GEOLOGY OF GILES COUNTY, VIRGINIA 
365 
surface mantle of soil and chert contains the ore, hence a wasner 
would be necessary to prepare the manganese for market. 
The nearest point where shipment could be made, is Pearis- 
burg Station, which is some eight miles distant, too far to war- 
rant exploitation at present. However, should a railroad be run 
up Walker Creek Valley, this prospect would at once become of 
considerable value, since the quantity of ore is large and can 
easily be worked by steam shovel. 
The Hare Prospect 
This prospect is one and one-half miles north of Chapel Sta- 
tion on the New River, Holston and Western Railroad. Two 
openings have been made, both in the Oriskany member of the 
Giles,' which are about forty feet long by eight feet wide by 
fifteen feet in depth. Some psilomelane has been mined but the 
sandstone has been only partially replaced by this mineral and 
brown iron ore. The latter may become of importance since a 
pit farther north reveals the ore to be some fourteen feet thick 
in the Rockwood formation. 
Other Locations 
Manganese is also reported from many other localities. The 
Reamer prospect is about a mile east of the Hare prospect men- 
tioned above. No Business Creek prospect is three miles south 
of Chapel station over Wolf Creek Mountain and while little 
work has been done here, surface indications suggest a consid- 
erable deposit of manganiferous iron ore. Other prospects, sim- 
ilar in nature to the Stange mine, occur farther to the east of 
this deposit on the same ridge. The Johnson prospect and the 
Thompson place are both Flat Top prospects somewhat more 
than a mile to the northeast of the Stange mine. In both places, 
the ore is low in grade and occurs only in small amounts. How- 
ever, some twenty-five tons have been shipped from the Johnson 
mine. 
Manganese float is also found in Short Mountain, in the vicin- 
ity of Narrows, in the Doe Mountain region, near Newport, and 
in the Spruce Run Mountain tracts. These prospects have not 
been exploited and if any ore has been shipped, it has been hand 
picked from the float appearing at the surface and is almost neg- 
ligible in quantity. 
