has shown how difficult it is to obtain information regarding laboratory-tests in connection with the chlorination-process for the extraction of gold from its ores, and I therefore present the following method, somewhat in detail, for the benefit of those who may desire to pursue research work in this field. The ore chosen was a partly-decomposed porphyry, extremely siliceous and comparatively soft, and of an average value per ton of from $25 to $26 in gold and $0.68 in silver. The chemical analysis gave : Fe2O3, 3.35; FeS, 1.5; MnO2, 0.75; ZnCO3, 4; Al2O3, 3.20; H2O, 0.7; SiO2 and insol., 83.50 per cent. The ore, first crushed to pass a 5-mesh screen, was coned and quartered until a 45-lb. sample was obtained. Samples for assay and analysis, taken from this lot by means of riffles, were crushed to pass a 100-mesh screen. The original sample was divided into 10-lb. lots, of which one was crushed to pass a 10-mesh screen; another through a 12-; the third through a 20-, .and the last through a 30-mesh screen. Because of the production of an excessive quantity of fine material it was deemed inexpedient to crush finer than 30-mesh size-a decision the wisdom of which is proved by the data in Table I., showing the increasing ratio of slimes, in proportion as the ore is crushed finer. In order to determine the percentage of fines in the sizes of mesh selected, a weighed sample of ore was taken from each mesh, and a sample from the 10-mesh lot was passed successively through 20-, 40- and 100-mesh screens, and the percentage remaining on each screen determined. This process was repeated with the 12-, 20- and 30-mesh lots, with the results given in Table I.

Sep 1, 1907

By Richard W. Lodge

Ix the crucible-method of assaying ores for silver a certain amount of litharge is essential to supply sufficient lead to collect the precious metals. The object of this paper is to point out that the use of a .large excess of litharge in the assay of some ores will give results for silver that are uneven as well as low. So far as I know, however, an excess of litharge does not affect the results obtained in the crucible-assay of ores for gold. The main reasons for using, in the crucible-assay, much more litharge than is required to give the necessary lead button are : 1, its action as a flux; 2, its action as a desulphurizer; and 3, its action as an oxidizer, especially on metals like copper and nickel, whereby they are forced into the slag as oxides and thus prevented from passing into the lead button. Hence, by the use of much litharge in the crucible-assay more-ore can often be taken than in the scorification-process, and a lead button obtained which can possibly be cupelled at once or after a single scorification. The method is specially advantageous with an ore carrying much copper or similar impurity and poor in silver, when the assayer does not wish to resort to a wet-analysis for the determination of the silver. It is well known that some ores give better results when assayed by the scorification-method, while others give better results by the crucible-method. For several years I have noticed that, when much litharge was used with certain sulphide and arsenical ores, the results were considerably lower than when the scorification-method was used. This fact was more forcibly brought out in connection with certain work carried on this year by Messrs. H. A. Frame and

Sep 1, 1907

By Edward W. Parker

(Toronto Meeting, July, 1907.) NOTE.-The material from which this paper has been prepared was collected for the U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin, Contributions to Economic Geology, 1906, and appears also, though in somewhat more extended form without illustrations, in that publication. ALTHOUGH the briquetting of coals and lignites has been carried on for many years in Europe, and has reached a particularly high state of development in France, Belgium, and Germany, it has made comparatively little progress in the United States. The causes for the backwardness of the United States in this regard are several, and first among them has been the abundant supply of cheap raw fuel with which the manufactured article has to compete. With our millions of acres of coal-productive territory, from which the product can in most cases be cheaply extracted, it has appeared in many districts more economical to waste the slack or culm, which con¬stitutes a considerable percentage -of the product, than to attempt to save it at the additional expense required for briquetting. It is for this reason that the view in all sections of the anthracite-region of Pennsylvania is marred by the unsightly culm-banks which encumber the ground, and that in some of the bituminous-districts one sees huge piles of unmarketable- slack allowed to burn up in order to get rid of them. When the coal is of a coking quality, or when the slack can be used for steaming-purposes, these losses are not sustained, but many thousands of tons of what might be converted into usable fuel have been wasted every year simply because of the increased expense involved in its preparation.

