84 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
Iron Works. It may be seen a few miles north of the furnace, on Pacolet, both on the surface, and 
in some pits which were sunk a few feet below the surface. Near the Cowpens it is extensively 
developed, and for many miles west the surface presents infallible indications of the presence of 
this ore in heavy beds. It has-also been explored in the vicinity of Cherokee Ford, where it is 
found in beds of good quality. On the Western side of Spartanburg, on the Buncombe road, four 
or five miles North of Van Patton’s Shoals, beds of this ore may be seen cropping out at the sur- 
face. In the lower edge of Greenville, at McCord’s Mountain, in Abbeville, and at Ruff’s Mountain, 
in Lexington, brown hematite is found; but as no examination has been made beyond the surface, 
I am unable to say any thing of the extent of these beds. 
On Crooked Creek, in Pickens District, some extensive beds are found, which were once worked 
to supply a bloomery. The ore occurs in irregular beds and masses in the slates, and although it 
is undoubtedly co-extensive with them, it has not been explored beyond a few feet below the sur- 
face. It is a compact clean ore, working freely and making good iron. 
I have no where in the State observed iron ore in a true vein, with a single exception, which 
occurs in the upper part of Pickens, near Oconee Mountain. ‘The ore is fibrous hematite, and is 
associated with a quartz vein, containing crystals of schorl. I traced this vein over a distance of 
seven miles, but found it no where of sufficient thickness to be of any economic value. It was 
quarried at one place, as an ore of some of the precious metals, by the owner, to whom it was 
pointed out by an ignorant pretender. 
Dr. Barratt pointed out to me another locality of this ore, in the lower edge of Abbeville, where 
it was also explored for a similar purpose. 
To this species belong the numerous deposits of ore scattered over the surface, in Chesterfield 
District, and at the localities in the Tertiary formation, composed of iron and sand cemented into a 
coarse, ferruginous sandstone. It is highly probable that some portion of these deposits contain a 
sufficient quantity of iron to be used as an ore; but as the State contains already inexhaustible 
beds of the very best quality, it is scarcely probable that these deposits will ever be resorted to as 
sources of iron ore. 
Boe Iron Ore. 
This variety is found in low wet places, and is deposited from solution in water, aided by the 
decomposition of vegetable substances. I have found this ore in several localities, in sufficient 
quantity to be worked. I examined, in company with Col. Gillam, a locality of considerable 
extent, near the Saluda. It occurs in large and irregular masses, composed of globules of ore of 
all sizes, from that of a pea toa marble. In many places this ore may be seen upon the surface, 
In form resembling shot of various sizes. Near Montecello another locality may be seen, where the 
ore is strewed over the surface and exposed along a ditch-bank, in a low field. There is scarcely 
a district in the State where this ore is not found in some form or other. 
Ciay SLATEs. 
There are few rocks in the State whose limits are equally well defined with those of the clay 
slates. They are seen on the Savannah, a few miles above Hamburg, where they form bold ledges 
