191Jf^ Certain Mineral Resources 91 



Platinum in the form of arsenide (PtAso), known as a 

 mineral sperrylite, has been found very sparingly at the ruby 

 mines in Cowee Valley, Macon County, North Carolina.^ 



precious stones. 



The production of precious stones has never been very large 

 in the Southern States but these states have produced some of 

 the most unique and exquisite gems that have been found in 

 the United States. Two of these gems, hiddenite * and rho- 

 dolite ^ were first identified in North Carolina and thus far 

 have not been found in any other State. The first of these 

 was discovered in 1881, at Hiddenite, Alexander County, and 

 ranks near the diamond in price on account of its great rarity. 

 The rhodolite was discovered in 1895 on Masons Branch of 

 Cowee Creek, and has been quite extensively mined. ISTorth 

 Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas have been favorite fields 

 of exploration for the diamond as all three of these states con- 

 tain a rock that is very similar to the rock in which the dia- 

 monds are found in South Africa. Diamonds have been fonud 

 in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia 

 in placer mining, but none have thus far been found in 

 place. Very recently, diamonds have been found in Arkansas 

 and the locality seems to give promise of developing into a 

 genuine deposit of these gems. The Southern States of 

 Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia have produced some 

 of the finest amethysts that are on the market, and North 

 Carolina has produced some of the most beautiful blue and 

 golden beryls that have been found in the United States. 

 Two other gems that have attracted a great deal of attention 

 in the Southern States are the ruby and sapphire. As has 

 been stated above, corundum occurs quite abundantly in the 

 Southern States and in a great many of the mines blue and red 

 corundum were discovered. This caused considerable interest in 

 these deposits as a probable source of the ruby and sapphire, and 

 although in many of these mines a few sapphires and an occa- 



3 Am. Jour. Sci. Vol. V, pp. 294-296. 

 * Am. Jour. Sci. Ibid. 

 ""Am. Jour. Sci. Ibid. 