Sep 1, 1907

By Albert Hill Fay

IN giving a sketch of the geology and mining of the tin-deposits of Cape Prince of Wales, a short description of the geographic and climatic conditions may be of special interest on account of this being a part of the world of which very little is known, even by the reading public. As shown in Fig. 1, the location of the Cape is lat. N. 65° 35' and long. W. 168°. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic ocean ; on the west by Bering strait and on the south by Bering sea. It is the western-most point of the mainland of North America, and to the west, across the strait, one can see East Cape, Siberia, which consists of a rugged, steep coast of granite cliffs. The climatic conditions are of interest because of the part they have had in the surface geology, and also because they affect mining from an economic standpoint. In connection with the climate and geography, it does not seem out of place here to quote a few lines from the prologue of The Wandering Jew, written by Eugene Sue, under the caption '1 The Land's End of Two Worlds."

Sep 1, 1907

By WOOLSEY MCA JOHNSON

INDEPENDENTLY of the recognized chemical reactions involved in the production of metallic zinc, the process is affected by physical conditions in efficiency, and by commercial as well as technical economy. To offer some observations concerning these conditions is the purpose of the present paper. Among the important elements of this problem is the physical nature of the particles constituting the mass of zinc oxide to be reduced. This may be the result, either of the manner of the original deposition of the mineral, or of the treatment to which it has been subjected in the roasting-furnace. The physical character of the reducing-agent is another important factor, since the carbon of some coals is much more active in reduction than that of others. The degree of fineness, whether of ore or coal, or both, likewise plays a significant part. These factors, together with the physical admixture of foreign substances with the ore, may give rise also to chemical "side-reactions," sometimes hindering or retarding, and sometimes accelerating, the reduction. Finally, thermal conditions, including the relative conductivity of the materials, deserve to be taken into account. In firing a furnace with retorts charged with a mixture of roasted ore and coal, the first reaction is naturally the boiling-off of the contained water ; the next is the distillation of the light hydrocarbons from the coal; the next is the reduction of the iron oxide to protoxide and sub-oxide successively, and then to metallic sponge; and the final reaction is the reduction of the zinc oxide in the ore by the carbon to metallic zinc. This reaction commences at 1,022° to 1,060° C., according to the physical nature and condition of the coal and ore. Since the retort and the charge are far from being good con-

Sep 1, 1907

By WILLETT G. MILLERS

GENERAL RECEPTION COMMITTEE.-Willett G. Miller, Chairman; F. G. B. Alan, Hon. Frank Cochrane, Eugene Coste, Thomas W. Gibson, Cyril W. Knight, J. C. Murray, 0. N. Scott, Alan Sullivan, J. B. Tyrrell, J. W. Wells, A. B. Willis. COBALT RECEPTION COMMITTEE.-Arthur A. Cole, Chairman; Will. Ask with, R. W. Brigstocke, Robt. Bryce, Fred Coombs, M. I. Culbert, I. R. Drummond, J. W. Evans, A. Ferland, F. N. Flynn, E. L. Fraleck, S. R. Heakes, Joseph Houston, D. L. Jemmett, I. R. Jones, Major Leckie, Capt. Jack Leckie, R. W. Leonard, W. H. Linney, Alexander Longwell, Frank Loring, Murdock McLeod, John Martin, D. B. Rochester, W. E. Running. COBALT RECEPTION COMMITTEE (Ladies).-Mrs. A. A. Cole, Mrs. A. Edwards, Mrs. R. Jennings, Mrs. S. H. Logan, Mrs. A. Longwell, Mrs. H. F. Marsh, Mrs. J. Smith. SUDBURY LOCAL COMMITTEE.-Mayor L. O'Connor, Chairman; S. Fournier, Secretary; A. H. Beath, W. J. Bell, F. B. Bennett, D. M. Brodie, J. S. Buchanan, F. C. Busby, Wm. Chalmers, R. Dorsett, W. A. Evans, John Frawley, J. S. Gill, A. B. Gordon, J. G. Henry, T. N. Kilpatrick, Major Leckie, Chas. McCrea, John McLeod, Wm. McVittie, R. Martin, R. S. Mitchell, J. H. Morin, J. A. Orr, James Purvis (President Board of Trade), C. R. Reid, Major Smith, W. W. Stull, J. F. Templeton, S. E. Wright. The first session, held in the Banquet Hall of the King Edward Hotel, was called to order Tuesday, July 23, 1907, at 2.30 p.m., President John Hays Hammond presiding. Prof. Willett G. Miller, chairman of the General Committee, introduced Alderman J. J. Graham, who, in behalf of the City of Toronto, extended a hearty welcome to the members and guests of the Institute. To this welcome, President Hammond replied in a few well-chosen and hearty remarks. In the hall in which the session was held there was exhibited a fine, full-length, life-size portrait of Dr. Rossiter W. Raymond, in 1871 Vice-President and acting President, in 1872, 1873 and 1874 the elected President, in 1876 and 1877 Vice-President, in 1883, by appointment of the Council, and for the last 24 years by annual election, Secretary, of the Institute. Dr. James Douglas, of New York, N. Y., on behalf of numer-

