188 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1902. [bull. 2i3. 
vicinity of Lead Hill. There was a revival of the industry during 
the seventies, but the cost of transportation was so great that it was 
practically abandoned. 
Zinc ores at first attracted little attention, probably because they 
were not so well understood. Before the civil war, however, some 
zinc was smelted. In the eighties prospecting for it was carried on 
generally throughout the field, andTesulted in finding it at so many 
places and so readily accessible that about 1899 there was what might 
be called a rush into the field. 
PRODUCTION. 
From the information contained in published reports and gathered 
by inquiry, it lias been estimate^ that the output of the northern 
Arkansas district up to and including the year 1900 was 1,500 tons of 
zinc ore and 500 tons of lead. In 1901 about 500 tons of zinc were 
marketed, and in 1902 about 1,000 tons, or double the amount of the 
previous year. The production of lead during L901 and 1902 was 
unimportant. There is considerable ore now stored in the bins await- 
ing transportation facilities, and the production of the district promises 
•to increase during the coming year. 
PRESENT DEVELOPMENT. 
The condition of the mining industry in northern Arkansas has 
been largely governed by transportation facilities. Until recently no 
railroad entered the held. In L903 the St. Louis and North Arkansas 
Railroad was built to Harrison, and since that time has been extended 
to Buffalo River. It is proposed to extend it southeastward, by way 
of Marshall, in the direction of Little Rock. The Missouri Pacific is 
now building a line in White River Valley from Batesville to Buffalo 
City, and it is proposed to extend this line northwestward, by way of 
Yellville, into Missouri. The completion of the railroads will afford 
facilities for shipping, and mines which have suspended operations 
will resume, and others which have attempted no development beyond 
prospecting are already erecting mills or determining more definitely 
the character of the ground preparatory to doing so. 
PROSPECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. 
What has been done thus far in the way of mining is not a sat is- 
factory test of the field. Some companies which have been organized 
have been promoted by men inexperienced in the production of zinc 
and lead. The expenditure of money in erecting mills and bringing 
in machinery and the failure to market ore at a profit because of the 
long wagon hauls have usually resulted in the suspension of operations. 
The ore deposits of northern Arkansas are not such as mining men 
generally are familiar with, and some have been misled by the results 
of the prospecting. The mixed character of the ores found in surface 
