1897.] ASHLEY — GEOLOGY OF ARKANSAS. 307 



township 7 S., ranges 29-32 W. inclusive; in 7 S., 29 W., how- 

 ever, the Busby mine is the only place, where ore was found. Thus 

 it may be said to be about twenty-four miles long by four miles 

 wide, and has a very slight south of west trend, occupying the 

 northern part of the eastern townships and the central part of the 

 western. 



Prospectors report finding traces of stibnite north of this region, 

 but as in no case has it seemed to warrant the expenditure of time 

 or money in exploitation, the district may be considered as fully 

 comprehended in the limits given. 



Structure of the District. — The structure in this district is 

 obscure, the topography is broken, and outcrops of bedded rock 

 are scarce. Such structure as was obtained was derived partly from 

 exposures in shafts and prospect holes. As shown in the Cossatot 

 section of PL ii, there appear to be about half a dozen anticlines 

 in the district, though only half that number could be found on 

 the Rolling Fork and on the West Saline. As shown in the sec- 

 tion, the anticlines are closely folded, giving many high dips. No 

 evidence of faults, which play such an important part in Prof. Com- 

 stock's interpretation of the structure, was found, but this must be 

 considered as having only a negative bearing, as faults doubtless do 

 exist all through this region. The Silver Hill anticline or anti- 

 clines have a strike of less than 5° S. of W. The Cave creek 

 anticlinal axis has a strike of from 5°- 10° S. of W. 



The rocks in the districts are the same as all over the region — 

 shales, shaly sandstones and sandstones. The thin bedded novacu- 

 lite occurs in such a way as to suggest that, if the strata under it 

 are Silurian, then the Silurian is extensively exposed in this belt, if 

 indeed it be not the predominating formation. 



Character and Occurrence of Ore Deposits. — The ore deposits of 

 this district are in the form of bedded veins. While they usually 

 follow the bedding in strike and dip, they frequently run at small 

 angles to the dip, and it is claimed that in a very few cases small 

 deposits are found crossing the bedding, but none were seen. They 

 occur mostly in shale, but though a contrary claim was made, they 

 were also found in sandstones at several places. The veinstone is 

 quartz and varies from a thin layer, in which the quartz simply 

 forms a matrix for fragments of the country rock, to veins four 

 feet thick and very pure. The ore occurs as lenticular masses in 

 the quartz from two inches to twenty-two inches thick, and occa- 