Sep 1, 1907

By AIME AIME

THE list of deaths during the year 1906 comprises the following names, the figures in parentheses indicating the year in which the persons named were elected to membership Members and Associates.-Arthur Vaughan Abbott (1882), William Anderson Akers (1889), R. Scott Allen (1905), George H. Arlett (1900), Thomas Septimus Austin (1883), Thomas T. Baker (1887), William Tittley Batchelor (1902), Charles Lowthian Bell (1897), Edgar Vallentine Bensusan (1892), George Lothrop Bradley (1874), Ernst Elmer Breisch (1896), Horace F. Brown (1895), James A. Burden (1876), Alexander B. Coxe (1880), George A. Crocker (1879), Albert W. Fiero (1886),

Jul 1, 1907

By Robert H. Richards

Tuns truly remarkable machine was built on a preliminary scale in May, 1895. The first full-sized table was built by Mr. A. R. Wilfley, and was used in his own mill in Kokomo in May, 1896. The first table sold for installation was placed' in the Puzzle mill, Breckinridge county, in August, 1896. The mill enthusiasts at first hailed it as the cure for all the ills that flesh is heir to in the milling line. A little later it was found to make losses which were serious, and on this account the table succeeded only to a limited extent in displacing the vanners of the gold-mills. Still later, mill-men in a number of districts throughout the country made special studies of the faults of the machine, and devised a number of ways of grouping supplementary machines to overcome as far as possible the losses, and at the same time retain the benefit of the extraordinarily large capacity accompanied by the production of clean concentrates for which the machine has become so justly famous. I hope to make an exhibit of some of these methods in an appendix to my book on ore-dressing which is now in preparation. These experimenters have not written up the subject, and if they possess all the facts they have not given them out for the benefit of the mining profession at large. The object of this paper is to obtain the facts and to pre¬sent them so clearly that their bearing can be seen by all. To this end two complete series-'of tests have been planned. One (the present paper), to study concentration of galena in presence of quartz; the other (to follow shortly), to study concentration of chalcopyrite in presence of quartz. Some authorities claim that the table does its best work when treating natural products; by this phrase I mean products which have been crushed to pass through a limiting

