IANSOME.] 
DEPOSITS OF KED MOUNTAIN REGION. 
235 
As shown by E. B. Hurlbut, 1 however, not all of the white crys- 
balline powder found in the National Belle is kaolin, but alunite also 
occurs in nearly identical form, clearly associated with enargite. 
Murlbut's anal}' sis is liere quoted: 
Analysis of alunite from National Belle mine. 
Constituent. 
Percent. 
Constituent. 
Per cent- 
SiO-i 
38.93 
39.03 
4. 26 
4.41 
H..O 
13. 35 
A1..0- 
.50 
K«0 
100.48- 
Na.O 
No study could be made in 1899 of the occurrence of the unoxidized 
ore, chiefly enargite, of the deeper workings of the mine. Some of 
the enargite occurred lining caves below the zone of oxidation, form- 
ing beautiful radiating clusters of orthorhombic prisms several centi- 
meters in length. These prisms are usually covered with a thin 
moss- like film of malachite and often partly incrusted with minute 
Irystals of quartz. 
From reports made to the company by the superintendent, Mr. 
James K. Harvey, for the years 1891-1896, the ore appears to have 
occurred in large masses irregularly distributed in the altered country 
rock and irregular in shape. The greatest recorded length of one of 
these bodies is about 75 feet, and they commonly varied in width from 
1 to 4 feet, although occasionally as much as 60 feet wide. The great- 
est dimension was commonly nearly vertical, and in some cases the 
chimney-like form was pronounced (see fig. 20). The unoxidized ore 
was in pari enargite, carrying at its best as much as 30 ounces of sil- 
ver and 40 per cent of copper. It was associated with both copper and 
iron pyrites, some tetrahedrite, and galena in diminishing amount 
clown nearly to the No. 4 level. The latter, at the second level, 
occurred as streaks in the copper and iron pyrites^ and carried up to 
44 ounces of silver and (30 per cent of lead in 10-ton carload lots. In 
a winze 50 feet below the third level galena occurred in small nodules 
only. In the National Belle ore the gold rarely amounted to more 
than a tenth of an ounce per ton, and was usually much less. 
Practically no paying ore was found below the third level, explora- 
tions on the fourth level resulting only in finding small bunches of 
ore and masses of crumbling iron pyrite carrying less than one-tenth 
ounce of gold and about 5 ounces of silver per ton, with from 1 to 3 
per cent of copper. The large north ore bod}', which on level 3 was 
a nearly solid mass of ore 31 feet long and 24 feet wide, carrying as a 
whole 4 to 7 ounces of silver, 4 to G per cent of copper, and .04 ounce 
of gold, and which had been stoped up over 100 feet above level 2, was 
not encountered in the bottom level. . On level 2 this ore body was 75 
Am. Jour. Sci., 3d series, Vol. XL VIII, 1894, pp. 130,131. 
