40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



A sample stated by Putnam to have been taken from the stock 

 pile near the western entrance to the drift gave: 



Iron 36.99 



Phosphorus .055 



Titanium nil 



MINES NEAR CROWN POINT 

 In the vicinity of Crown Point on Lake Champlain and west of 

 there toward Hammondville are a few scattered ore bodies that 

 have received attention in the past, principally as sources of supply 

 for the Crown Point furnace. Among them are the Vineyard, 

 Butler, Kent, Breed and Hammond mines, besides one or two 

 prospects. 'The Mt Defiance hematite mine, south of Fort Ticon- 

 deroga, may also be included among the number. The Crown 

 Point furnace has not been operated for the last 15 years and is 

 now dismantled. 



Geologically, the magnetites of this area show striking differences 

 from the Hammondville group which lies immediately west of Crown 

 Point. They are associated with banded gneisses and schists that 

 can be classed without reserve in the sedimentary or Grenville 

 series. They have a simple tabular or lenticular form, swelling and 

 narrowing to some extent along the strike and dip, but otherwise are 

 little disturbed. They lie conformable to the foliation of the walls, 

 which is plainly marked. In their mineral composition they differ 

 from the Hammondville ores in having a high sulfur content, due 

 to disseminated pyrite and, in most cases, a higher percentage of 

 phosphorus as well. Their admixture with pyrite was a serious 

 drawback to their utilization, since there were no mills for concen- 

 trating the ores in this section. 



The Grenville rocks which occur near the ores are mostly horn- 

 blende and biotite quartzose gneisses with occasional intercala- 

 tions of thin bedded schists. They are conspicuously foliated and 

 variable in their composition from layer to layer. Their color is 

 generally gray, from light to dark shades, sometimes almost black. 

 Pyrite is a common ingredient, while graphite is not wanting. 

 Crystalline limestone has a very limited distribution, apparently, 

 in this area, though abundant farther west. The only occurrence 

 observed near the mines is at the old eupyrchroite locality on the 

 north side of Breeds hill, just south of Crown Point village, and 

 here it is confined to a thin bed of coarsely crystalline graphitic 

 material associated with a dense'quartzite. 