Jul 1, 1907

By A. E. Wells, H. O. Hofman, R. P. Reynolds

A Discussion of the Paper of H. O. Hofman, R. P. Reynolds and A. E. Wells, read by title at the London Meeting, July, 1906 ; presented at the New York Meeting, April, 1907, and printed in Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 13, January, 1907, pp. 37 to 52. GEORGE A. PACKARD, Boston, Mass. (communication to the Secretary*) :-The very interesting results obtained by Prof. Hofman and his assistants came to my attention when I had temporarily assumed charge of the metallurgical department of the Missouri School of Mines, and had found it, pending the completion of a new building, lacking a furnace in which to roast ore preparatory to the customary lead blast-furnace run. An attempt at lime-roasting had been already determined upon, but the use of a charge which would make a slag of definite composition was a new idea. The results following were obtained by Messrs. Aubrey Fellows, J. C. Long, E. R. Wash, and Dr. T. C. Tseung, under my supervision. It is regretted that the data are not more complete; but the work was done simply incidentally to securing the desired ore for the blast-furnace, with no idea of obtaining any results of especial interest. It is submitted because of the metallic lead obtained, no notice of which has been seen elsewhere. The ore was an aggregate of several lots of concentrates, apparently from Missouri ores. The analysis follows, with that of the limestone and sandstone used, as far as made:. Ore, SiO2, 3.04; Fe, 0.77; CaO, 2.53; Pb, 68.74; Zn, 5.77; S, 13.9 per cent.; limestone, SiO2, 1.0 ; CaO, 54.35 per cent.; sandstone, SiO2, 99.8 per cent. The converter was made in the shops from a sheet of No. 14 iron riveted in the shape of a truncated cone, 20 in. in diameter at the top, 15 in. at the bottom and 22 in. high. A grate of No. 8 iron, 17 in. in diameter, with 130 s-in. holes placed at about 1.25-in. centers, was held in place by the shape of the

Jul 1, 1907

By H. T. Hildage

ALTHOUGH Greater New York does not bear any resemblance to a great mining district, the mining operations that are being conducted in and about the city are both extensive and interesting in character. With regard to the extent, it may be mentioned that, at. present, there is more dynamite used in New York than in any mining district in the United States; that there are under construction about 38 miles of tunnel, and that 66 miles more are projected, most of which must be constructed in the near future ; that since 1902 at least 2,000,000 tons of earth has been removed in underground work, in addition to about 3,500,000 tons that has been removed in, open-cut in connection with tunnel-work, and many times this quantity that has been removed in excavating foundations for buildings not connected with tunnel-work; and that there are to-day probably more than 5,000 men engaged in mining-work in and about New York City. These undertakings include almost every operation connected with underground work, from exploration by means of trench and boring, to the sinking of large shafts and the driving of large tunnels through every kind of ground from hard rock to soft, semi-fluid silt and quicksand. It is proposed in this paper to give a general description of some of the methods and appliances used in the opening-up ,of a "mine" in a large city, and a brief description of some of the "mines" now being developed in New York, connecting as far as possible the methods described with the particular work for which they were designed, in order to give a general idea of the

May 1, 1907

By Persifor Frazer

1. SMOKE PREVENTION. Report of Select Committee of House of Commons (1843). Nuisance considerably abated in Leeds (Wm. Backerd, July 13, 1843, 239 pages). A synoptic index, p. 211, gives, in alphabetical order, the digest of every subject taken up. 2. FUEL : ITS COMBUSTION AND ECONOMY. D. Kinnear Clark, C. E. 24mo, 1354 pp. Crosby Lockwood & Co., London (1880). Includes abridgement of treatise on combustion of coal and prevention of smoke, by C. W. Williams, A.I.C.E. 3. DIE RAUCHSCHÄDEN IN DEN WÄLDERN DER UMGEBUNG DER FISCALISCHEN HÜTTENWERKE BEI FREIBERG. Dr. J. v. Schröder, Professor in Tharand, and Dr. A. Schertel, Vorstand des Hüttenlaboratoriums zu Freiberg. Royal 8vo, 27 .pages, 19 pages of tables and a map. Ernst Maukisch, Freiberg (1884). (Aus dem Jahrbuch für das Berg- und Huttenwesen, 1884.) In 1861, Reich and Stockhardt examined the extent of injury to vegetation by the Muldner works. Needles and twigs of pine showed in 100,000 parts : Pb, 5 to 50 ; As, 3.3 to 14.3 ; S02, 62 to 120. In the top twigs, 5 to 8 ; needles, 10 to 16 ; thicker twigs, 10 to 22 ; thinner twig-ends, 17 to 54 of lead. Lead greater in amount in sickly twig-ends with few needles ; also in the bark than in the naked wood of the trunk, which had hardly a trace ; also in the part turned toward the works than on the opposite side. Pb and As diminished in the vegetation with distance from the smelter ; and the same with regard to the soil. Fresh snow was collected, and SO, As, and Pb detected in it.

