NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



PYRITE 



The pyrite deposits of St Lawrence county contributed an in- 

 creased output of that mineral last year, though no new properties 

 were under operation. The main factor in the industry was the 

 St Lawrence Pyrite Co. at Stellaville where it owns extensive 

 mining properties inclusive of the Stella, and a large mill for con- 

 centrating the ore. The company only recently attained its present 

 stage of productive activity which places it among the more im- 

 portant producers and shippers of pyrite in the country. The out- 

 put is mainly in the form of concentrates with a content of 40 

 per cent or more in sulphur, but a small proportion is shipped as 

 cobbed ore or spalls, with a somewhat smaller tenor of sulphur. 

 The pyrite is used by acid burners in the eastern states, and is con- 

 sidered a very desirable material for their purposes on account of 

 its relative freedom from arsenic and other injurious impurities. 



The Hinckley Fibre Co. continued work at the Cole mine near 

 Gouverneur, making shipments of the crude pyrite to its sulphite 

 pulp mills in the Adirondacks. The company has developed a pro- 

 cess by which the low-grade material as it comes from the mine 

 can be utilized successfully for making sulphurous anhydride and 

 calcium sulphite, of which very large quantities are employed in the 

 local pulp mills. It would appear that an extensive market for the 

 St Lawrence county pyrite might be developed if the crude ore 

 were generally applicable to sulphite manufacture. 



An occurrence of pyrite in the town of Fowler, southeast of 

 Gouverneur, received some attention during the year, and ship- 

 ments of a few tons of the ore were made for experimental pur- 

 poses. The locality from which the ore was taken is on the Kilburn 

 place, near Little York. A band of quartz-amphibolite schist, ap- 

 parently a part of the sedimentary or Grenville series, can be fol- 

 lowed in outcrop for a mile or more, its surface being deeply stained 

 by iron oxids. Pyrite occurs more or less abundantly scattered all 

 through the schist and in places forms richer veinlike bands or 

 irregular aggregates which are also distinguished by the coarse 

 character of the mineral. Shallow pits have been sunk at one or 

 two points from which the ore for experiment was taken. The 

 deposits, like many of the other Adirondack occurrences, contain 

 pyrrhotite along with the pyrite, but the former mineral is most 

 in evidence in the southern part of the ore zone. 



