ElvISHA MiTCHELIv SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 45 



able deposits have been found up to the present time, 

 are quite limited in number and extent. 



In the United States the placer deposits of North 

 and South Carolina stand alone. Similar deposits exist 

 in the provinces of Bahia, Minas Geraes, Sao Paulo, 

 and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in the river sands of Buenos 

 Ay res, Argentine Republic; in the gold placers of Rio 

 Chico, at Antioquia, Colombia; and in the Bakakui 

 placers of the Sanarka River, Russia. In Brazil there 

 are also important deposits in the beach sands in the 

 southern part of the province of Bahia, near the island 

 of Alcobaca. 



But little reliable information is at hand concerning- 

 these foreign deposits, and the remainder of the pres- 

 ent paper will be taken up with a description of the 

 Carolinian deposits, and the methods of mining and 

 cleaning the sand, emplo3^ed there. 



The Carolinian area includes between 1600 and 2000 

 square miles, situated in Burke, McDowell, Ruther- 

 ford, Cleveland, and Polk Counties, N. C, and the 

 northern part of Spartanburg County, S. C. The 

 principal deposits of this region are found along the 

 waters of Silver, South Muddy, and North Muddy 

 creeks, and Henry's and Jacob's forks of the Catawba 

 River in McDowell and Burke counties; the Second 

 Broad River in McDowell and Rutherford counties; 

 and the First Broad in Rutherford and Cleveland coun- 

 ties, N. C, and Spartanburg County, S. C. These 

 streams have their source in the South Mountains, an 

 eastern outlier of the Blue Ridge. The general out- 

 lines of this area are indicated on the accompanying 

 map. 



The country rock is granitic biotite gneiss and dio- 

 ritic hornblende gneiss. The existence of monazite 