May 1, 1907

By R. W. Raymond

THIS meeting was held in the new home of the Institute, the United Engineering Society Building, 29 West 39th Street, New York City, directly following the Dedication ceremonies. The first session was held in the large Auditorium, Thursday, April 18. The meeting was called to order by Mr. John Hays Hammond, President of the Council, who said Before taking up the reading and discussion of papers, I will call upon Dr. Rossiter W. Raymond, the oldest living past-President of the Institute, who has been in harness almost continuously for thirty-six years, and who has contributed more than any one else to bring this society to its present great success and to establish the reputation of the American mining engineer the world over, for a few words supplementary to those which were uttered to engineers generally, during the sessions of yesterday and the day before. ADDRESS BY R. W. RAYMOND. The generally accepted Darwinian doctrine of the survival of the fittest is sometimes illustrated by persons who are supposed to be the fittest because they have simply survived. I fear that I come under that category. Almost all of my contemporaries in the early history of this Institute have passed away. Only one or two of the original founders remain, and I may fairly say that scarcely any remain who were active at that : time in shaping the organization and the future career of the Institute. In May, 1871, I was thirty-one years old. Next week I shall be sixty-seven years old. All the intervening years have been devoted to the service of this Institute almost continuously, either as President or Vice-President or Secretary. You may easily imagine, therefore, with what pleasure I greet you on this occasion. I am not here to extend to you the welcome of the City - of

May 1, 1907

By ELLSIVOKTH DAGGETT

THE Berlin gold quartz mine is situated in Nye county, Nevada, on the west flank of the Shoshone range, about 40 miles south and 30 miles west from the town of Austin, the county-seat of Lander county. The distance from Austin is about 60 miles by stage-road. The outcrop of the vein, at the top of the incline-shaft, is situated just at the base of the mountain proper, almost exactly at the intersection of the mountain-side with the gravelly bench that slopes for about three-quarters of a mile to the flatter sage-brush plain, or desert valley, below. The -vein itself consists almost entirely of quartz, with perhaps 2 per cent. of sulphide of iron, copper, lead, zinc and antimony, and perhaps a trace of some of the compounds of tellurium with gold and silver, although none of the latter have been as yet positively identified. The relative proportion, by weight, of silver and gold in the ores, varies in different parts of the vein, from 12 silver for 1 of gold, to 7 silver for 1 of gold. The quartz vein-filling is usually frozen fast to the walls, and is very hard and compact, seldom showing the friable, fissured, or shelly structure often to be found in quartz veins. Comparatively little evidence of relative motion of one wall of the vein upon the other is to be found-a fact indicating that during the formation of the vein, and prior to the extensive movements herein described, little disturbance had taken place. No evidence whatever of metasomatic origin has been observed. On the other hand, occasional occurrences of comby structure, in which the axes of the quartz crystals are at right angles to the plane of the vein, rather indicate deposition from solution in a pre-existing fissure. Spurs, or branches, and small parallel veins, while not en-\

Mar 1, 1907

By J. F. KENP

THE White Knob copper-deposits are situated about three miles south of Mackay, on the Salmon River .branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, in Custer county, Idaho. An outline-map of this district is given in Fig. 1. The deposits have been known and spasmodically worked for many years, and a total of over 3.5 miles of tunnels, shafts and other workings has been driven with a view to their development. These extensive excavations have exposed the deposits sufficiently to permit a careful geological examination. The peculiar features which give special interest to this paper are the branching, free-like form of the ore-bodies; the absence of zones of secondary enrichment in the partly oxidized pyritic deposits, and the fact that while the deposits are associated in a general way with the contact of an eruptive rock with limestone, which it penetrates, the garnetization has taken place not in the limestone, as is the usual case, but in the igneous

