30 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



situated near Conklingville, 8 miles west of Hadley, Saratoga co. 

 Only experimental runs have been made thus far. The deposit 

 is reported to be extensive. It belongs to the sedimentary type, 

 the graphite being distributed along the bedding or cleavage 

 planes of a quartzite. 



The Empire Graphite Co. has a property near Greenfield, Sara- 

 toga CO., and began active work in the early part of 1908. 



In St Lawrence county some attention has been given to a 

 deposit occurring on the Indian river about 3 miles from Rossie 

 village. The graphite forms the principal constituent of a 

 schist, through the body of which it is distributed richly in very 

 small scaly particles. It is a crystalline graphite, but too fine in 

 size to be easily separated. Trial shipments of the crude material 

 were reported to have given satisfactory results when used for 

 foundry purposes. 



The wide distribution of graphite in the Adirondack region 

 undoubtedly makes it a promising field for prospecting and 

 mining, but there are strict limitations surrounding the industry, 

 the neglect of which on the part of the mining companies has 

 led to many failures. The amount of capital expended in the 

 erection of new milling plants and mine equipment during the 

 last five years aggregates several hundred thousand dollars, and 

 in many cases there has been little or no return for the outlay. 



The separation and refining of graphite under the conditions 

 presented by the Adirondack occurrences involve unusual diffi- 

 culties. As described in previous reports, the deposits that have 

 been the main sources of supply consist of disseminated flakes 

 in a gangue that ranges from quartzite to a feldspar-quartz 

 schist with a considerable percentage of dark silicates. While 

 the graphite has a specific gravity somewhat below that of the 

 accompanying minerals, the difference is not sufficient to make 

 a separation by gravity methods alone practicable, and in fact 

 is of less importance than the scaly habit of the mineral. The 

 first separation is carried out by shaking tables, buddies or by 

 the pneumatic jig, and the product secured, corresponding to 

 the tailings in the concentration of metallic ores, contains a cer- 

 tain amount of slimes or dust and any other scaly minerals, as 

 well as the graphite. The elimination of the granular impurities 

 can l)e effected satisfactorily, if the graphite is relatively coarse, 

 by the pneumatic or flotation methods of refining, but scaly sili- 

 cates like mica are not readily removed. 



Biotite and phlogopite are the varieties of mica commonly 



