Report on the Talc Industry of St. Lawrence County. 



By C. H. Smyth, Jr. 



In a former report,* an account was given of the southw estern portion 

 of the talc deposits, which extend from the central part of the township of 

 Fowler, nearly across Edwards. The examination then made was incidental 

 to a reconnaissance of a portion of St. Lawrence county not including the 

 town of Edwards in which the talc lias its greatest development. On this 

 account, the description of the deposits was very incomplete, and the con- 

 clusions drawn as to their origin were limited to such portions as were 

 actually studied. The explanation of the deposits suggested w as, however, of 

 such a nature that it was difficult to see how it con Id apply to n (tart of 

 them and not to the whole; and this general application was withheld simply 

 because the descriptions of the talc in Edwards, which had l>een published at 

 that time, were so at variance with the facts observed in Fowler. In the 

 latter town, as stated in the report referred to, the talc gives every indication 

 of being a bedded deposit, constituting a portion of the crystalline limestone 

 formation so important in this region. 



Published accounts of the talc in Edwards, however, stated that it formed 

 a clearly-defined vein, with granite or gneiss walls. f As it hardly seemed 

 possible that the talc should exhibit such different relations at points on a 

 continuous belt and separated by only a few miles, it was thought advisable 

 to examine the entire series of deposits, their economic importance being 

 sufficient to warrant a determination of their geologic character. 



Such an examination, made during the past summer, served to remove 

 the seeming contradictions which formerly existed. The deposits in Edwards 

 were found to agree in every important particular with those of Fowler, and 

 all the facts observed are in harmony with the explanation given for the 

 latter. The deposits only remotely resemble veins, w hile the w alls of granite 

 and gneiss have no existence. 



The chief mines form a group in and near Talcville, and here the talc is 

 w ell shown. It occurs in two or more horizons only a few feet apart, forming 



* Report of the New York State (ieologist for the year 189$, pp. 498-615. 



t A. Sahlin ; The Talc Industry of the Gouverneur District, St. Lawrence county, N. Y. ; Transactions American Institute of 

 Mining Engineers, Vol. XXI, p. 583. 



Talc ; The Mineral Industry, Vol. I, p. 435. 



