IRON ORES. 351 



most persistent and can be traced for many miles. It has been worked at 

 Iron Mountain and at points south of Llano, while fragments of ore have 

 been collected from the tract at the southeastern base of the Riley Mountains, 

 where the quantity of derived segregations on the surface is also enormous. 



THE " IRON MOUNTAIN " OUTCROP. 



About one mile and a half north of west from Valley Spring Postoffice, 

 upon the right bank of Johnson Creek, the ground slopes somewhat steeply 

 beyond the old flood plain of the stream, and at the culmination of the hill a 

 small ridge or mound formerly stood out in relief. This was the condition 

 at the date of the writer's first visit, in June, 1889, but by the time it was 

 again examined, in the following August, the excavations since made in the 

 so-called Iron Mountain had changed its appearance, so that now it would be 

 difficult to understand this nomenclature. The course of the iron ore and its 

 probable persistency in the northwest trend was clearly made out when I 

 first examined the locality, and the excavation of numerous pits all over the 

 adjoining space was unnecessary, as has been proved by the results, which 

 fully confirm my original views regarding the strike and character of the 

 mass. The section of the rocks at this point has already been given under 

 the head of the Fernandan System, in Part I of this Report. The quantity of 

 magnetite and hematite at this outcrop is very great, and the explorations made 

 by a shaft and drift since my last visit have increased the knowledge of its 

 extent. Mr. Chas. Huppertz, who was sent to the spot in February, 1890, 

 thus reports: 



They have sunk the shaft straight down the side ©f the iron outcrop, going down about 

 fifty feet and then turning across into the "lead" about twenty- two feet. There is also a 

 digging about one hundred yards from the Iron Hill and shaft, and being in a southeast di- 

 rection from the hill, it is presumed that the "lead" strikes northwest and southeast. 



The occurrence of a very high phosphorous hematite layer upon one side of 

 this outcrop is peculiar, as almost no phosphorous exists in the average of 

 the ore. A reference to the section given under the head of the Iron Moun- 

 tain Series, Part I of this Report, will explain the probable cause of this streak. 



THE WAKEFIELD TRACT. 



In the course of the Iron Mountain Belt prolonged southeastward there are 

 other exposures of the magnetite, but erosion has apparently not extended far 

 enough in parts of the line to uncover the ore, while in other places the 

 detrital deposits have obscured the continuation, if it exist, as the writer be- 

 lieves. About three miles south of Llano City considerable prospecting has 

 been done in this and parallel belts. For want of a better name this will be re- 

 ferred to as the Wakefield tract, although the work dooe by Mr. Wakefield 

 in the region is by no means limited to this area. Here the magnetites and 



