REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I916 269 



able ore, while others consist of an intergrowth of magnetite with 

 hornblende, biotite and other minerals, forming a lean ore suitable 

 only for concentration. Unlike the Benson Mines deposit they carry 

 little pyrite. The mines were worked last in 1888 by the Magnetic 

 Iron Ore Co., which mined about 25,000 tons in the period of two 

 years in which they were active. The recent work has been under- 

 taken by W. J. Hughes. 



Palmer Hill. The exploration of the magnetite bodies at this 

 place near Ausable Forks, Clinton county, has been in progress. 

 The property, as well as many others in this region, was acquired a 

 few years ago by Witherbee, Sherman & Co. with a view to their 

 eventual reopening. 



Sterling Lake. A good record was made last year by the two 

 active mines in southeastern New York operated by the Hudson 

 Iron Co. (near West Point) and by the Sterling Iron & Railway 

 Co. at Sterling Lake, just north of the New Jersey state line. Both 

 companies ship their product in lump form, having no concentrating 

 mills on their properties. 



The output at Sterling Lake is now taken from a single deposit, 

 known as the Lake, one of the numerous bodies that occur in the 

 vicinity and that together have supported a mining industry for the 

 last 150 years and more. The different deposits vary greatly in 

 their physical features as related to form and content, although sit- 

 uated in the same general geological surroundings, so far as cur- 

 sory examination shows. Some are thin sheets lying flat, or slightly 

 inclined, others are attenuated lenses with a moderate to steep dip 

 and usually with a pitch to the north, and still others are developed 

 as narrow, elongated shoots with the long axis on the pitch which 

 likewise is to the north. More complex forms result from differen- 

 tial compression and folding of these simpler types. 



The principal deposits lie within a belt that begins near the New 

 Jersey line and extends some 5 or 6 miles to and beyond Sterling 

 Lake. It is part of a much larger ore zone that reaches into New 

 Jersey on the south and extends in a general northeasterly direction 

 across Orange county to the Hudson river. Beginning at the south, 

 within a short distance of the state line, the series includes the Steel 

 mine which outcrops on a ridge at about 800 feet A. T. and is based 

 on a band of ore striking N. 20° E. It is opened by a few pits on 

 the south end. The same band of ore extends north beyond the hill 

 under the adjoining valley. The next deposit is the Crawford, 

 located on a lens which begins near the base of the succeeding ridge 



