170 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



The total area of this ore region is not more than two square miles, and in 

 no portion of the area can the ore be looked upon as of any economic value. 



That portion of the county south of the Sabine River has only been ex- 

 amined partially, and even that only in the portion contiguous to the river. 

 With the exception of one or two localities nothing definite is known about 

 the region. 



On the western side of the county, on the W. W. Avery headright, a de- 

 posit of iron ore is said to exist, but nothing is as yet known regarding its 

 quantity, extent, or quality. 



"Where the Longview and Kilgore road crosses the Sabine the south bank 

 of the river rises in a precipitous manner to a height of ninety feet. The 

 upper portion of this bluff is composed of a brown sand, with fragments of 

 laminated ore, ferruginous sandstones, and some broken nodules of concre- 

 tionary ore, the talus on the side of the bluff being almost altogether made 

 up of ferruginous sandstones in the form of large blocks and fragments This 

 bluff is the northern termination of a flat- topped ridge extending from the 

 south bank of the Sabine River in a southwesterly direction towards the vil- 

 lage of Kilgore, and occupying that portion of the country lying between 

 Rabbit Creek and Winn's Bayou. In the immediate vicinity of the river 

 small quantities of ferruginous sandstones, with some broken nodules of con- 

 cretionary ore, are found as a surface deposit. Further south the sandstones 

 predominate. 



On the north end of the Elenor Bradley and Henry Hoover headrights a 

 range of bluffs lying a short distance south of the river shows considerable 

 quantities of the newer grade of conglomerate iron ores, and on the north- 

 eastern portion of the centre of the Bradley land, along Dutchman's Creek, 

 small quantities of broken concretionary ore are found intermingled with the 

 overlying brown sand and siliceous pebbles. 



The iron ores of Gregg County, so far as they have been examined, may 

 be considered as non-workable ores. Where any quantity exists the quality 

 is not good, and can scarcely be ranked higher than a ferruginated sandstone, 

 probably carrying about thirty to thirty-five per cent of ore. Where the 

 higher grade concretionary and ochreous ores are found the quantity does 

 not justify any attempt being made to operate them. 



LIGNITES. 



The lignitic series of sands, clays, and lignites appear in G-regg County at 

 various places along the Sabine River. No deposits of lignite of sufficient 

 thickness to be of any practical value were seen. 



Some years ago shafts were sunk on the H. Frost headright for the pur- 

 pose of mining the lignite deposits underlying the sandy deposits. Several 



