MURPHREE'S VALLEY ; ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 107 



ing, and that manganese in some quantity and limonite 

 were here either closely associated, or combined in the 

 stratum. In this respect it is a very interesting locality ; 

 and it was much regretted that an exposure ot the whole 

 structure could not be obtained. Another good out crop of 

 apparently the same ore is found in S. 34, T. 14, R. 1, W., 

 and in S. 3, T. 15, R. 1, W. on the face of east Red Moun- 

 tain. Some of it is seen near the top of the mountain where 

 the public road crosses from Village Springs to Spradling's 

 Cove, but it is gradually flexed downwards with the strata 

 towards the S. W., and near the east line of section 3 its 

 position is over 100 feet below the top of the mountain. 



The ore is very good, and apparently abundant. The 

 out crop covering a space of from 75 to 100 feet. But often 

 out crops in the steep face of a mountain show a much 

 greater thickness than the ore body possesses. It is proba- 

 bly so here. Yet if the body of ore is one-third or even 

 one-fourth as thick as the out crops indicate, it is large 

 enough for advantageous mining. The only uncertainty 

 about the value of this lode is in the proportion of ore to 

 waste matter it may carry. In this the cost o mining, and 

 consequent value of an ore mine very greatly depend. In 

 the absence of any excavation into this deposit, it is impos- 

 sible to form any reliable opinion on this important point. 

 When the demand for this class of ores becomes more pro- 

 nounced this deposit will no doubt receive .the consideration 

 due to its apparent importance. 



Many other small bodies of limonite have been observed 

 at other points, which, from the small out crops presented, 

 or their unfavorable surroundings, or the poor quality of ore 

 were not considered likely to be valuable, and have not 

 been mentioned. Two of the latter class lie about a mile 

 from Village Springs, one north, the other north-east. The 

 ore is very sandy, or mixed with chert and yet this may 

 only be the case with the upper part of the beds, which 

 alone are seen. It is not uncommon for the upper layers of 

 a limonite deposit to be sandy and worthless, and the lower 



