126 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



furnished much of the building material for local use. The granite 

 consists of microperthite and quartz and is rich in magnetite, 

 resembling the type found on Birch hill near Lyon Mountain. The 

 deposit is inclined io° to the west and has been worked to a depth 

 of about ioo feet. The main openings are on the southern portion, 

 where there is an open pit 300 feet long and 10 to 30 feet wide. 

 Several hundred feet north of the pit a shaft was sunk in the hang- 

 ing wall, with the intention of mining the deposit, but the shaft was 

 abandoned after reaching a depth of 100 feet. A drill hole put 

 down near the shaft is said to have found ore at 150 feet from the 

 surface. The ore is mostly of lean character, with an average 

 probably of not more than 35 per cent iron. The mine was opened 

 in 1842. For several years it was worked by the State, but was 

 abandoned with the discovery of the Dannemora mine which is 

 located within the prison grounds. The latter mine is no longer 

 accessible. 



Ellis mine. This is situated 2 J miles northwest of Dannemora. 

 It is based upon an ore body from 8 to 10 feet wide consisting of 

 disseminated magnetite in reddish granitic gneiss. The strike is 

 about north and south and the dip 15 west. The pit has a length 

 of 50 feet; it is filled with water so that the extent of the under- 

 ground workings can not be ascertained. Judging from the small 

 amount of rock on the dump, the mine was not very productive. 



Fairbanks mine. The Fairbanks mine is about 2 miles west of 

 Dannemora. It was opened nearly 50 years ago and worked for 

 only a brief period. The ore is from 3 to 5 feet thick. 



Bowen & Signor mine. This is located on a belt of deposits 

 which show a nearly continuous line of magnetic attraction extend- 

 ing several miles along the Saranac river in the towns of Black 

 Brook and Saranac. The outcrops are concealed for most of the 

 distance by drift and river sands, but the horizon of the ore has 

 been approximately fixed by magnetic measurements. These 

 show a line of maximum attraction which begins 1 mile east of Red- 

 ford and runs in a broad curve southwest at first to Clayburg and 

 thence westerly and northerly to a point on Cold brook about ij 

 miles north of its junction with the Saranac. The principal lines 

 of magnetic attraction. are indicated on the accompanying sketch 

 map [fig. 20]. 



The Bowen & Signor mine lies 1 mile south of Redford on a drift- 

 covered ridge that rises from the south bank of the Saranac. There 

 are some 6 or 8 pits and shafts, now dismantled and filled by caving 

 of surface materials. At the date of Putnam's report the ore had 



