132 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



1. LAMINATED ORE. ■ 



As we come southward the deposits of laminated ore, which in Cass County, 

 towards the northern boundary of the iron ore region of East Texas, were 

 found only in a fragmentary condition, appear to thicken, and from occupying 

 a very insignificant position among the iron ores of the northern region in 

 Cass, gradually assume a more prominent position in coming south until in 

 Harrison County the development of this class of ore is such that it occupies 

 the position of being the most important iron producing ore in the county. 



Keeping to the same general principle of the thicker the overlying sandy 

 deposit the thinner the underlying bed of laminated ore, it is noticeable that 

 wherever these beds approach the surface or become the capping of the hill 

 they become thicker and heavier, reaching their greatest development when 

 found as a surface deposit. Although this may be accepted as a general rule, 

 it is not without many extensive exceptions. Thin beds as well as thick de- 

 posits frequently occupy a position close to or upon the surface, while com- 

 paratively thick deposits of the ore lie at depths of from ten to fifty feet. It 

 is, however, usually the case that where thinly bedded ores occur at the sur- 

 face they are in a broken and fragmentary condition and mixed with great 

 quantities of ferruginous sandstones. 



The laminated ores of Harrison County occur in beds made up of thin 

 laminae of a dark brown or chestnut brown color, interlaminated with thin 

 laminae of a bright yellow, and have a resinous lustre. The yellow laminae 

 are frequently absent, and the beds then become a segregation of dark brown, 

 almost black, glossy laminated ore. Surface deposits where the yellow col- 

 ored laminae are absent assume a lighter brown tint. These laminae rarely 

 exceed half an inch in thickness and usually do not exceed one-fourth of an 

 inch. This ore also occurs as a massive ore of variable thickness — from two 

 inches to three or four and sometimes five feet. In color these deposits of 

 massive ore vary from a dark chestnut brown to a lighter shade of brown 

 specked with small irregularly disseminated patches of yellow. In the thin- 

 ner beds, the partings or sides of the strata are frequently of a dark, almost 

 black, glossy hue. Laminated ore also occurs in considerable quantities in a 

 crumbly condition, the pieces being generally in a thin, scaly, or cuboidal 

 form, having the blocks and scales somewhat mixed with clay. In color, this 

 class of ore is usually of a dark chestnut brown and has a brownish red 

 streak. The powdered ore also shows a brown color. 



The most extensive developments of laminated ore occur in the western 

 part of the county on the Robert Hightower, John Bowen, western portion 

 of the Daniel Davis, and north side of the William Nelson headrights. The 

 ore in this region lies in the form of a ridge in an almost due north and south 

 direction. The ridge is nearly half a mile long and from two to three hun- 



