66 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA. 



.and for the last two years regular mining, and tunneling has 

 been pursued. Drifts are run along the face of the mountain 

 so to as be self draining and give a gentle descent to the 

 loaded cars. Only the 1st, or upper bed of ore is worked here, 

 or rather the 1st and 2nd beds combined ; for they in fact are 

 here united and practically make one bed, or seam. At the 

 brow of the mountain their united thickness was from 4 to 6 

 feet. This thickness has gradually diminished with depth 

 and increased pressure and the lowest levels have now 

 only 2^ feet of ore. 



Sixty miners are now employed here, and the daily output 

 is 200 tons of ore. 



The quality of the ore is practically the same from the 

 top to the base of Red Mountain only the seam is gradually 

 diminishing in thickness from increased pressure. And a 

 doubt is now seriously entertained that the iron bearing 

 Clinton does not extend westward beneath Sand Valley. 

 We must await further developments before modifying our 

 views on this subject. On the west side of the town of 

 Compton, at the base of Sand Mountain, are seven quarries 

 worked by this company. The quarries are on a great ledge 

 of Carboniferous Limestone, that is here very prominently 

 exposed. About 200 hands are employed, and the daily 

 output is 1,000 tons of lime rock-, mainly used for flux by the 

 Birmingham and Bessemer furnaces. 



In addition to this, Col. Hatch operates another quarry 

 further to the S. W., and near the line of Blount and Jeffer- 

 son counties. He employs about 40 hands, and puts out 

 about 200 tons of lime rock per day, which goes to the same 

 markets. 



The lime rock that is mainly quarried here is a ledge of 

 solid rock 16 feet thick, of unusually pure carbonate of lime. 

 This ledge yields by analysis from 95 to 98| Carbonate of 

 Lime, and 1.70 to 2.20 of Silica, with only a small fraction 

 of one per cent, of Carb. of Magnesia. 



This rock is so perfectly adapted for fluxing and the best 

 that can be obtained for this purpose, that the furnaces re- 

 quire and demand it, to the exclusion of all others. Hence. 



