112 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Some of the bodies in this group carry large proportions of martite 

 whose presence is revealed by the bluish tint of the ore in mass; 

 the shape usually is rudely lenticular, widest in the middle and 

 narrowing down or pinching out where followed along the strike and 

 pitch, but the continuation of the ore is then to be looked for along 

 the same course or at a short distance to one side or the other of 

 the axis. The maximum width is about 25 to 30 feet. Slight 

 offsets are caused occasionally by dip faults. 



On the west end of the district are the Palmer hill, Jackson hill 

 and outlying bodies farther north, forming a belt some 3 or 4 miles 

 long, but with important breaks in which no mineralization is 

 observed. Palmer hill, a bare prominence 2 miles north of Ausable 

 Forks, is traversed by a band of magnetite that has been explored 

 for over 2000 feet along the strike and to an extreme depth of 2200 

 feet, with a yield probably of between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 tons. 

 Here in 1836 was installed the first magnetic concentrator to be 

 operated in the Adirondacks; it was a crude device, made up of a 

 series of horseshoe magnets arranged in the interior of a revolving 

 drum, but an interesting anticipation of the present day mills. 

 The magnetite occurs mainly in disseminated condition in the 

 country rock which is massive granite low in quartz and containing 

 more or less fiuorite; but rich shoots were met with in the early 

 days and these supplied most of the output. The ore is of Bessemer 

 grade. Jackson hill is a mile northeast of Palmer hill; parallel 

 bands of magnetite occur in similar associations but are narrower. 

 Still farther north on Hogback mountain is a series of deposits very 

 little exploited hitherto, but which recent tests with the drill have 

 proved to contain large resources. The ore is higher in phosphorus 

 than the usual magnetites of the district. 



Saranac valley. A group of deposits in the towns of Saranac, 

 Black Brook and Dannemora once supported an active mining and 

 metallurgical industry in towns along the Saranac river. One of 

 the more extensive series of workings is in the vicinity of Redford 

 and Clayburg on an ore zone which is traceable by outcrop and 

 magnetic attractions for 6 or 7 miles. At the Bowen 8c Signor 

 mine, just south of Redford, the ore has been mined for 1600 feet on 

 the first level and varies from 20 to 30 feet wide. The crude ore is 

 non-Bessemer but is said to yield Bessemer concentrates. It 

 carries around 40 per cent or a little less of iron. Above Clayburg 

 is an extensive working, now largely caved, which shows about 

 the same grade of magnetite. In the vicinity of Dannemora village 

 is another series, including the Fairbanks, Ellis, Averill and Danne- 



