COPPER ORE. 57 



been followed from Chilton county west of the Coosa river, 

 northeastward through Coosa, Clay, and Cleburne counties to 

 the Georgia state line. At intervals along this entire distance 

 there are occurrences of pyrite in the form of crystals dissemi- 

 nated throug the mass of rock ; and in beds more or less com- 

 pact of crystalline pyrite. From near Dean postoffice, in Clay 

 county, northeastward for several miles, the bed of pyrite ap- 

 pears at its best, being several feet in thickness and quite free 

 from impurities. 



This bed was first worked for copper, of which it holds a 

 small percentage, and at the Old Montgomery Copper Works, 

 there was considerable activity during the war between the 

 states in manufacturing blue stone and perhaps other copper 

 salts. The remains of the furnaces and other buildings are still 

 to be seen. 



Recently the Alabama Pyrites Company has begun work on 

 this vein which averages six feet in thickness, and extends along 

 the outcrop about one and a half miles. The analyses show an 

 average of 42 per cent, of sulphur. 



At present the workings go down about 450 feet, and the 

 daily capacity is 150 tons. A railroad has been completed from 

 Talladega to Pyriton, the station at the mines. 



In the southeastern part of Clay county near Hatchet Creek 

 postoffice, and at the old McGhee copper mines, there are other 

 occurrences of the pyrite, and at the first named locality con- 

 siderable work has been done in raising and shipping pyrite. 

 These localities are not yet on a railroad line, and the hauling 

 of the pyrites in a wagon over the mountain can hardly be done 

 without loss. 



Copper Ore. As has been intimated above, the pyrite of the 

 Hillabee Schist contains a small percentage of copper as a rule, 

 but the amount seems hardly to be great enough to make it a 

 copper ore. Near the southern border of Cleburne county at 

 Stone Hill is the copper mine known originally as Wood's cop- 

 per mine. A mile or two northeast of this there is another mine 

 known as the Smith copper mine. The discovery of copper 

 here was made about 1870, and a great deal of work was clone 

 during 1874-5 and 6. The main body of the ore consists of 

 chalco-pyrrhotite and chalco-pyrite, along with a good deal of 

 pyrite containing very little copper. 



As is the case elsewhere, the first mining here was in the rich 

 decomposition products of the weathered parts of the vein and 



