REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 1898 r83 



had it assayed. Tlie report stated the value to be $7.63 a ton. He 

 undertook an investigation, and arrived at conclusions similar to 

 those of Mr Bullis. Other investigators were C. O. Yale, inventor 

 of the famous lock, and Alonzo Chase, of Eedfield S. D. The 

 latter made a great many tests of sands from Hamilton and Fulton 

 counties, and states that the average value obtained was $4: a ton ; 

 he also states that his lire assays frequently gave widely differing 

 results from the same sample of sand. 



A few^ years ago John E. Sutphen, of Albany, took up the in- 

 vestigation with Mr Bullis. After the death of the latter, Mr 

 Sutphen developed the process which bears his name, and w^hich is 

 being tried for the first time on a commercial scale at this mill. 



At the point where the mill is located theSacandaga river has cut 

 the Quaternary sand plain into three distinct terraces, the lowest of 

 which rises abruptly from the river to a hight of 35 feet. The mill 

 is situated on this terrace, about 100 yards from the river bank and 

 directly against the face of the second terrace, which is 40 feet in 

 hight. This second terrace consists of a 10 foot stratum of clear 

 sand, underlain and overlain by strata of sand and gravel ; the peb- 

 bles of the latter rarely exceeding 5 inches in diameter. 



The sand consists almost exclusively of quartz grains, with a 

 small percentage of magnetite and mica and a still smaller quantity 

 of garnet and other minerals. It is stained a light buff color by 

 the presence of a small amount of oxid of iron. The majority of 

 the grains are rather sharp and regular, though a considerable pro- 

 portion of them are well rounded by abrasion. This indicates that 

 the greater part of the sand was derived from local sources with a 

 smaller amount of material transported by water from a distance. 

 Such is probably the case, as the sand is typically of postglacial 

 fiood plain origin, which the river has subsequently cut into three 

 well defined terraces. 



Plate 4: shows the mill, the tailings dump and the opening in the 

 second terrace from which the sand is taken. Plate 5 shows the 

 ground fioor of the mill. 



The sand is removed from the terrace in wheelbarrows, and is 

 dumped into a trough on the second floor of the mill, from which 

 it is led down to the dryer and sifter shown in the background on 

 the left of plate 5. This consists of a revolving cylindric screen 



