THE ADIRONDACK GRAPHITE DEPOSITS 25 



a regular vein in gneiss." Beck 1 refers to it as occurring about 2^ 

 miles from Ticonderoga at Upper Falls. " It is a vein of the purest 

 foliated graphite several inches in width. The foliae often have a 

 radiated arrangement, and are of considerable size. The gangue is 

 calcareous spar, which often exhibits large and perfect cleavages. 

 Granular graphite is also found associated with the above. This 

 mine has not been much worked, but a considerable quantity of 

 pure graphite is annually obtained from it, which is sold for a 

 shilling a pound. It is thought that this is an extensive deposit." 



It would appear that it was being worked by the American 

 Graphite Company in the early fifties. The Joseph Dixon Crucible 

 Company bought the American Graphite Company, and has ex- 

 ploited Lead hill, the Lakeside mine, and the great deposit at 

 Graphite under that name. 



In the early days, under the management of Mr William Hooper, 

 the company was able to produce an exceedingly high-grade flake 

 by using the ore-dressing machines that he developed. They made 

 use of the wet method of concentration. 



In the early days the interest taken in Lead hill was very great, 

 but for reasons given below the American Graphite Company shifted 

 its interest to the locality at Hague and that at Graphite. Since then 

 the deposits on Lead hill have been worked only under small leases, 

 among which was the Ticonderoga Graphite Company. 



Today the locality is abandoned, although renewed attempts have 

 been made to reopen some of the pits in recent years. 



Workings. Of the various workings, six are sufficiently im- 

 portant to be treated separately. There are others that were re- 

 ported to the writer, but the undergrowth and lumbering have 

 rendered search very difficult. It is likely that some have escaped 

 notice. 



The " Woodchnck " 2 Workings. These are the first pits reached 

 on approaching the property by the old wagon road. A group 

 of three irregular shaft openings has been made along the 

 line of contact between limestone and pegmatitic granite. Under- 

 ground, various connecting passageways join them together. At a 

 depth of some 40 feet they are tapped by a horizontal drift, which is 

 a branch of the main one driven from the hillside to the south (see 

 accompanying map, figure 4) . The drifts were driven some twelve 

 vears ago, while the shaft openings were made much earlier. Dur- 



1 Beck. Nat. Hist, of N. Y., pt. 3, Mineralogy, 1842, p. 96-97. 



2 This is not the proper name, but conflicting opinions among the former 

 workers necessitate the employment of this nickname. 



