IRON ORES OF THE CLINTON FORMATION 2() 



EXPLORATION OF THE CLINTON FORMATION 



Little or no effort has l:)een made, hitherto, toward the explora- 

 tion of the Clinton ores outside the limited sections where they are 

 mined. In the stretch from the Oneida-Herkimer county line to the 

 western border of Wayne county, a distance of 120 miles riieasured 

 along the outcrop, only a small portion is revealed sufficiently by 

 exposure or mining excavations to permit of investigations from the 

 surface. Previous knowledge of this area has been based largely 

 on data secured from the eastern and western extremities ; the in- 

 cluded interval of nearly 100 miles in wdiich the beds are, for the 

 most part, mantled by glacial drift, has attracted little ^^attention 

 from mining enterprises and its possibilities for ore production re- 

 mained practically unknown. The mine developments so far made, 

 moreover, are superficial, giving no safe basis for inference as to 

 the changes that may take place in depth. 



A recommendation for an appropriation to be used in conducting 

 exploratory operations within the Clinton belt was submitted to the 

 State Legislature last year through the Education Department. The 

 sum of $5000 (one half the amount requested) was allotted for the 

 purpose. With this assistance, it has been possible to put down a 

 number of test holes along the concealed portion of the outcrop and 

 •for the first time to establish .the position, extent and character of 

 the ore in a general way over many parts of the area. While the 

 original plans called for the drilling of holes at intervals of 4 or 5 

 miles, east and west, with occasional deeper borings as might be 

 required to explore the continuations of the beds on the dip, they 

 1 al to be modified materially to meet the limitation in the allowed 

 appropriation. Instead of attempting to carry out the work on a 

 detailed comprehensive scale, which could only have been brought 

 to partial completion under the circumstances, it was considered 

 advisable to cover as much of the territory as possible by placing 

 the holes far apart and restricting them to a single series near the 

 outcrop. 



The conditions throughout the Clinton belt, fortunately, arc such 

 that they both facilitate ex])l()ratory operations with the drill and 

 permit reliable deductions from the obtained data. The ore seams 

 maintain a fairly constant horizon in the series so that there need be 

 little error in estimating the depth at which they will be encountc'cd 

 in most places. This regularity of position is attended l)y an equal 

 uniformity in their areal development, as might be expected Irom 

 bedded de])Osits. The character or thickness of any seam is subject 

 to local variations, of C(nirse, hut permanent changes take place 



