MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 1 39 



6 The Staten Island Limoniles 

 The limonites of Staten island supply an interesting example 

 of ore occurrence, but are no longer of commercial importance. In 

 character and probably in genesis they are closely parallel to the 

 limonite ores of eastern Cuba which have recently come into 

 prominence; their restricted distribution, however, excludes them 

 from consideration as a basis for present day mining. They are 

 found on the serpentine ridge which constitutes the backbone of 

 the island, the higher ground between St George on the north shore 

 and Richmond in the central part. The serpentine represents the 

 altered product of a basic intrusive of the peridotite class of rocks. 

 Little of the original silicates is now left, although occasionally 

 particles of pyroxene and olivine bear witness to the original character 

 of the mass, as does also the chromite which is distributed in small 

 grains all through the serpentine. The ore lies in depressions upon 

 the serpentine and is covered by clays and sand: a small percentage 

 of chromium is present, according to the published analyses which 

 show 38-55 per cent iron; also cobalt and nickel. The old mine 

 localities are about i mile north of New Dorp station (New Dorp 

 mine) at the Four Corners on the Richmond turnpike (Tyson's 

 mine) and on the Ocean Terrace road (Cooper & Hewitt mine). 

 A detailed account of the occurrences is found in Putnam's article 

 in the Tenth Census reports. The ore yield is placed at 250,000 

 tons. Mining terminated about 1880. 



References 

 Beck, Lewis C. Mineralogy of New York, 1842 

 Eckel, Edwin C. Limonite Deposits of Eastern New York and Western New 



England. U. S. Geol. Surv. Bui. 260, 1905, p. 335-42 

 Emmons, Ebenezer. Geology of New York. Report on the 2d Dist., 1842 

 Hall, James. Geology of New York. Report on the 4th Dist., 1843 

 Kemp, J. F. The Geology of the Magnetites near Port Henry, N. Y., and 



especially those of Mineville. Amer. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., v. 27, 1897 

 Titaniferous Iron Ores of the Adirondacks. U. S. Geol. Sur. 19th Ann. 



Rep't, pt 3, 1899 



Geology of the Elizabethtown and Port Henry Quadrangles. N. Y. 



State Mus. Bui. 138, 1910 

 Koeberlin, F. R. The Brewster Iron Bearing District of New York. Economic 



Geol., V. 4, 1909 

 Nason, F. L. Notes on Some of the Iron Bearing Rocks of the Adirondack 



Mountains. Amer. Geol., v. 12, 1893 

 Newland, D. H. Geology of the Adirondack Magnetic Iron Ores, with a Report 



on the Mineville-Port Henry Group, by J. F. Kemp. N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 



119, 1908 