Mar 1, 1907

By HENRY M. HOWEL

1. Introduction.-The first part of this papers treats of the causes and the restraining of piping in steel ingots; the second& considers the causes and the restraining of -segregation; and the third proposes certain precautions in engineering specifications concerning these two defects. Into their causes I have looked carefully, with the purpose of arriving at rational methods of restraining them, and at efficient ways of detecting. and measuring the harm which they cause, so as to benefit the public by reducing this harm at once effectively and with the least expense to the manufacturer, and therefore in the end with the least expense to the consumer. In Part I., I infer that the pipe is chiefly due to what I, call the virtual expansion of the outer walls of the ingot in the early part of the freezing. I find that the upper and smooth-faced part of the pipe probably forms while the interior is still molten, but that the lower, steep, and crystal-faced part probably forms in metal which is already firm. Of the five causes which may co-operate to limit the depth of the pipe, I find that three-blow-holes, sagging, and the progress of freezing from below upwards-are usually effective. I find that the pipe may be lessened by casting (1) in wide ingots,; (2) in sand molds, especially if these are pre-heated (this is rarely expedient); (3) at the tops instead of at the bottom; (4) slowly; (5) and with the large end up; (6) by the use of a sinking-head or other means of retarding the cooling of the top; (7) by permitting blow-holes to form; and (8) by liquid compression.) Most of these I consider in some detail, and in particular I dwell on the advantages of casting with the large end up, and I propose certain administrative arrangements to permit this.

Mar 1, 1907

By James Douglas

THOUGH liberality is not supposed to be a prominent trait of the Scottish character, Canada owes to a Scotchman, Sir Wm. Macdonald, more than to any other of its people, not only wise ideas, but pecuniary help towards extending education: and another Scotchman, in New York, has sumptuously housed under one roof three branches of the engineering fraternity, of which we are one. Having thus created us members of the same family-for the metaphorical meaning of house and kinship is identical-Mr. Carnegie expresses more emphatically than even he could in words, that, by affording facilities for closest intercourse, he in¬vites the mechanical, electrical and mining engineers to par¬ticipate in the freest interchange of idea and experience, and to correlate and combine the results of their studies and activi¬ties; and, being members of the same household, to banish re¬serve and secrecy. And now we, the members of the - American Institute of Mining Engineers, meet as though we were at home in a neighboring country. For whether we meet in Canada, in England, or elsewhere, the Institute is always received as though no political or geographical divisions separated its members from those of congenial associations in the land of its host. In truth, the title which we have assumed claims for the sphere of our activities the whole American continent, regardless of such trifling details as boundary-lines. The fact that we meet to communicate each other's experience, to discuss our difficulties, and to seek each other's aid in solving the intricate problems that so often present themselves in the course of our profes¬sional life, is an acknowledgment of our individual helpless¬ness; and therefore an argument for united effort. But no effort can be of any value if there is an underlying suspicion

Jan 9, 1907

By Thomas Leonard Watson

I. HISTORICAL. BARITE has been mined for many years in various parts of Virginia, probably the earliest mining-operations being in Prince William county, within 600 ft. of the Fauquier county line, about 4 miles south of east from Catlett, a station on the Southern Railway. It is claimed that the mineral was mined here as early as 1845. Mining-operations in Campbell and Pittsylvania counties in the Piedmont region, and near Marion in Smyth county, in the southwest Virginia Valley region, were begun about 30 years ago. The mining and milling of barite on a commercial scale in Tazewell and Russell counties are more recent, and commenced about 15 years ago. II. GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION. Barite occurs in many counties in the State, as shown in Fig. 1, but the industry has been confined to only a few of them. Its occurrence is noted in two of the three major divisions of the State-namely, the Piedmont region east of the Blue Ridge, and the Paleozoic area west of the Blue Ridge. In the Piedmont region the mineral has been mined in the following counties:, Bedford, Campbell, Louisa, Prince William, and Pittsylvania. In the region west of the Blue Ridge, composed of Paleozoic sediments, barite has been mined in Montgomery, Russell, Smyth, and Tazewell counties. Of the counties mentioned, Bedford, Campbell, and Pittsylvania of the Piedmont region, and Russell, Smyth, and Tazewell of the Valley region, have been the principal producers. In 1906, operations were confined to five counties-Bedford, Louisa, Pittsylvania, Russell, and Tazewell-but in the first two counties named there was no production, the work being solely development.

Jan 9, 1907