THE ADIRONDACK GRAPHITE DEPOSITS 141 



useless. Furthermore the flakes are usually thinner than the natural 

 Hake. Nature has produced a form of graphite that man, as yet, 

 has not equaled. 



THE ORIGIN OF GRAPHITE 



The discussion of the origin of graphite is of commercial and of 

 scientific interest. The important role that origin plays in " sizing 

 Up " a graphite property has been pointed out in the preceding pages, 

 and it does not need to be repeated here. 



The origin of the mineral has been a favorite topic for many pens, 

 and almost as many theories have been advanced as there are writers 

 on the subject. The causes of these antagonistic views are varied. 

 In essence it has been the conflict between the organic and the 

 inorganic theories. Some would claim that all deposits have had 

 an organic origin, while, on the other hand, the other extreme is 

 maintained. 



The writer is in full accord with Kemp, Bastin, B. L. Miller and 

 \\ inchell, that graphite has been formed by both processes, acting 

 entirely independently and sometimes in conjunction. 



The attempt to arrive at the origin of the graphite in the Adiron- 

 dacks is made difficult by the early views that still persist. Such 

 statements that : " The Dixon . . . Company has in its mine 

 near Graphite a fissure vein of small thickness but of great length 

 and depth, cutting through gneiss," 1 or what Cirkel reports as 

 Kemp's description of Lead hill " as true fissure veins," 2 and that 

 the ore at the Flake Graphite Company is a metamorphosed dike, 3 

 obscures rather than clarifies our problem. 



The organic type of graphite. Bastin 4 presents an imposing 

 array of arguments to support the contention that the " Dixon " 

 schist as shown at the mining village of Graphite is of sedimentary 

 origin. He summarized them as follows: "(1) in the highly 

 quartzose, nonfeldspathic character of most of the graphitic rock ; 

 (2) in the evenly and highly garnetiferous character of much of the 

 wall rock [the Hague gneiss] ; (3) in the persistence of the 

 graphitic schists and associated garnetiferous gneisses with fairly 

 uniform trend, width and character for considerable distances ; 

 (4) in the presence locally of interbedded masses of crystalline 



1 Ingalls, W. R., The Mineral Industry, 1908, 17:493. 

 ^Cirkel, Fritz, " Graphite," Can. Dep't of Mines, Mines Br. 1907, p. 56. 

 'Nicholas, F. C, Min. World, Jan. 4, 1908, p. 18. 



♦Bastin, E. S., " Origin of Certain Adirondack Graphite Deposits," (Econ 

 Geol. 5 : i34)- 



