y6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



It is intended to separate the graphite by dry crushing and passing 

 the product over screens. A mill is now in course of construction. 



Some prospect work has been done on a bed of graphitic lime- 

 stone situated on the Welch farm, 3 miles southwest of Mineville, 

 Essex CO. The bed outcrops along the crest of a low hill and is 

 accompanied by pyritous gneisses which are also more or less 

 graphitic. In one pit a very rich band of limestone has been found, 

 giving assays as high as 15 per cent graphite. The flakes are large 

 ?nd are built up of many laminae into comparatively thick plates. 

 There is little mica in the rock, the accompanying minerals com- 

 prising pyroxene, serpentine, pyrite, tourmalin and quartz. The 

 mining rights on the property are owned by the firm of Witherbee, 

 Sherman & Co. of Mineville. 



The property of the Champlain Graphite Co. is located 5 miles 

 west of .Whitehall in the town of Dresden, Washington co. The 

 deposit outcrops on the western shore and near the head of South 

 bay. It shows considerable variation from the graphitic quartzites 

 mentioned above, though it probably belongs to the same series of 

 metamorphosed sediments. The rock is a thinly laminated graphitic 

 schist carrying quartz, garnet, chlorite and pyrite. An appearance 

 of banding is shown in some specimens due to the distribution of 

 the quartz in seams parallel to the bedding planes. The latter are 

 broken by cross joints and the whole deposit has been squeezed and 

 crumpled by dynamic agencies. The graphite, which is said to 

 constitute from 4 to 9 per cent of the rock, has been drawn out into 

 thin flakes that interleave the other components. The surface of 

 the flakes is polished and frequently striated. Quarry methods are 

 employed in exploiting the deposit. The present workings are near 

 the base of the high ridge which rises close to the western shore of 

 South bay. A face 150 feet across has been explored. The mill 

 which was constructed in 1905 lies about 300 feet from the quarry 

 with which it is connected by a short tramway. Productive opera- 

 tions have only recently been commenced. 



The Adirondack Mining & Milling Co. owns a deposit situated 

 a mile north of the one just described. The rock is graphitic 

 schist, almost as fissile as slate. The strata ,are regularly bedded 

 and dip eastward at a high angle. The graphite forms very fine 

 thin scales coating the cleavage planes. It is accompanied by brown 

 mica, garnet, quartz and pyrite. A large quarry has been opened 

 near the base of the ridge. The mill which lies close by was 

 operated during a part of the year, 



