MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 25 



The possibility of gold occurring in the Adirondack sands to any 

 appreciable extent is excluded by the lack of any primary accumu- 

 lations of the metals in lodes or veins. There are no quartz veins 

 anywhere which carry gold in quantity. Common vitreous or 

 milky quartz to be sure is not uncommon but it lacks the sulphides 

 that are the almost universal accompaniments of gold in its primary 

 distribution. The Adirondack sands are simply the products of 

 weathering and erosion of the common country rocks of the region; 

 they contain more or less magnetite, mica, garnet and feldspar in 

 addition to the quartz which constitutes the main ingredient, but 

 repeated assays have failed to detect more than mere traces of gold. 



The occurrence of silver in some of the galena found in the 

 Adirondacks and southeastern New York is a matter of authentic 

 record. Aside from such small quantities, of no commercial interest 

 in themselves, the conditions in regard to silver are the same as 

 those for gold. 



Platinum is one of the rarest of metals and its value in the 

 chemical and electrical industries has stimulated a lively search for 

 deposits. In its physical properties it somewhat resembles gold, 

 and readily concentrates in placers where there are original sources 

 of supply for them to form. Its presence may be easily ascertained 

 by chemical assay. The only occurrence of the metal in New York 

 State that has any substantial basis in fact is the reported discovery 

 of a mass of mixed chromite and platinum weighing 104 grams (of 

 which platinum constituted 46 per cent) in the vicinity of Plattsburg. 

 The record of the occurrence seems to be authentic. If the specimen 

 was found in place and had not been brought there by himian agency, 

 it probably came originally from some of the serpentine areas of 

 northern Vermont or southern Quebec and was brought down by 

 the ice. There are no chromite deposits in the Adirondacks, 

 although the mineral is found in small amounts in the Highlands 

 region. No further basis than this exists for the recent claims that 

 the Adirondacks carry platinum. 



