MURPHKEE'S VALLEY; ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 87 



being greater than the dip of the strata, soon brought the 

 ore bed No. 1 to the surface on the S. E. slope of the moun- 

 tain, where it was exposed in the gullies and washes on its 

 sides. It is near the surface all along the S. E. face ot the 

 mountain, and could be easily mined by stripping and sur- 

 face working. The quality of the ore here is good, carrying 

 about 50 per cent, of metallic iron. 



The underlying beds were not fully exposed at this place. 

 Openings had not been made on them, but the surface show- 

 ings very clearly indicated their presence. 



ESTIMATES. 



We have now passed over the bounds allotted to this ex- 

 amination, and noted in detail all the prominent exposures 

 of Red Hematite ore which it contains. These detailed des- 

 criptions aimed at strict accuracy, so far as they went. Yet 

 they necessarily fail to give, even if they could be all enum- 

 erated, a clear and comprehensive idea of the total amount 

 of ore contained in the region described. In attempting to 

 show the quantity of ore, general terms had to be used. 

 Quantities were said to be great, very great, vast, inexhaust- 

 ible, etc. These terms are always indefinite, and many con- 

 vey different meanings to different minds. To make the 

 quantity of ore described clearly comprehensible by all, 

 measurements made at various places must be aggregated, 

 and computations made of the gross amount. 



Beginning then where description ended, in the upper 

 part of Jones' Valley, say at Turkey Creek, there are there 

 29 feet of ore, the same at Village Springs, and probably for 

 a good distance above, and making on that side for 10 miles 

 an average thickness of say 15 feet. On the other side it 

 varies in the same distance from 7 to 30 feet, and taking in 

 the gaps will give an average for the 10 miles of at least 5 

 feet, making total aggregate thickness of both 20 feet. This 

 may be considered as equivalent to a body of ore 10 miles 

 long and 20 feet thick. Much of this ore can be advan- 

 tageously mined up the slope of the mountain for half a mile, 

 but assuming a quarter of a mile to be the average extent of 



