THE ADIRONDACK GRAPHITE DEPOSITS 37 



of Wilmington mountain in a moraine-filled valley between two 

 rocky knobs of the mountain mass. It can be reached by following 

 an old lumber road which leaves the road running from Wil- 

 mington to Franklin Falls. There are four prospect pits, two 

 of which are the beginning of shafts in crystalline limestone and 

 pyroxene-garnet contact rocks. The first one reached, after pass- 

 ing the group of recently constructed buildings, is in pale-blue, 

 coarsely crystalline limestone which carries, besides the large 

 graphite flake, the usual collection of silicates, garnet, diopside and 

 occasionally a little pyrite. Cutting through this mass of limestone 

 is a streak of garnet rock. The shaft which has been made here is 

 perhaps 12 feet square and 20 feet deep. To the northeast in the 

 bed of a small brook is a circular shaft sunk only to a shallow 

 depth. This also is situated in limestone. Nearby in sharp con- 

 tact with this is a black, crumbly rock composed of deep-green 

 pyroxene and dark-red garnet. At the line of contact very large 

 flakes of graphite have been developed and to some extent squeezed 

 and rubbed into amorphous masses due to the slight movement that 

 has taken place between the two contrasted masses. 



Higher up the slope a shaft has been sunk in a limestone that is 

 in part a conglomerate. This has been effected by the action of a 

 basic pegmatite presumably of the anorthosite. The pyroxene 

 crystals associated are often crystallographically well formed and 

 present interesting corroded surfaces as though due to the action 

 of vapors and solutions associated with the pegmatite. A few 

 specimens collected of the more distinctly pegmatitic material con- 

 tained hexagonal prismatic of pale-green apatite. The fourth pit is 

 located in limestone. 



The ore. The material was in a large measure the pale-blue lime- 

 stone, but apparently the prospectors were interested to some extent 

 in the contact rocks as well. Two years ago even during the winter 

 active development work was in progress, but early in the spring of 

 191 7 they gave up their attempts to develop the property. This 

 prospect presents some very interesting features of considerable 

 scientific interest, but the nature of the deposit being of the lime- 

 stone-contact type rather indicates that its commercial value is 

 slight. It would appear that the area occupied by graphitic rocks 

 covers several acres and it might be that it might prove to be as 

 extensive as Lead hill. It is either owned or controlled by J. K. 

 Bliss of Tupper Lake. 



