170 GEOLOGY OF OLD HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, MASS. 



MINERAL DEPOSITS. 



THE I'YlilTK liED.S. 



Toward the north, to some extent in Hawley, but more abundantly 

 north of the Deei-field River, lenticular beds and impregnations of pyrite 

 occur, carrying a small percentage of chalcopyrite. The success of the 

 Davis mine in Rowe has greatly stimulated the search for similar deposits 

 and their exploitation. Much time and money seem to liave been fruit- 

 lessly exi)ended, and often l)y those who could ill afford it, without, so far 

 as I could learn, consultation ■\\-ith any person competent to advise upon 

 such matters. 



Many considerable beds have been opened, but none have proved 

 remunerative except the Davis mine, near the east line of Rowe. This is a 

 great lens, lying with sericite-schist as its western (foot) wall, and on the 

 east chlorite-schist, which is soon replaced by sericite-schist. The strike is 

 N. 30° E., the dip 70° E. The bed has been opened for 700 feet on the 

 strike and to a depth of 425 feet. On the north it swells in a short dis- 

 tance from 6 feet to 24 feet and maintains this thickness nearly to the south 

 end. It is an enormous mass of almost pure, coarse-granular, shining yel- 

 low pyrite, with some chalcopyrite, blende, garnets, and gahnite — the two 

 latter fine and I'are. I am indebted to the proprietor, Mr. H. J. Davis, for 

 the facts concerning the workings of the mine up to the summer of 1 892. 

 It is supplied with the most ap})roved appliances of every kind. A little 

 village has sprung up in this desolate corner of a decaying town, and nuxch 

 taste and energ}' were manifest everywhere. A new post-office (Davis) has 

 been created, and surveys were being made for a narrow-gauge road from 

 the mine to Charlemont. Everything thus indicates that the mine is suc- 

 cessful to a degree excei^tional in the history of mining in Massachusetts. 



In 1892 the greatest dejjth of No 1 shaft was 501 feet; greatest length 

 of adits, 998 feet; total depth of all shafts, 621 feet; whole length of adits, 

 5,989 feet; greatest width of the vein, 61 feet. Total product of mine to 

 January 1, 1892, 334,552 tons 



Considerable work has also been done on Rice's brook, a mile above 

 Charlemont village, and an engine has been set up, but the enterprise did 

 not prove remunerative. 



The most abundant and promising deposit after the Davis mine is in 



