METALS AND THEIR ORES. 47 
In Littleton and Dalton are two openings, showing the purple and gray ores of cop- 
per. One is on Wheeler hill, and the other is known as the Dalton mine, where work 
has been performed under the direction of J. B. Sumner, Esq. The rock of the coun- 
try is clay slate, but the gangue of the vein is a species of talcose schist, containing a 
little yellow copper and minute particles of magnetic iron. The walls of the Dalton 
mine are very distinct, about sixteen feet apart. The gangue is traversed by cross 
veins of quartz, often carrying fine specimens of the purple ore, or Bormite. A shaft 
has been sunk about twenty-five feet deep upon the vein, and a few openings have 
been made as far as 200 or 300 feet north of the shaft-house, sufficiently to prove the 
continuation of the vein. Similar proof exists of the presence of copper, perhaps the. 
same vein, half a mile in the other direction. This property is upon the top ofa hill. 
It is conveniently situated with reference to water-power, being near the Connecticut 
and one of its tributaries, so that the ore taken from the mine could very easily be 
concentrated at slight expense. An average sample of the whole vein sent by Mr. 
Sumner gave to Prof. Seely 5.4 per cent. of metallic copper. 
Copper in Milan. Similar ores to those of Gardner mountain have 
been discovered lately in Milan. The formation is the same. I have 
examined several openings. First is that of Nathan Fogg, a short dis- 
tance east of the Grand Trunk Railway. The vein dips 70° N.W. A 
pit has been sunk in it about fifteen feet, close by a small brook, and the 
ore shows well for a width of thirteen feet. It is a massive mixture of 
copper and iron pyrites, with galena and blende, without much gangue. 
A fair average gave C. W. Kempton 5.3 per cent. of copper. Immedi- 
ately adjacent to the foot wall is a pretty string of argentiferous galena, 
half an inch wide. The upper part of the vein also shows much galena 
and bright bunches of copper. An assay of the average under my 
supervision yielded a trace of gold and 2.65 ounces of silver to the ton. 
Excavations prove the continuation of the vein for at least 200 feet, and 
in one place there is a width of 40 feet of pyritiferous schists connected 
with the vein. The situation is very convenient to railroad transporta- 
tion. 
On the hill west, Mr. Nay has opened a seam running north-west, 
though tending to take the north-east course of the strata, which con- 
tains argentiferous galena. Mr. Nay has uncovered the rock in several 
places, but had not proved the value of the property at the time of my 
visit in August, 1877. 
On Hodgdon’s land, to the north, is the Twitchell and Mason mine. 
