METALS AND THEIR ORES. 39 



metalliferous rock. The rocks are mainly argillitic schists carrying bands of cupreous 

 ores. There are three distinct metalliferous belts, divided by two greenstones (or 

 sandstone, as called by the miners). Their character is indicated at the surface by 

 yellowish-brown ferruginous stains. When these are dug into, iron or copper pyrites 

 invariably show themselves. The most western of these belts is 178 feet wide, meas- 

 uring from a point close by the shaft-house. A small opening upon this belt, several 

 hundred feet to the south-west, shows copper. The middle belt is 87 feet wide. A 

 shaft 78 feet deep is on its west side. It was not practicable to descend this opening 

 at the time of my visit (October 5, 1877) ; but the piles of rock about the shaft-house 

 reveal the nature of the materials brought up from the lowest depth. The vein matter 

 is a mixture of slate and quartz, with bright yellow copper sulphuret conspicuously dis- 

 seminated through it, in company with pyrites, or mundic, and a few crystals of anke- 

 rite. The ore pile contains over 100 tons, showing well in copper. It was said that 

 the whole width of the vein had not been disclosed at the bottom of the shaft. Near 

 the copper ore are piles of compact pyrrhotite, somewhat cupreous and perhaps aurifer- 

 ous, which came from the upper part of the opening. My report for 1869 made the 

 following statement respecting this property, based upon observations upon this open- 

 ing: " On Albee's land several openings have been made, in one case 20 feet deep. 

 There seems to be a sprinkling of copper in the schist for a width of 30 feet ; and near 

 the lower edge of the cupreous rock is a solid mass of iron and copper pyrites three 

 feet wide, the former mineral preponderating. These features are promising for a good 

 mine. The Cornish miners prefer to see the iron pyrites or "mundic" very abundant 

 at the surface, knowing by experience that the copper pyrites gradually takes its place 

 according to the depth of the excavations. Our observation satisfies us that this rule 

 holds as good in North America as in Cornwall." A gentleman who descended the 

 shaft recently told me that the copper-bearing vein varies in width from six inches to 

 eight feet, and the ore differs in quality from li per cent, at the surface to 28^ per cent, 

 at the depth of 60 feet. To the south-east of the shaft are 150 feet of metalliferous 

 schists, belonging to the eastern belt, extending from the eastern sandstone to the edge 

 of a precipice. Tvvu openings showing copper ore have been made in it, — the first, 25 

 feet across it, and 5 or 6 in depth ; the second, 6 or 7 feet long, 40 feet nearer the preci- 

 pice. If these openings were connected, the whole distance would probably present 

 the same cupreous color. These beds dip from 7o°-75° S. 60^-70° E. 



Since my visit, the shaft has been sunk to 70 feet depth, and a new one commenced 

 farther east and excavated 50 feet. The company consist of energetic capitalists from 

 Portland, Me., and they propose to sink 150 feet further in the new locality. 



The Gregoiy Mine. This is situated in the eastern copper belt, upon a ridge 4,000 

 feet easterly from the Gardner Mountain mine, and separated from the former by a 

 valley 250-300 feet deep. In 1869 I made the following statements respecting it : 



"The only copper opening on the eastern belt in Littleton is at Mr. Little's, near the 

 town line. A shaft 18^ feet deep has been sunk in the centre of a mass of copper- 

 bearing schist 40 feet wide. The richest portion of this mass is a vein six or seven 



