MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK III 



and of granular texture, resembling the Old Bed at Mineville. The 

 ore is mixed with feldspar and quartz gangue and shades into the 

 country rock in the walls but has rich bands in the middle. It is 

 all concentrated. The principal work recently has been within the 

 southern section opened through the Tunnel, Weldon and Witherbee 

 shafts, and has consisted in the extension of the old workings and 

 removal of the large quantities of lean material left in the walls. 

 There is a considerable area of unmined ground farther north which 

 will constitute a reserve for the future and also possibilities of 

 extending the productive territory to the south. 



Ausable Forks. In the region north and east of Ausable Forks, 

 in southern Clinton county, is a group of magnetite bodies which 

 taken in the aggregate represent one of the largest accumulations 

 of the kind in the whole Adirondacks. The ore-bearing district 

 comprises the series of prominences on the noith side of Ausable 

 river between Ausable Forks and Clintonville, a distance of 5 miles 

 in a direction a little north of east and reaches back or north for a 

 distance of 3 to 5 miles. This district was the scene of many small- 

 scale operations during the period from 1825 to 1890, the ore output 

 being used locally for bloom iron at forges situated at Clintonville, 

 Ausable Forks, Black Brook and Jay. The total output could not 

 have fallen much short of 2,000,000 tons and may have exceeded 

 that figure. 



Most of the ore properties have been acquired in the last few 

 years by Witherbee, Sherman & Co. with a view to the eventual 

 reestablishment of mining on a modem basis. As a preliminary, 

 extensive exploration has been carried out, mainly on Cook hill, 

 north of Clintonville and on Palmer hill and the adjoining territory 

 to the north, which has brought to light much new information 

 about the distribution of the magnetites and greatly increased the 

 known resources. The separate deposits are developed as lenses, 

 shoots and tabular bodies, arranged in series so as to constitute 

 some three or four distinct ore zones. There is thus the Cook hill 

 group, made up of the Winter, Mace, Cook, Battle and other 

 openings which fomis a practically continuous series, beginning 

 within a mile or so of Clintonville and extending somx 3 or 4 miles 

 to the north. The deposits are comparatively thin, 10 to 30 feet 

 for the most part, but their great length and probable depths 

 make the resources very large. 



On Arnold hill next west is another group that contains two 

 or three parallel series that have been explored for i| miles altogether, 

 with the Nelson Bush and Arnold mines as the largest producers. 



